I'm a Henna Head!

[GIJane]

mssoconfused be careful with henna'ing too much. It can cause dry ends. Henna has protein like properties.

 

[Kn0ttyByNatur3]

Yay! For henna. I love the staining I get from it . I used to be on it hard couple months ago. But the hay hair I get after using it and the amount of time it consumes makes me fall back from it.

 

[ChocoKitty]

New hennahead here. I've henna'd about 3x so far. I will henna again next weekend. I just mix 2 boxes of Jamila (for hair) with about 17 ounces of warm water. Place it in the freezer until the day I plan to henna. I leave it out for about 8-10 hours to thaw and then apply. I let it "marinate" on my head for at least 4 hours if not overnight.

It's loosened my curls but I love the strength it gives.

 

[mssoconfused]

GIJane thanks for the heads up. My hair, shockingly, doesn't dry out with henna. Its actually softer after I apply it. My hair also drinks up protein like most people's hair drinks up water. Its crazy.

 

[coracaox]

My hair also loves protein. Also is anyone putting the henna on their scalp? Like full henna treatments not glosses. I love to also apply it to my scalp. It makes it sooo healthy. It also never stains it really or my edges.

 

[nzeee]

greenandchic
demlew

This sounds promising and I've heard other attest to that. I just don't want to be bald after I do it. You already know im not about to be looking through no old posts girl, too many of em, lol, so I wanna ask all you henna ladies that are natural:

-What brand of henna do you use?
-Would you mind explaining the process step-by-step from mixing to applying?
-After the henna, do you DC and for how long? What is your post-henna regimen?

Sorry ladies I just really don't want to go through those thousands of posts and this is something Im so willing to try if it will help with hair that is naturally porous so holla at me please lol! If these questions have been addressed here already I apologize, Im posting before reading lol.

mssoconfused

OsnapCnapp! seriously tho? don't take this the wrong way but why are you afraid of researching something as basic as henna esp since you're afraid of going bald? i've already caught some (admittedly minor) misinformation on here so it really is in your best interest to research and read reviews from a wide selection of people.

(noooo shade at all to anybody who was helping... just some stuff posted wasn't accurate. ex amla doesn't loosen, it helps preserve curl pattern and etc. my point is not to call out small mistakes so i'm not going into detail here)

this is your 2nd post in this thread about not wanting to read the long very helpful threads that exist AND even in this shorter thread you still don't read what others may have written before asking more questions?

i know you weren't asking me but i'm now totally disinclined to offer any information since you don't seem inclined to make even the smallest effort to learn. :/

 

[nzeee]

former henna head checkin' in: i read that curly nikki overdosed on henna (and was doing treatments a couple times a week for 2-3mths) so i tried it myself at the end of last year. for 3 months i did weekly and sometimes twice weekly treatments. and i'm happy to report that besides the orange hands i got a few times, i suffered no ill effects. you can really do henna as often as you like as long as you keep your mix mild (minimize or eliminate inherently drying ingredients like lemon or acv). my mix was simple and non-drying (only used warm water and green tea) so i never experienced a problem there.

what i did sniffle a little over tho was the loss of curl pattern my hair is mostly 4a/b but a quarter of it is 3b/c and those curls are no more. depending on the sort of curl you have, henna can do some serious damage to your pattern. to avoid this use Amla in your mix or only do glosses. what was 3b/c is now s-curl looking and just weirdly hangy.

i'm totally psyched about the glosses tho. i forgot they were an option! i'll definitely start doing this since it sounds so moisturizing and sooo much less messy and also shouldn't disrupt my hair further.

thanks OP!

 

[star78]

I'm new to this. I believe my texture is 4a/b? My hair is an ashy, dark brown and I'd like to try for a jet black color. Does one have to use indigo with henna to achieve this? I remember going to a Dominican salon who were into "healthy hair" according to some reviews I read and when I was talking to the owner about my thinning hair she told me I should try "color."

She was telling me that she can put some type of coloring (her English wasn't that great) in my hair that would make it shiny and stronger/healthier looking. She said it didn't have any chemicals and was natural. She also mentioned that she had used it on various people who came to her with damaged hair.

Oddly enough, I was completely turned off at that point (and never went back there) because I couldn't understand why she would recommend that I dye my hair. I thought it was one of those things (from all past bad experiences) where she was trying to get me to spend extra money for an unneeded additional service.

When I think about it now, perhaps she was talking about henna? It's crazy bc prior to speaking to her, the other stylist who did my hair twice used a great deep conditioner that made my natural hair so soft and when I asked her to trim my ends, she made it a point to only clip off the split ends. She was also the first stylist to ever tell me that I should not put a relaxer in my hair and that regardless of which salon I go to in the future, only let my roots be slightly blow-dried.

 

[greenandchic]

Hey star78 - You can either mix henna with indigo (mixed separately, then combined after individual dye releases), or you can do a henna/indigo two-step process where you henna your hair first, then use the indigo.

When I did the henna and indigo together my hair was a very dark brown. When people do it as a two-step process, their hair is black.

You can do a search here to get accurate instructions on how to use henna & indigo.

 

[star78]

Hey star78 - You can either mix henna with indigo (mixed separately, then combined after individual dye releases), or you can do a henna/indigo two-step process where you henna your hair first, then use the indigo.

When I did the henna and indigo together my hair was a very dark brown. When people do it as a two-step process, their hair is black.

You can do a search here to get accurate instructions on how to use henna & indigo.

Thanks Greenandchic! I'm definitely going to try it. I just have to decide whether to do it myself or let someone else do it for me. If I do it myself and then go to the salon a week later for a DC, will the color hold or do I need to reapply it again at that time?

 

[Candy828]

I Love My Henna!

Henna FAQ's
http://hennabycynthia.homestead.com/FAQ.html


HHG

 

[OsnapCnapp!]

@OsnapCnapp! seriously tho? don't take this the wrong way but why are you afraid of researching something as basic as henna esp since you're afraid of going bald? i've already caught some (admittedly minor) misinformation on here so it really is in your best interest to research and read reviews from a wide selection of people.

(noooo shade at all to anybody who was helping... just some stuff posted wasn't accurate. ex amla doesn't loosen, it helps preserve curl pattern and etc. my point is not to call out small mistakes so i'm not going into detail here)

this is your 2nd post in this thread about not wanting to read the long very helpful threads that exist AND even in this shorter thread you still don't read what others may have written before asking more questions?

i know you weren't asking me but i'm now totally disinclined to offer any information since you don't seem inclined to make even the smallest effort to learn. :/

@nzeee I saw your mention for me and I almost forgot I came in here, lol. Thanks sweetie that's so polite that you were actually paying attention to my posts. As you have said, some of the info is inaccurate and yours is inaccurate as well. That's why I deemed it pointless to go through long threads....lots of contradicting information. I am really good friends with this Indian girl (Punjabi) in my nursing program and she and her mother gave me the FULL-ON rundown of henna and all its components and also information on the other ayurvedic products and there's no source like the original right ? So I go by mainly what they say because they're not just reading something from the internet--this is apart of their culture. She has even decided to help me apply my henna when I have the time to do it (Christmas break, woooh!). So thanks again dear I have my information and HHG.

 

[MinaSinclair]

Henna and color!?!? I've never used henna before, but I wanted to try it. Are you supposed to buy the color based on your hair color or a color you're trying to achieve (if any)? I bought Rainbow henna from Whole foods almost six months ago and I'm afraid to use it because I have no clue what the coloring will be or if it's even what I want. I have rather dull dark brown, natural 4b hair. Anyone have an idea of what I can expect colorwise? Has anyone ever used this brand?

http://www.rainbowresearch.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=85

 

[nzeee]

@nzeee I saw your mention for me and I almost forgot I came in here, lol. Thanks sweetie that's so polite that you were actually paying attention to my posts. As you have said, some of the info is inaccurate and yours is inaccurate as well. That's why I deemed it pointless to go through long threads....lots of contradicting information. I am really good friends with this Indian girl (Punjabi) in my nursing program and she and her mother gave me the FULL-ON rundown of henna and all its components and also information on the other ayurvedic products and there's no source like the original right ? So I go by mainly what they say because they're not just reading something from the internet--this is apart of their culture. She has even decided to help me apply my henna when I have the time to do it (Christmas break, woooh!). So thanks again dear I have my information and HHG.

@OsnapCnapp whatev snarky, good for you. all your friend and any individual can tell you is their experience (although source information from long practitioners is definitely the most useful). and nice of you to share all this amazing information you received w/ the women in this thread who were trying to help you out.

anyway, i'm not getting into a back&forth on this w/ you. the reason i mentioned anything at all is because i just genuinely hate when people display wilful ignorance. my point from my initial post was that when you research (or avail yourself of available research), you can better see the full picture and will have the ability to properly filter and analyse all information you come across to determine veracity and applicability. if you prefer the lazy route who am i, right? do you. enjoy your application.

 

[bebezazueta]

Hey nzeee I actually found your advice and others here at LHCF VERY beneficial when I researched henna. I used the knowledge I acquired via the Internet and just applied it to my hair situation and tweaked it and my hair is thriving with henna. I have lots of Indian friends and I don't do what they do because their hair tends to be on the oily side and our hair tend to be dry! Thanks lady!


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[CaramelLites]

I've been using henna once a wk. I use the karishma brand and aloe vera juice. The dye release is immediate. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to have to wait.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Nexus S 4G

 

[frizzy]

I use the two step process. Indigo with warm water and salt, leave on for 2 to 3 hours. Not sure why it doesnt produce a jet black result? Or why it fades so quickly?

I

MRJ1972
It sounds like you have a bad batch of indigo. I've had to return Indigo that didn't stain my hair. It has to be good quality and fresh. I wonder if yours came from the same place I returned mine to?

 

[choctaw]

I've been using henna once a wk. I use the karishma brand and aloe vera juice. The dye release is immediate. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to have to wait.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Nexus S 4G

CaramelLites

Thanks for posting this information. I bought several bags of Karishma the last time I was at my Indian grocer. I used my last bag of Naajo and Dulhan usually takes about 90 minutes. I will use Karishma next weekend

 

[nzeee]

Hey nzeee I actually found your advice and others here at LHCF VERY beneficial when I researched henna. I used the knowledge I acquired via the Internet and just applied it to my hair situation and tweaked it and my hair is thriving with henna. I have lots of Indian friends and I don't do what they do because their hair tends to be on the oily side and our hair tend to be dry! Thanks lady!


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

bebezazueta @ the bolded.

that's what i'm talkin' bout!

so spill if you have a moment. what's your current henna reggie? what were the changes you noticed in your hair??

 

[frizzy]

Now that my henna and indigo treatments are up-to-date, I will henna gloss next (wk 2) then do a "root touch-up" of henna only (wk 4) then an all over indigo/henna treatment (wk 6) to keep it all black.

The point I'm trying to make is that I don't do full head applications every time I use henna, it's just not necessary. Touching up the roots only, saves time and henna.

 

[bebezazueta]

nzeee LOL! I use full fat yogurt and a ceramides oil along with brahmi powder and sometimes amla powder. I cowash it out with V05 moisture milks and dc overnite with suave coconut

My henna hair is thicker, stronger, need trims less and is retaining more. In my siggy you can see I hennaed from may to December and stopped so my last pic shows not as much retention when I stopped using henna. Never again. In 2010 with henna I retained 5 inches in 7 months and this year so far I've only retained 2 in and I've started back on henna September. So monthly henna for life for me.

Sorry for the long-windedness


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[greenandchic]

Question for the group:

Is more better? Is hennaing every other week or ever three weeks better than monthly (every four weeks)? I wonder if I would see more improvement if I henna more.

 

[nubiennze]

I have a question too. I'd settled on a potential henna regimen to reinforce my super fine, thinning strands: 5:3 Yemeni henna to cassia, chamomile tea, and honey under a heat cap for an hour followed by a DC once a month. However, after reading this

I stay away from all proteins because my coarse/wiry hair doesn't need anymore structure added to it. It just damages it or makes it feel like straw.

...Wiry hair is going to feel wiry no matter what you put on it. It is still going to feel kind of rough. That's due to the over abundance of protein.

and this

I have a wiry patch in my crown. The strands are totally different than the rest of my hair. They are thick and feel heavy. Naturally shinier than the rest of my hair. They actually look like pubes lol. And they are the first to revert from heat styling because they rarely get completely straight.

in the wiry hair thread, I'm a little concerned that the henna's protein effect might make my "wack patches" (exactly as described above, only at my temples) worse. They're already the first to break at the slightest sign of dryness; might they be even harder to moisturize post-henna? Is there any way to increase porosity in those sections only? Would I be better off using cassia alone, or would that make a difference?

TIA!

 

[naheda72]

@Osnap, I wouldn't necessarily trust an Indian's advice, just because they are Indian. I went to an Indian store to buy henna and what they tried to sell me was not real henna and some of the ladies told me they used it. I also had a coworker(I work in IT with a lot of Indians and a lot of the men use it) who had his mother bring me "henna" from India and it was brown. I had never heard of brown henna, so I researched for weeks with no success. I did NOT use that stuff, as I did not know what it was. Like you, I felt that they would know better than anyone, but now, based on my experience, I am less likely to take their advice.

 

[nzeee]

Question for the group:

Is more better? Is hennaing every other week or ever three weeks better than monthly (every four weeks)? I wonder if I would see more improvement if I henna more.

hi greenandchic: in my opinion more is better but that's cuz i think so about EVERYTHING. it seriously just depends on what you're trying to achieve. want deep-rich colour? more is better. want to improve the health of hair prone to breakage? more is definitely better. want thicker hair? more more more. need to maintain healthy hair? once ever 4-8wks is fine (tho i think monthly is best)

Curly Nikki got me excited about henna. this is what she has to say about frequency:

CURLY NIKKI ON HENNA FREQUENCY:
http://www.curlynikki.com/2008/10/im-henna-head.html
I began my henna journey in October 2007. I henna'ed two to three times a week for the first month. After I read that henna has a cumulative effect (the more you do it, the more apparent the results), I went overboard, lol. I saw the color and shine after about 2 treatments, but the loosening, de-frizzing and rich shine developed over several weeks. From November 2007-January 2008, I henna'ed once a week, or once every other week, and since then, I've been henna'ing once a month. It can get to be a bit expensive, depending on the frequency of application, but it is sooooooooo worth it!​

 

[nzeee]

nzeee LOL! I use full fat yogurt and a ceramides oil along with brahmi powder and sometimes amla powder. I cowash it out with V05 moisture milks and dc overnite with suave coconut

My henna hair is thicker, stronger, need trims less and is retaining more. In my siggy you can see I hennaed from may to December and stopped so my last pic shows not as much retention when I stopped using henna. Never again. In 2010 with henna I retained 5 inches in 7 months and this year so far I've only retained 2 in and I've started back on henna September. So monthly henna for life for me.

Sorry for the long-windedness

bebezazueta that was totally not long-winded at all!! you've actually inspired me to get back on the henna-wagon again. your initial retention was SICK! what?!?

thanks for sharing. your list of the benefits you experienced will help the henna-virgins

 

[nzeee]

I have a question too. I'd settled on a potential henna regimen to reinforce my super fine, thinning strands: 5:3 Yemeni henna to cassia, chamomile tea, and honey under a heat cap for an hour followed by a DC once a month. However, after reading this



and this



in the wiry hair thread, I'm a little concerned that the henna's protein effect might make my "wack patches" (exactly as described above, only at my temples) worse. They're already the first to break at the slightest sign of dryness; might they be even harder to moisturize post-henna? Is there any way to increase porosity in those sections only? Would I be better off using cassia alone, or would that make a difference?

TIA!

nubiennze well... i don't have a well documented answer for this. only common sense answers below. if i find out more through research i'll update. hopefully some henna vets will chime in.
---
what i know is that henna is not protein (tho it mimics protein), pure henna is not damaging, monthly is not too much (it's a natural product so it takes a while for the true effects to be apparent) and it doesn't coat your hair at all so won't further reduce porosity.

the application process is extremely drying tho... when i'm applying i take care to be very careful to minimize manipulation cuz it feels to me like my hair will break off otherwise. but once i rinse and DC OMG my hair is soft and feels lush.

if you're really concerned then stick to cassia or glosses but you will be depriving the majority of your hair of all the benefits of henna. i think your approach is fine (i don't think you have to mix cassia w/ henna but up to you) and monthly treatments won't harm your hair.

 

[MinaSinclair]

Henna and color!?!? I've never used henna before, but I wanted to try it. Are you supposed to buy the color based on your hair color or a color you're trying to achieve (if any)? I bought Rainbow henna from Whole foods almost six months ago and I'm afraid to use it because I have no clue what the coloring will be or if it's even what I want. I have rather dull dark brown, natural 4b hair. Anyone have an idea of what I can expect colorwise? Has anyone ever used this brand?

http://www.rainbowresearch.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=85

Hellooooooo????

 

[nubiennze]

nzeee Well, I originally decided on the cassia mix to temper the burgundy cast (I wanted more of a coppery auburn cast and was going by the color combination chart on the Henna for Hair website) that prolonged use can cause. Now that I'm more concerned with the strengthening effects, I just stuck with the idea so I could stretch my henna, lol.

But you say using cassia will lessen the benefits of the henna? I thought it was supposed to have essentially the same effect, just without the color? Are there any distinct differences between the two?

 

[greenandchic]

nzeee - I'm doing it to improve the health of my hair and help with breakage. I will increase my henna treatments.