henna warning!

[VALLEYGIRL]

This was taken from an Interview with Ouidad:

Maria – What is the most difficult head of curly hair you have had to deal with?

Ouidad – The most difficult was an actress from France. She had very curly hair and used henna. Henna is a natural color that is used from plant roots and a lot of it is made from dirt and with excess use it builds up like cement and you can’t strip it or take it out. We even used turpentine and couldn’t get it out. Because of the strength of the henna, some of her curls were straight, some curly. She was a strawberry blond and I had to cut off all of the henna hair. We gave her a fabulous short French hairstyle. We worked for 3 days to try and get the henna off.

to read the entire interview (does not relate to henna just curly hair care and Ouidad in general)

http://www.beautybuzz.com/hair.asp?page=Ouidadinterview

 

[Valerie]

Thanks Valley Girl
At one time, I used to use henna, when my hair was relaxed, it made it a lot thicker. Since I have been natural, I only used henna once and it was very difficult to wash out, I think because my hair texture had changed, after that experience, I won't be using henna anymore.

 

[BlkMane]

I've also mentioned on the boards how henna made my hair HARD! I used it once when I was natural. Never again! Don't like it.

I totally agree. But it seems to work for some.

 

[Honey Vibe]

I read in Andre Walker's book that henna is rather troublesome, for stylist and wearer.

 

[CICI24]

When I first started using Henna I used as the directions said. And my hair came out really dry and hard like some of you said. But since I've been adding oils and conditioner to my mix it doesn't dry it out at all, actually it has been very moisturizing and my hair feels very strong and thick. I'm doing the homemade herbal tame relaxer. In terms of henna changing curl patterns thats what some people use it for, to loosen the curl and you are right the effects of henna don't wash out easy it can last up to 3 months and then you will gain your natural texture and color back its not permanent. but if you don't want to change the texture don't use it because it will slightly and temporarily change it.

 

[kasyila]

CICI24
Can you please explain the homemade herbal tame relaxer, that is something that I am VERY interested in. I have natural 4b hair and I would love to use something to loosen the curls, Its so thick and tightly curled/coiled.

 

[CICI24]

Hey Kasilya!

I'm going to retype what Kasey wrote on the old board and add my two cents to it, so its going to be long.

The Herbal Tame relaxer is made with henna, aloe vera, nettle, cornsilk and sage. About a year ago I was gonna re-order it when it struck me that I could get the ingredients and make it myself. I used neutral henna from Whole Foods market. I bought aloe vera, nettle and cornsilk caps from the vitamin Shoppe. (VShoppe didn't have sage caps so I left them out.) Gold Medal says that you should mix the herbal tame powder with a half culp of hot water and two ounces of their intensive conditioner. The intensive conditioner is basically a creamy protein conditioner with hydrolyzed wheat protein, chammomile, yarrow, and rosemary exract, the standard hair conditioner moisturizers and humectants. I say use any creamy protein conditioner you have. If you can't find the herbs in powder form just use a few spoonfulls of the Nature's Gate brand herbal conditioner or just make some herbal tea with dried herbs and use that as your water. The mixture is going to be green. Make sure that you mix it well and get out all the lumps. Apply it to the length of your hair in small sections. I suggest starting in the middle of your hair to keep the product from dripping all over. It's gonna be messy so make sure you drape a towel over your shoulders. After your entire head is covered, put on a couple of plastic caps a scarf and leave it on for 30 minutes to an hour. If you want to sit under low to medium heat for a few minutes or excercise or do house work. I wouldn't leave it on for longer than an hour. Get in the shower to rinse this out you are probably going to have to rinse for 5 to 10 minutes to get all of the mixture out of your hair. I suggest that you follow this with a heavy moisturizing conditioner. Henna is a protein that has been used in India as to color hair and also to condition the hair. The mixture will not straighten your hair like a relaxer. It tames the hair. It will strengthen your hair and make it more manageable. After a few uses it will be easier to blow dry sraight. Gold medal says use the product twice a month, but if your hair is already in good condition I suggest using it once a month. At the beginning of this year I was giving myself weekly henna treatments and that was just too much. But then i didn't know I should be following it with a moisturizing conditioner.

That is what Kasey wrote

I use the mixture every two weeks I don't use the nettle I really don't think the powdered herbs are even completely necessary because the active ingredient is henna. I will be re-applying it to my hair this Sunday and thereafter I will only do it once a month. The first time I used the mixture I used Gold medals Intensive conditioner and it really did a nice job but the second time I used GPB which is pretty good too. I added 1/4 cup conditioner to the mix and 1/4 cup of oils mostly castor oil and some aloe vera oil. You will probably see the biggest difference on your 2nd or 3rd try that is if your doing it every 2 weeks for the first few weeks or so. Then cut back to monthly treatments. but from the first treatment I noticed that my hair felt stronger, thicker, less tangled and it wasn't as frizzy. The cool thing about henna treatments is that it is not permanent and you can control how loose you want your curls the more often you use it the looser your curls will become, but its not really a dramatic difference its subtle.

I knew a girl who used Gold Medals Herbal Tame relaxer and when she first started using it her hair was barely shoulder length. A year and a half later it was waist length and very her hair was always short prior to using the herbal tame. I guess using the treatments gave her hair the strength it needed to grow and not break. The other thing is she would only wash her hair every 2 weeks or longer. she would wear hear hair pressed on a regular basis and her hair was not damaged at all. I think henna protects the hair shaft. when she would press it looked as though she had a relaxer.
If you want info on herbal tame go to www.goldmedalhair.com
If you have any more questions let me know.

CICI

 

[Lucia]

CICI do you have to keep doing touch ups like a relaxer? Is there a big difference b/t new growth and treated hair or can you just let it grow out w/o any straightening?
Sorry so many quesstions I was just curious b/c I never heard of this before.
Thanks in advance.

 

[CICI24]

Lucia,

You don't have to apply the henna like you are getting touch ups because it is a subtle difference in texture it will loosen your curl pattern it doesn't straighten it will slightly loosen. The effects of henna aren't permanent it will wash out eventually. How long it lasts really depends on how often you wash your. If your one of those people that wash daily or every other day it probably won't last. I only wash my hair once a week.

 

[Nina_S]

CICI,

When you make the mixture what form are the ingredients in? Do you use aloe vera gel and dried nettle & sage?

I apply henna to my hair every four weeks or when I feel the coating is thinning and I love the texture that it give my hair.

Thanks for your help!
Nina

 

[CICI24]

I use powdered herbs with the henna mix

 

[DDTexlaxed]

SORRY, I used the herbal tame and it did nothing for me. I guess diff. strokes 4 diff folks

 

[sassygirl125]

SORRY, I used the herbal tame and it did nothing for me. I guess diff. strokes 4 diff folks

I'm suspicious of the quality of the Herbal Tame ingredients. Their other products seem to be fancy Vaseline and souped up baby oil. Did you do six treatments spaced 1-2 weeks apart and then once a month like GM says? I don't think you are supposed to notice a difference until the 3rd or 4th treatment... Which can get mighty pricey. That's why Kasey started making her own with neutral henna. I think she said she got better results with her homemade version.

 

[FlowerHair]

I agree that henna can be drying and make the hair feel a little rougher the first week or so, but it is not made from dirt. Henna is a plant.

 

[Peaches75]

I would like to try henna but has any relax folks experienced any breakage? I was told by a stylist that doing henna treatments with relaxed hair will damage it, but I see ladies here that do henna treatments and have really shiny & beautiful hair.

 

[Cinnabuns]

Interesting I thought henna was supposed to be good for the hair.

OT: What's a French hairstyle?

 

[silverlotus]

I would like to try henna but has any relax folks experienced any breakage? I was told by a stylist that doing henna treatments with relaxed hair will damage it, but I see ladies here that do henna treatments and have really shiny & beautiful hair.

It won't damage your hair as long as it's pure Body Art Quality henna. Compound henna has metallic salts in it that do not react well with relaxed hair . Henna does cause dryness & brittle hair for some if used too often or with the wrong mix. HTH!

 

[Peaches75]

It won't damage your hair as long as it's pure Body Art Quality henna. Compound henna has metallics salts in it that do not react well with relaxed hair . Henna does cause dryness & brittle hair for some if used too often or with the wrong mix. HTH!

Thanks for clearing that up because she said something about it having metallics and I probably just stick to my regular routine before I have a setback. Your hair is beautiful!!

 

[Blkprincess]

When I first started using Henna I used as the directions said. And my hair came out really dry and hard like some of you said. But since I've been adding oils and conditioner to my mix it doesn't dry it out at all, actually it has been very moisturizing and my hair feels very strong and thick. I'm doing the homemade herbal tame relaxer. In terms of henna changing curl patterns thats what some people use it for, to loosen the curl and you are right the effects of henna don't wash out easy it can last up to 3 months and then you will gain your natural texture and color back its not permanent. but if you don't want to change the texture don't use it because it will slightly and temporarily change it.

please please please let me know how the herbal tame works for you, I've never tried before and don't know anyone else who has either. I get the vitamins from gold medal.

 

[*Muffin*]

I use henna every month or so, and when I do I use conditioner as a base and add Coconut oil and olive oil. I noticed that this helps a lot with the drying effect. I make sure that I don't do it too frequently and that I rinse it out thoroughly every time I do. I remember one time when I didn't rinse out the henna completely, and it made my scalp and the hair close to my scalp feel dry. Other than that, I've had very good experiences with henna. I make sure that I don't use it too close to relaxer time, though. I wait until I'm at least two weeks after the henna application before I relax my hair.

P.S. I also use pure Body Art quality henna. I've heard very bad experiences with henna dyes (henna that has synthetic dye ingredients added). I just use natural henna.

 

[Empress Yahudah]

Im relaxed and I use henna every other week for the conditiong benefits
As long as it pure/BAQ henna ur fine... the kind that will damage ur hair is compound henna.

I dont have any hardness,tangles,or dryness when using henna... It best to get it fresh and from a repitable sorce that way u wont experience that. Trust me I know I use Jamila henna now and my hair loves it

 

[LovinLocks]

you don't want to change the texture don't use it because it will slightly and temporarily change it.

Hmmmm, I came on in search of a way to color sans peroxide and thought of henna. But, I have NO desire to change texture, dag. And the though of semi-perms don't seem to cut it because I co-wash often.

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

I would like to try henna but has any relax folks experienced any breakage? I was told by a stylist that doing henna treatments with relaxed hair will damage it, but I see ladies here that do henna treatments and have really shiny & beautiful hair.

I use it, I'm relaxed, and my hair has suffered no ill effects.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

Hmmmm, I came on in search of a way to color sans peroxide and thought of henna. But, I have NO desire to change texture, dag. And the though of semi-perms don't seem to cut it because I co-wash often.

Henna didn't change my texture and hasn't for most people I've heard of using henna. What color are you looking to dye your hair? Henna will only give dark hair a reddish-glow under light. If you mix henna with indigo, you can get a jet black.

ETA: I also used Jamila Henna.

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

Im relaxed and I use henna every other week for the conditiong benefits
As long as it pure/BAQ henna ur fine... the kind that will damage ur hair is compound henna.

I dont have any hardness,tangles,or dryness when using henna... It best to get it fresh and from a repitable sorce that way u wont experience that. Trust me I know I use Jamila henna now and my hair loves it

^^^^Absolutely!!!^^^^

 

[Kurlee]

Be careful. Henna (yes, I used BAQ), while it thickened my hair and I could see the "positive" effects, it made my hair dry, regardless of how much I DC'd, added oils, etc. Also, it straightened out my natural 4a hair, so much so that I haven't used it in over a year and my hair is clearly two different textures. The new hair looks like new growth . So, even though I am natural, I am "transitioning" from henna, so to speak. Henna does work for many, but there are some people that henna did more bad than good. I wanted to like it, but the straightening effect was very unwelcome. Also, it was aa very messy, tedious job.

 

[AtlantaJJ]

I agree with the posters, I don't use an acid twerp in my mix. I mix my henna with chamomile tea let the color release and then add in a non-cone conditioner with a little oil and my hair comes out like a dream. I co-wash the henna out instead of shampoo and then I DC the heck out of it with a moisture DC for 1 hour afterwards. Beautiful hair.

I'm interested in this natural relaxer method to just release some of the spring in my coils. I love my coils, they just need to chill a little

 

[Lucky's Mom]

I agree with the posters, I don't use an acid twerp in my mix. I mix my henna with chamomile tea let the color release and then add in a non-cone conditioner with a little oil and my hair comes out like a dream. I co-wash the henna out instead of shampoo and then I DC the heck out of it with a moisture DC for 1 hour afterwards. Beautiful hair.

I'm interested in this natural relaxer method to just release some of the spring in my coils. I love my coils, they just need to chill a little

I am doing Henna tomorrow - Because of this!! I need the crown of my hair to calm down a bit.

 

[BostonMaria]

It won't damage your hair as long as it's pure Body Art Quality henna. Compound henna has metallic salts in it that do not react well with relaxed hair . Henna does cause dryness & brittle hair for some if used too often or with the wrong mix. HTH!

So true! If you are new to henna and don't know how to use it, you better follow the directions to the last detail or else its going to be a hot mess.

I've been using henna since 2007 and my curl pattern didn't change, my hair is very healthy. Women in India have been using henna for centuries and those women have gorgeous hair.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

So true! If you are new to henna and don't know how to use it, you better follow the directions to the last detail or else its going to be a hot mess.

I've been using henna since 2007 and my curl pattern didn't change, my hair is very healthy. Women in India have been using henna for centuries and those women have gorgeous hair.

yes- and yes!