Cocoa Henna

I mixed my concoction Saturday evening. I didn't really measure, but I think I used the following:

100g Yemen Henna
1 c. Hershey's Naturally Unsweetened Cocoa (Could not find organic cocoa to save my life...not at Krogers anyway)
Ground Ginger
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Enough purified water to bring it to a pudding consistency.

*The addition of the cocoa gave me a HUGE amount of henna. Maybe I can sell it to an unsuspecting person, huh? LOL I'm serious. I have enough of this particular mixture to henna every day this week and maybe next week. My hair is between 2.5 and 3 inches all over and I'm positive I used plenty to get great coverage and there's loads left. I guess that's a good thing. I popped it in the freezer.

My goal was to not have very, very bright, coppery red hairs in place of my ugly gray/white/silver hairs along my crown and over my ears. I don't care about the non-gray hair being colored or not, just gray coverage that doesn't look like Bozo the Clown.

My 4 y.o. nephew watched me mix it and said it looked like chocolate pudding. It really did. I was tempted to have a taste. I mixed it in one of those clear disposable Glad plastic containers that come with lids. I ripped a piece of wax paper off the roll and pressed it down over the mixture, cut off the overhanging edges and popped the red top on. I let it sit overnight until about 3PM Sunday. *I was too lazy to get up and do it this morning.

Anyway, I applied the henna in the bathroom over my dry hair. I was wearing latex hospital gloves (huge stash from all of my dad's hospital stays) and just plunged both hands into the mixture (which I didn't need to add any other liquid to...it was still really moist, FRAGRANT (ugh) and the consistency of chocolate pudding). I mixed it up a bit with one gloved hand and then began glopping it into my scalp and hair.

It was really easy, but I admit I let out the occasional squeal...I dunno. The last time I made a mudpie I was probably 5 years old. This sort of grossed me out in some way. Anyway, I applied it basically like I was shampooing my hair. I rubbed it in, smeared it on, slathered it back and forth and was so happy when I was done. I'd newspapered the bathroom sink/vanity, but there were only teeny specks of henna mix anywhere. I'm used to coloring my hair and not making a mess.

Anyway, I put on 3 plastic caps and had the hardest time trying to fit my glasses over all of that. It was about 3:52, by the time I finished, and that included set up (newspaper) and clean up. I went about the rest of my day with just the plastic caps on. Around 6PM I was sleepy so I wrapped a medium sized towel around my head, secured it with an ouchless headband (brand new and TIGHT) and went to sleep.

I began rinsing in the tub at 10PM. I did not bother counting the rinses because I knew I'd lose track. I rinsed with lukewarm water and it was just gross. My tub looked like Willy Wonka's chocolate river, so I'd stop after about a gazillion rinses and rinse the tub out, then go back to rinsing. I was trying to get to the "almost clear" point of my rinsing and that didn't happen for a while. Finally, I glopped on some TJ Tea Tree Tingle condish and rubbed that in and rinsed it out...still brown. I added some more of it and scrubbed again and rinsed it out...just off white. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and then rinsed the tub again and then added a last glop of TTT and scrubbed and scrubbed and did a final good rinse.

I can barely move. My shoulders, neck, back, and knees feel like I tried to crawl from Alabama to NY and back.

Anyway, I managed to get up, squeezed out the excess water and saw that my gray was indeed covered. It's a nice auburn color that doesn't stand out. I had mom and dad both check my head and they could "sort of" see the reddish tones covering the gray directly under an overhead light. And that's fine with me...I wasn't going for Annie color, kwim? I applied a generous amount of Jessicurl WDCT and J. Carter Replenishing Conditioner something and now I'm in bed with two plastic caps on and I'll rinse this out in the morning.

I have just a couple of pix. I couldn't get a decent "after" pic that would show a great difference between the grays before and now. Maybe I can get one in the sun tomorrow.

Sorry it's so long. I just wanted to share what I did and how I felt about it. I'm happy with the results, but there's no way I want to do this more than once a month. I could have gotten in the shower, but I just had this thing about that muddy concoction winding up in all the wrong places, kwim? LOL

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That sounds yummy! for gray coverage

Yay, I am glad you like it. I cannot henna more that once a month. I have to much hair to be doing that but I love the color I get.

Thanks for the post I neede it. I have gray coverage in some of the same areas and I have been petrified to henna becasue I don't want the results of the gray to look too crazy.

Im trying the cocoa henna as we speak. I will post pics once it's complete. I wanted to try this before i purchase the indigo. I really dont want black hair. I LOVE henna, but the red is getting a little out of hand. I am naturally gray so the red lights up more than a christmas tree. LOL

If this doesn't work off to indigo i go...

I'm glad you like the henna. I made gelled henna and it rinsed out so easy, didn't take much more time than a relaxer used to.

MicaiahTy - The henna for hair site has a bunch of henna/indigo recipes to acheive different levels of brown, red and black. That way you don't have to have black hair with indigo, you can get a nice shade of dark auburn or brown that is not too dark,

Henna Mixes

OMG.. I LOVE HOW it toned down my "hot like fy-ya" Roots. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

at first, my roots were COPPER...now its still red, but not as brassy which I love!!!

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/img]


I used the coco, green tea and cloves (boiled cloves) mixed it with my henna/alma/shakakai mix.

I didnt want my hair to be black so this works PERFECTLY.. being that I have been gray since I was 13, this is a God send.. I am a henna head for life and i didnt want to go back to hair dyes...Thank you SOOOOO Much ladies. Madeaj, I will check out that site for more receipes.