Quick Quest. for You Henna Experts

[Mocha5]

So I'm going to henna for color. I mixed henna w/ lemon juice, coffee, and water. It's been sitting for about 12 hours now. My hair is black and I want it blacker if possible w/ the added shine. I don't have indigo to add at this time. My question is this: Do you think it will make any difference color wise if I let it sit longer or have I let it sit long enough to get as dark as it can w/o indigo? Thanks, Ladies!

 

[mw138]

Henna will always have a reddish tint to it regardless of how long it sits. Since your hair is black already, it shouldn't really change the color at all. You'll probably see the reddish tint when you're in the sun, but it will not make your hair black. You will definitely need indigo to accomplish this.

 

[Determined22]

Henna will always have a reddish tint to it regardless of how long it sits. Since your hair is black already, it shouldn't really change the color at all. You'll probably see the reddish tint when you're in the sun, but it will not make your hair black. You will definitely need indigo to accomplish this.

I was just gonna post that.

Henna will only make your hair red, it can't make it black. You need indigo for that.

 

[preciousjewel76]

I was just gonna post that.

Henna will only make your hair red, it can't make it black. You need indigo for that.

But I think she's asking whether leaving the henna on for a long time now will make her hair darker when she uses her indigo later on....

ETA: After re-reading, maybe you guys were right, LOL. Henna itself doesn't "darken", it highlights your hair.

 

[BrownBetty]

Be prepared for dryness from the lemon.

 

[mw138]

Be prepared for dryness from the lemon.

Just make sure you deep condition after you rinse the henna out.

 

[Cayenne0622]

Be prepared for dryness from the lemon.

MissVee - you beat me to it. I was coming in to post the same thing when I saw her mixture.

To the OP - you may want to add a tablespoon of moisturizing conditioner and a tablespoon of evoo to try to combat that lemon juice. I hope that helps. If not, apply NTM conditioner to your hair during the rins out and that will at least help to detangle. Do an hour deep conditioner after you are done with your henna mixture.

 

[preciousjewel76]

Is the lemon juice/terp even necessary, though? I haven't bothered to use a terp for my 2 henna sessions. I just mix it with water, yogurt, conditioner, and apply. I didn't even let it sit, and I still got nice color from it. Next time, I'll try leaving the henna/water mixture out overnight.

 

[Mocha5]

You ladies are the greatest! Shoot, I didn't even think about the drying affect of the lemon juice...was just trying to get some color release. But guess I'm gonna have to order the indigo. What's you henna/idigo recipes? I'm going for the blackest black.

K, going to do my treatment now. Will definitely add the olive oil and moisturizing conditioner and will do an hour DC...I sooo love yall for answering so quickly...

 

[mscocoface]

I have done two hennas one with the lemon - left my hair a little dry.

One without lemon - hair not dry.

I still got the coloring from the Henna without the lemon. After that I placed the Indigo on and it was fine.

I don't think the lemon is needed but that was my experience.

 

[LaNecia]

The lemon (and other terps) help with the color release, you don't have to use it but you'll get better release utilizing a terp.

Leaving the henna on longer will only give MORE color, not necessarily a DARKER color. The darkening would happen with repeated uses until the hair has taken in as much of the lawsome as it can absorb.

Other than that, I have nothing to add, these ladies got it covered!

 

[mw138]

You ladies are the greatest! Shoot, I didn't even think about the drying affect of the lemon juice...was just trying to get some color release. But guess I'm gonna have to order the indigo. What's you henna/idigo recipes? I'm going for the blackest black.

K, going to do my treatment now. Will definitely add the olive oil and moisturizing conditioner and will do an hour DC...I sooo love yall for answering so quickly...

When I do a henna treatment, I want my hair to turn out more brown than red, so I mix about 50% henna and 50% indigo. If you want to go completely black, you should do the henna treatment, rinse it out, then apply the indigo separately. This will dye your hair black. Here is a link to the hennaforhair.com website that tells you how to achieve jet black hair with the use of henna and indigo.