Henna today

In July I went for full independence and did (another) BC. It has been a real struggle as my hair is thinning with age and bad treatment. It is growing slowly, but I haven't been happy as I wanted. Last month I tried adding crochet braids. The look is great and a nice change. The I read about henna to strengthen my hair. I was so excited to get going with this I didn't wait for my Indigo to come in. A mad search led me to the henna powder but Indigo had to be ordered. I mixed with lemon juice and mostly water, let it sit for 12 hrs. I added a little natural honey stirred and took the plung. I slapped on two plastic caps and a scraf and went to bed. About 10 hrs. later it rinsed out well, my hair a little rough, but my hair doesn't really like protein. I applied a conditioner twice and then washed with a moisture shampoo. I now have the deep conditioner in. The only thing is, I had a whole lot more gray hair than I thought! It had colored before and it all is bright red right now. I know it will warm it a couple of days, but dang! If I had waited for the Indigo I wouldn't have this issue now. Wish I could load pics.

I've never tried Henna, so I would love to see some before and after photos. Keep trying to load the photos. Also welcome to the forum!

I hope you can find this. The color is real "brite", should calm down some. Really should have waited for the indigo to arrive.



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First of i want to say that... I LOVE YOUR AVATAR picture! My mom has that same calender and post cards with her face and other drawings. And I LOVE her symbol on her neck. It's one of my FAVORITE adinkra symbols!

You didn't want it to come out that way?

anyway back to hair... It came out really good for henna! It doesn't usually come out that bright but It looks nice I like it. It will warm out in a few days but once again I like it! Maybe I will try the method you did because I want the color to show more. You can also get a transparent henna but if you don't want any color.

What kid of henna did you use? I find some hennas are brighter/darker than others. The first time I did henna, some sun high-lightened areas were bright for the first two days then it mellowed out.

Its hard to see in this picture, but this is my color in that area once the color settled down.

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My grays were bright, fire engine red. Sorry I don't have pictures of those...

Like Carla, my question would be what type of henna you used. The tones/depth differs from one kind to the next. Before I started, I know I wanted a henna that deposited towards the burgundy spectrum, so I use Rajasthani.

You can manipulate henna with additives. I make a strong hibiscus tea and use as my liquid. Some ppl add cinnamon, hibiscus powder, coffee, etc. teas and coffee also serve as your weak acid to enhance dye release.

Here is a link where you can learn more about the tone the various hennas color towards and you can select the most appropriate one for you.

http://hennablogspot.com/20/

If you are seeking conditioning/strengthening properties, don't wait for dye release or you can do a henna gloss like some of the ladies here. You can also do a cassia treatment.

You can still use the Indigo or henna more times with an equal or higher ratio of amla powder. Now, I do a 50/50 ratio of amla:henna to my roots in areas where I have grey. Also, the henna I use is not as bright since it lends towards burgundy instead of red. Bueno suerte!

I used the Afsan I think. The amount of gray I have is what caught me off guard. I added the indigo on Mon., no more henna just the indigo as I thought the henna coverage was good. It covered well, not really black but maybe a 1B color; left it on about 45 min. The next time I will do it as a hennaindigo mix. I'm thinking only about 10% henna to go a little darker. The pic with the indigo in.


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