those who color with henna...

[ladylibra]

i'm going to use henna for the first time ever this weekend. mainly for the protein/conditioning properties, but also i like the ones i've seen people use that give them a reddish tint to their hair... or also i've seen some that use it to go jet-black.

so um... i'm just wondering if anyone else here uses henna for both purposes? if so, how do you do it? how long does the color last you, or do you just do it continually so you don't really know? and do you have any other tips for me?

sorry so many questions...

 

[AKA-Tude]

After playing with mixtures, I find that I can color, cover grays, & gain strength from a 1:1 mix of henna & indigo.

I mix the henna & store for color release overnite, then mix the indigo seperately right b4 using, then mix w/henna; apply; wait for a few hours; then rinse, poo & con.

Just henna gave me a reddish hue & colored the grays a bright red.

With the 'hendigo', it's a nice but darker brown & covers grays nicely. ( My siggy doesn't reflect this- I will update soon.)

I hendigo every 4-6 wks.

HTH

 

[Knowledge is Power]

After playing with mixtures, I find that I can color, cover grays, & gain strength from a 1:1 mix of henna & indigo.

I mix the henna & store for color release overnite, then mix the indigo seperately right b4 using, then mix w/henna; apply; wait for a few hours; then rinse, poo & con.

Just henna gave me a reddish hue & colored the grays a bright red.

With the 'hendigo', it's a nice but darker brown & covers grays nicely. ( My siggy doesn't reflect this- I will update soon.)

I hendigo every 4-6 wks.

HTH

Is the pic in your siggy a result of using henna alone? If so, the color is nice! I ordered henna today and I'm looking forward to a more auburn look.

 

[grnidmonster]

I do the same thing that AKA-Tude does. The henna alone was too red for me. I like the chestnut brown I get with the Hendigo and my grey now looks like highlights.

I do add honey and lavendar to the mixture though. The Honey makes it super soft and easier to wash out, the lavendar kills the hay smell. HTH

 

[ajargon02]

eta: you can read all about henna from her. I and many others have delt w/ the owner Catherine, and she's got the best quality,awesome prices, and when you order, it comes w/ even more instructions on how to use and mix it. You can always check out the site to see what others are using in their mixes as well. It's just loaded w/info. you should check it out!

http://www.mehandi.com/shop/index.html

 

[Isis]

eta: you can read all about henna from her. I and many others have delt w/ the owner Catherine, and she's got the best quality,awesome prices, and when you order, it comes w/ even more instructions on how to use and mix it. You can always check out the site to see what others are using in their mixes as well. It's just loaded w/info. you should check it out!

http://www.mehandi.com/shop/index.html

I agree, Catherine has a lot of info and pictures on her site with recipes and a free e-book. That's how I got my recipe using henna, amla and indigo to maintain my natural dark brown/auburn hair color.

Here is the link of another henna expert who is also a member here. She has a lot of good info also:

www.hennasooq.com

 

[AKA-Tude]

Is the pic in your siggy a result of using henna alone? If so, the color is nice! I ordered henna today and I'm looking forward to a more auburn look.

No, that is henna over light ash blond (that irritated the heck outta my scalp, BTWerplexed ).

 

[ladylibra]

eta: you can read all about henna from her. I and many others have delt w/ the owner Catherine, and she's got the best quality,awesome prices, and when you order, it comes w/ even more instructions on how to use and mix it. You can always check out the site to see what others are using in their mixes as well. It's just loaded w/info. you should check it out!

http://www.mehandi.com/shop/index.html

actually that's the site i ordered from!

i love her site, very informative and helpful. just wanted to also get advice from y'all here.

well i'm going to use the sample pack tonite to see how i like the results. i'll be sure to take pics and let y'all know how it goes!

 

[ladylibra]

okay... did it last night on one teeny tiny section. but i did not get much of a color change. erplexed i think i've pinpointed why it didn't come out as well as i wanted:

1) don't think the hair was completely dry
2) i don't think i left it on long enough... my hair is resistant to chemicals so maybe i should've done 4 hours instead of just 2.
3) maybe i added too much honey? i'm not sure if that would affect the color process or not...

but i can say this - that hair looks fabulous! it's very shiny, and when i rinsed out the henna it felt super-smooth. i saw a shed hair come out, so i kept it. when it dried i pulled on it, and it did take more effort to break the strand. so the color may not have deposited well, but the conditioning/strenghtening was definitely there!

so i will probably do my whole head sometime tomorrow after class, while my son is still at daycare. this way i can just sit around the house watching TV and let the henna do its thing. maybe i will get some color results tomorrow. i did take pics but since i'm not at home and i forgot to bring my phone charger, my phone died on me. i can't upload them right now, but i'll add them after tomorrow with the entire head pics.