Buying Henna

Hello all,

What website do you use to purchase henna?

Thanks bunches!

I buy mine at Henna for Hair. I got the Celebration, excellent results! Fast dye release.

I actually go to whole foods and get my henna...i'm too impatient to buy it online sometimes. It runs me about $4-6 at Whole Foods and works quite well.

I ordered mine's from mehandi.com. Awaiting the arrival of some cassia as I type!

Hello Ladies! I bought my henna from whole foods today, and I'd like a VERY simple mixture. What would you all suggest I add to it?

Ladies, how lucky you are - I wish my WF carried henna .
I get my ayurvedic products from butters-n-bars.com and I luv it! I bought cassia, and amla for $6.99 and $5.99 respectively.

I bought some indigo today from ecrater.com, the sellers name was henna lounge. I usually buy my henna from mehandi tho.
@newly curly girly- I mix with warm strong green tea then after dye release, a few tablespoons of honey to make it smooth and consistency of pudding. But if you want very simple, just mix with diluted orange juice.

@Madeaj, I have the Celebration too, haven't applied yet because I'm a little scared of the gray hairs turning bright red or orange. What did you mix yours with and did you experience a change in your curl pattern after applying it.

ajsimmons8 I have about 10 or more grays and they turned a dark copper (like a penny) after 1 henna and 2 50/50 henna glosses. I used Fia's Smooth Gelled Henna.
Henna, white tea, red zinger, fruit pectin for the gel.

I haven't experience a change in curl pattern. It is easier to detangle and I have less frizz although my hair has always been frizzy and flyaway. It still it, just not as much as before the henna.

Thanks Madeaj, I'm going to try my first henna sometime this week..... fingers crossed that I don't come out looking like a red mop.

www.hennasooq.com Khadijah is the owner and the customer service is A-1. I spoke with her by phone and communicated with her by email NUMEROUS times. Rec'd henna in 2 days and she even emailed me after my first henna (on a Sunday) to see how things went. Several henna options that you may not hear about often, such as Moroccan henna, and some products are USDA certified organic. She also has samples (cost 1 cent). Carries other products and is very honest (based on a discussion we had about phasing out the amla oil with mineral oil, which she is doing). She is very experienced. The henna tattoo work on the homepage is her work. 10% discount avail to members of another forum (I think it is naturally curly). I am a member, so I saved a little money.

Hey Ladies,

I buy my henna from butters-n-bars.com She's a sista located somewhere in PA and sells henna and other great stuff. She's also on Curly Nikki. There are not may indian stores around this way, so online works best for me. Her prices are the most reasonable...500g of Jamilla 2009 summer crop for about $25. I paid the same for only 200g from Mehandi.com. It's best to buy it 500g at a time, because you will have it for a while (depending on length of your hair) so you don't feel the "OMG I wish it comes faster" feeling when you are all out and waiting for a shipment, and you pay shipping only once.

ajsimmons8 wrote:Thanks Madeaj, I'm going to try my first henna sometime this week..... fingers crossed that I don't come out looking like a red mop.

Don't worry...you are thinking of Lucille Ball (she supposedly used henna to get her red). My hair is henna'ed in my picture and you can't even tell...only in the sun! It makes my gray hairs a coppery red color, but it looks like highlights.

Good luck...keep us posted on your results!

Thanks Mel, I put the henna this morning and have it in while I'm typing now. I did the 1 step method and added about 2 ounces of Indigo to the mixture and also added Amla. I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out. My gray hairs are so resistant to color, I'm excited to see how well the henna covers them them.

NewlyCG, is your goal color, conditioning, or both? A simple traditional Indian mix is acid to enhance dye release and water. Many ladies from Indian use lemon juice or tea. I know a couple who use coffee. If you have a color goal, the more viscous ingredients like oils and other ingredients that are thick, the more you diminish the henna color uptake (less red color and/or longer to get it). I have a simple recipe of amla (to help retain my curl pattern) and I use a strong homemade hibiscus tea as the liquid (to enhance the red color). You can use red zinger instead of making the tea, if that is something you are interested in. If you use just tea, green, black, and chamomile are common choices. 2 teabags per 1 c of water is a nice strong tea ratio.

Let the truth be told, plain water would do, but the acid speeds up the dye release so you aren't waiting forever.

I have seen the henna at WF, but haven't taken the time to read the boxes. Report back on your experience, if you can. Just wondering, how do the directions say mix it? Lemon juice is often mentioned, but it can be very drying. Just be careful and condition very, very well afterwards regardless to what mix you decide.

aj, if you don't mind me asking, do you know why your grays are "resistant"" to color? I have read a couple of other people say that and there was something in their process that, once modified, gave them great results. If you do not have good results this time and are interested in identifying the "culprit," lay out your process so we can help. I gained an influx of gray hairs in 3 months from intense stress and haven't had any problems covering the gray with the henna. GOOD LUCK

NewlyCG, I forgot to mention, if you don't want your curl pattern to loosen and decide to use amla, it is acidic and no other acid is necessary. The amla fruit has an incredibly high Vitamin C content. I have read it is 30 times that of oranges. Its very good for the hair.

Hi Ladies, soooooo I just completed my very henna I know the final color usually takes about 2 days to come through due to the oxidation and all, but what has me very concerned right now is my hairline in the front where prior to the henna, was predominately all gray; Now the color is a bright orange Is this "normal" or is there something I can do to fix my orange hairline in the front. The rest of my hair came out a dark brown with deep red/burgundy highlights which is what I was going for.

I purchase my henna from http://butters-n-bars.com/henna4hair.html and use the "CurlyNikki" code for a discount. ButterQueen, aka Sharika had a sale so I racked up and have enough until about Summer.

AJ, welcome to the world of Henna. That bright brassy orange is normal unless you have indigo on hand and do the 2-step. You may also take a warm curling iron and roll across the hairline for the henna to darken faster. Be careful and apply some oil or heat protector. Sometimes I just use the Kiss brand hair color in a stick (looks like mascara on a stick) and brush it where I want to tone down the color.

Thank you envizionj. I'll try to curling iron and see if that helps. I was nervous to begin with doing the henna and then when I saw the orange hairline, I freaked out a little. Will the orange go away after a few days if I don't use the curling iron?

I did use rajasthani henna once and my gray hairs were bright red (not orange). Jamila henna leaves my gray hair orange.

Thanks ladies, I think I'll let it sit for a day, without putting any heat on it; I've been really good about not applying heat to my hair and if possible would like to continue that especially on my hairline, which is very fragile to begin with. If it's still bright orange tomorrow, I may try a couple of options I read on the henna for hair forum;

option one - apply amla paste only to my hairline to see if that will tone the orange down.

option two - use a 4: 1 ratio of indigo and henna/alma followed up with a henna/indigo gloss

the weird thing is; even though this is my first henna experience, I'm ok with the results, because i know it's not chemicals and I can always try and repair the color with another henna treatment if needed.

Great suggestion envizionj - thank you. I'll try that tomorrow. I'm too tired tonight to try anything but getting a good night's sleep. I was so excited to apply the henna today, that all last night I kept dreaming of doing the henna.

This is my recipe for henna, i think it's fairly simple but...lol

2 cups Pineapple juice
1 cup Yes to Cucumbers
1/2 cup V05 Strawberries n Cream Moisture Milk

I added the juice one cup at a time for easy mixing and less mess lol. my hair LOVES protein so I added to the V05 (even though Henna is considered a protein treatment). And I used the YTC to aid in rinse out and help with moisture retention. Moptopmaven has a variation of this recipe on her page also. I chose the pineapple juice because lemon is to drying and OJ has too much potassium for me. Hope this helps! Oh yeah, I used a cinnamon kit form mehandi.com (i have/had blond highlights) and love red hair!