What is Henna? - Henna is a plant that is grown in the arid climates found in the Middle East. It's leaves, when crushed and mixed with an acid, release a red/orange dye that can dye fingernails, skin, and in this case, hair. The more arid the climate in which a plant grows, the more red dye will release. It is also known as Lawsonia Inermis. Henna that is labeled as blonde henna, black henna, or neutral henna is not pure henna. There is no such thing. Henna can be mixed with other plant based dyes such as indigo (gives it a blue/black color), cassia (which will give shine and a minimal amount of a golden hue to hair) or amla (which will turn hair brown). Different ratios of the plant dyes can be mixed to find a good color for you, however as with all dye, it can not lighten your hair. If you have dark brown to black hair, your results will be less noticeable as a blonde's results.
Will my hair melt off? - No, this myth is common because when someone asks a hairdresser about henna, they usually think of henna mixed with other metallic salts and chemicals that could damage hair. Pure henna was actually used as a deep conditioning treatment in India, and other Middle Eastern countries hundreds of years ago. If using 100% pure lawsonia inermis, your hair will not melt off.
Will the color fade like all other red dyes do? - This is completely up to the type of hair you have, and what you use on it. When you first rinse out the henna from your hair, it will be a shocking red/orange-ish color, but like an apple when freshly cut, it will oxidize and turn to a deeper color. After the first week, generally henna'ed hair will maintain the color until the roots begin to show through.
What will my hair feel like? - Unlike all other dyes that coat the hair, the henna is actually absorbed into the hair (thus the reason for the long lasting results). Your hair will still feel like your hair once the process is complete, and not like straw.
How long should I leave the henna in my hair? - This is completely up to you, but I do recommend taking a few samples of hair from your brush and testing them. This will take a few hours so set aside time to complete the strand test. I left my henna mix in for about 3 and a half hours.
Can I henna my hair over chemically treated hair? - Yes, however you have to wait at least a month before and after you henna your hair to dye or chemically treat your hair. If you don't then you may have some terrible results. You can't fade henna. Once you henna your hair, you're stuck with it until it grows out or you cut it off. Luckily enough for me, the color was so natural that unless you knew me for years previously, you could not tell that I died my hair. For example, everyone at school and work did not notice that I died my hair. (it may also have to do with the fact that I have very fair skin and ruddy cheeks like a naturally born redhead would) You could use bleach to fade the henna, but the results can vary and you will have extremely damaged hair for years.
Some Friendly Tips:
- When mixing the henna (either the Lush block method, or the powder method) try to achieve the consistency of a thick cake batter, or brownie batter. Stay away from too runny or too thick as it will be difficult to apply to hair, or run down the face if too watered down.
- Make sure you apply some petroleum jelly around you hair line and ears to prevent the henna from dying your skin before you have a chance to wipe it off.
- Apply the henna in your bath tub to avoid a lot of mess.
- Your head will feel heavy once all the henna is applied to your hair, so put an old raggedy towel over your pillow and you can lay down for a few minutes.
- Partition some of your henna to put into a Ziploc bag and apply it to your roots that way. It saves a bit of time and doesn't make such a big mess.
- Have someone to help you if you can.
- Dunk your head in a bucket of warm water to initially rinse most of the henna out and dump the water outside so all the gunk will not go down your drains.
- Have a bunch of leftover conditioner on hand - you hair will feel extremely dry and tangley in the shower. ( I conditioned about 4-5 times)
- If you don't like your hair on the first day, remember that the color will darken over the next few days.
I hope that you learned something new today. If you are considering henna-ing your hair, do your research and be fully committed to being a redhead for a long time.
May smiles and giggles surround you always,
-Amy
The method I chose and my review:
I chose to purchase a block of henna from Lush. I chose the caca Rouge block. I accidentally added less water than I was supposed to, but I feel that this point will not be a huge difference in the actual product.
Price - It was expensive. I paid around $26.00 for the one and only block they had available at the Lush store in my area. I was dissapointed that they didn't have more for backup. I kind of felt nervous about only buying one block.
Ease of Use - This is tricky. As I mentioned, I added less water than I was supposed to. Melting the block of henna took about 15 minutes and even then it wasn't smooth. There were tiny grain like particles in my mixture. It was quite annoying having rice sized things in the paste. It felt, to be honest, like there were flies in my hair. But on the upside, when I was rinsing out my hair, I could tell if there was still some stuck somewhere. The henna was barely enough to cover my then shoulder blade length hair so if you have long hair, be sure that you buy two blocks, just to make sure.
Color Payoff - I have never used henna before, so I am unsure of the color payoff, but the color was definately more muted than what I expected. I don't know if it was the oils that Lush put in the blocks that prevented more color from absorbing, or something else, but I was a little dissapointed.
Overall Impressions - If you have never henna'ed your hair like me, then this would be a great stepping stone to using henna powder. I am on the fence with this one. The price was out of this world, and the grainy thingies in my block turned me off, but the color was nice and natural, so I think that this would be a great starting-to-henna product.
Three Days and a half later:
As I mentioned above, my hair was supposed to darken to more of a reddish auburn color, however, the red in my hair seemed to darken and become less of an orangey orange, and more or a reddy red. Holy Cow! Did not expect that. (No offence meant to the Hindu's) My hair has had a chance to regain all of it's natural oils so my hair does not feel like straw, but I do still deep condition about two times per week anyhow.
6 Months Later - Final Impressions:
My overall experience with henna'ing has been positive. It faded as all dyes do, but the color is still strong in my ends. I have noticed that when I chemically dyed my hair, it not only made it feel like straw, but in the rare occasion that I actually styled my hair, the style didn't hold no matter what products or heat settings I used. ( I didn't go overboard on the heat though) This is not the case when I henna'ed my hair. As I said earlier in the post, my hair still feels like my hair. I was able to style it normally without any kind of a struggle. When it comes to fading, it is noticeable (at least for me) if you really and I mean really looked for it. It is a gradual fading. My hair has been the topic of envy with my mom who also dyed her hair (chemically) red the same day I did. My results were more natural than hers, and my hair actually felt better afterwords. Overall, when I have the time with school and work, I will definitely use henna again!
