Henna Hair DISASTER!!!!

[Kiynwah]

Hey Ladies! I was looking forward to trying henna for the first time.... I read nearly every single thread here about henna treatments.

The whole week I dd a series of moisturizing treatments. Night before I did a deep condition. In the morning my hair was looking fabulous! Soft, buttery curls and lots of moisture. I applied henna to the damp hair.

Here's how I made my henna:
4tbs of Mehendi henna (100% body art henna)
120ml boiled water
2tbs honey
1tbs amla powder
2tbs jojoba oil
2tbs coconut milk

I did not use any acid or citrus.

The henna mix was super oily and I thought it would be conditioning enough. I have very fine strands.

So I applied it immediately after making it. Let it sit for 2 hours and rinsed off....

My hair was brittle and breaking/major shredding. I am so confused because I KNOW it was doing so great before the henna. I had DCed earlier and had next to no shedding!!!

My hair feels really rough now WHAT HAPPENED??!!! I am sitting here now with all kinds of deep moisturizing treatments on my hair, sealed with castor oil. SO UPSET!!! Not only did my hair feel weak, but it is shedding and soo rough!!!

Maybe it was too much protein and my hair can't handle henna??? Anyone else have this issue?

 

[Kiynwah]

bump! please!!

 

[cutenss]

That happened to me with my first henna too. I am natural with fine strands. I lost so much hair, I about called an ambulance. I was so scared that I was going bald. I could not understand what I did wrong. For months I continued to loss hair. Lots and Lots of shedding. I believe I lost about 1/3 of my hair through shedding.

I am sorry this happened to you, and I wanted you to know that you are not the only one

 

[Kiynwah]

do you continue to henna? Did it get better after that? I am so confused because I followed all the advice to a T!

 

[sevetlana]

Ok I think I might be able to help.. That happened to me on my first Henna. I had hard tangly hair I freaked out my hair was rough and nothing could moisturize it.

So this is what I did after three weeks of trying DCs

I used a product called METALEX it is supposed to strip your hair, I don't know if it available where you are from. But when I used this my hair came back to normal.. It was soft again and it was tangle free.
I think Redken has a similar product I cant remember the name though.

Here is what it looks like.
http://www.clairolpro.com/products/color_removers/metalex


I hope this helps feel free to ask anything else..

 

[Taina]

I`m so sorry to hear that!
Now im scared too, i brought my first henna today and i was planning on doing it tomorrow

 

[Aggie]

I believe it was the coconut milk that caused this issue - my hair really hates coconut milk for this very reason. Coconut milk acts like a protein on the hair (I think it actually is a protein) and so does the henna. You used double protein like effect products on your hair at once, hence hard breaking hair.

Firstly, I don't know the name brand of your henna, what year is the crop from, additionally, the conditioners you used following the henna treatment. Did you use cheapie conditioners like vo5 moisture milks, etc, to wash the henna out of your hair? In fact, how many times did you wash it? - It's possible henna was still in your hair.

Did you use porosity control conditioner after your final wash? I wash my hair many many times after a henna application - about 5-6 times with cheapie conditioner, then DC as normal for several hours to overnight. Silicon Mix moisturizing conditioner or Alterna Enzyme Therapy Hemp Hydrate Conditioner seem to work very well for this purpose.

 

[yodie]

My first henna experience was awful. Scared me half to death. Couldn't find one conditioner to add the moisture back to my hair, until I spritz S Curl on it daily. That helped tremendously.

 

[yodie]

Wanted to add the reason why my 1st henna experience was a nightmare. I added yogurt to it. Sometimes we add too many unnecessary things and it can have an opposite effect. I have since henna'd many times (only added water to my henna) without any problems.

Hope this helps and your hair will rebound.

 

[Kiynwah]

wow! Thanks everyone for your tips!! Is there something about the first henna treatment that is causing this?? Do you all continue to use henna even after the first rough time??

THanks for the advice!! I really appreciate it!!!!It might have been the double protein.. the coconut milk and henna... but that is a recipe that someone highly recommended....

I used homemade conditioners and Aubrey organics to rinse it out about 5 times. THey always work for me. I cannot use the cheapie conditioners because I have super sensitive skin that breaks out so easily (

 

[yodie]

Took me a year or so before I tried henna again.

 

[***BlessedMom***]

I also think it was the coconut milk. My hair fely like a brillo pad after an application of coconut milk. I would either do another henna treatment with an acid like ACV and then dc or do an overnight dc'ing. Sry this happened!

 

[*Muffin*]

Sorry this happened to you. I guess it might be the coconut milk, although I've done henna treatments using coconut milk, and my hair always felt really good (and I used hot coconut milk in replacement of water). My hair, on the other hand, HATES jojoba oil. Whatever the case, I hope it gets resolved. I 'm sure you'll get your hair back to balance. .

 

[january noir]

Aggie says it's the coconut milk and I'd like to add that perhaps the Amla powder may have increased dryness. I would use Amla separately from the Henna to be on the safe side. Also, you said you used boiled water. It wasn't boiling when you added it to your mix was it? I hope you let it cool down. Henna only needs warm water to mix. Boiling water "cooks" the henna and you don't want to do that.

 

[Zawaj]

Henna didn't agree with my hair either (I only add water 9 out of 10x). I tried several times as a natural and relaxed and I didn't experience the perks most henna-heads do .

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

Maybe you guys should do a henna gloss (henna, water, conditioner) because it doesn't come out as crunchy.

 

[Chriselle83]

You are scaring me!!! I'm sitting here with my first henna application on my hair as we speak!
But I can tell you this. My hair HATES amla powder. When everyone here was on the alma/shikake hype I tried it and I couldn't even wash that crap out. My hair was dry like hay and the amla wouldn't wash out. I had grit in my hair for a couple days. My point is I think it might be the amla.

 

[YaniraNaturally]

I don't have any advice to give (I've never used henna), but I hope that your hair will go back to normal after you finish DC-ing.

 

[cutenss]

do you continue to henna? Did it get better after that? I am so confused because I followed all the advice to a T!

and I never will. I actually did a henna gloss with henna and conditioner and some oil, I think. It was a recipe from a member here that had gorgeous hair. Henna aint all that for me to me losing my hair over

 

[NappyDesma]

Well, here's my two cents. I love henna. I've never got the color alot of ladies on here have, but I love the conditioning factors of it. Plus my hair seemed to be alot stronger after. I experienced the same amount of shedding, nothing extra.

I do henna glosses, amla glosses, cassia glosses, plus I do them just straight as well. I only add warm tea, or orange juice to them when I mix either alone or then with conditioner. But here's the biggest difference I've seen.

I shampooed first and applied to damp hair. No conditionr after I shampooed, and so far, it's been one of the best hennas I've done! I think the build up of products and then applying the henna could have been the contributing factor to your dryness. My hair was VERY dry after I've hennaed, but then I hadn't washed my hair in a while. I would just cowash twice a week and henna once a week. I'm not saying that this is the reason for your bad experience, but I hope it helps.

 

[grow]

hi NappyDesma!

i've heard of the other glosses, but an amla gloss?

never heard of it, what does it do?

what (which products) did you put in to make it?

Kiynwah, i'm so sad this happened to your hair. i had broomstick hair last week and know how distressing it can be. surely continuing those moisturizing dc's will help!
i hope you get this resolved.

 

[Kiynwah]

thanks so much guys!! i really feel comforted knowing that I am not the first to go through this. It sucks because henna is supposed to be so awesome.
I definitely think it was the amla powder that did it to my hair. My hair LOVes brami powder but apparently hates the amla. It makes my hair crunchy and breaking like hay!!!



Off to do another avocado and honey deep condition. Pray for me!!!

 

[Aggie]

wow! Thanks everyone for your tips!! Is there something about the first henna treatment that is causing this?? Do you all continue to use henna even after the first rough time??

ABSOLUTELY! I had used terps (acids) in my first henna treatment (many had sworn by these) but they wreaked havoc on my poor fine, already dry hair. I had to learn that terps were not for already dry hair the hard way. I got get it right the next henna treatment though. Using a fenugreek seed tea rinse as the base for my subsequent henna treatments really saved my hair.

THanks for the advice!! I really appreciate it!!!!It might have been the double protein.. the coconut milk and henna... but that is a recipe that someone highly recommended....

I used homemade conditioners and Aubrey organics to rinse it out about 5 times. THey always work for me. I cannot use the cheapie conditioners because I have super sensitive skin that breaks out so easily (

I see in your avi, that your hair is natural. Honestly everyone's hair is different and even though this recipe has worked wonders for someone else, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's perfect for your hair, especially since you have natural hair.

You don't really need a whole lot of protein because there is no chemical breakdown of the cuticle bonds of your hair. You do need some, but not a lot.

Have you tried to do a test patch with the cheapie conditioners or have you used them before and have suffered issues from them? They are free of cones and parabens, but unfortunately, they do have some perfumes in them. I would do a small patch test and see how it goes.

You could even add moisturizing conditioners to the henna treatment and use it as a gloss instead. It will will still work very well. I do this all the time.

Good luck!

 

[jamaica68]

I agree w/ Aggie, did you do a patch test? Unfortunately some people are allergic to henna.

I noticed that you only used 4 tbs of henna, I use 100 grams for my henna applications and I always apply it to clean 50% dry hair and I've never had a problem.

I always keep my henna mixture simple with 100 grams of henna, warm water(not boiled water) 2 tbs of ACV and honey for moisture.

 

[NappyDesma]

hi NappyDesma!

i've heard of the other glosses, but an amla gloss?

never heard of it, what does it do?

what (which products) did you put in to make it?

Kiynwah, i'm so sad this happened to your hair. i had broomstick hair last week and know how distressing it can be. surely continuing those moisturizing dc's will help!
i hope you get this resolved.

What's up Grow!!!
To be honest, I'm not sure what an amla gloss does...When I first started surfing this site and Naturallycurly.com, one of the ladies suggested I do glosses while I'm deployed, because it's easier to wash out and since I don't get any color, the conditioning was all I really cared about. I started with henna, then cassia, and then I strated using amla as well. I very realy do a henna/cassia/amla without adding conditioner to it. Today I did henna just using chamomile tea and it turned out real well. A little dry, but once I applied my leave in and twisted...... it was allllllll gooood!

I really like Kiynwah's routine!!! I need to get on that!!!