Henna-drying

i just asked my hair stylist about putting henna in my hair. she said it was very drying.

i
have very fine, very very dry 4a hair. i did my chop last june. it is
also short because i can't keep it moisturized enough to grow it out
enough to have twist. (i put moisture in my hair every day with komaza
products, deep condition sometimes twice a week)

i was thinking that if i cut it close to my head and give it a nice
brown henna color (it's black right now), i could start over.

any advice?

Lately I have been hearing about a lot of stylist giving misinformation.
I did henna and it was anything but drying. It depends a lot on your mix. Check out the Henna mix thread and you will see that there are a lot of options.

Thanks for the response.

thanks for the info. i did decide to try henna and not cut my hair. so i went to whole foods and brought a henna cream (already mixed with brazil nut oil & aloe vera) called surya henna brasil cream. it was not drying at all! as a matter of fact, my hair stayed soft for almost two weeks, along with a deep conditioner along the way. and i saw less shedding when i detangled.

i used komaza care olive oil deep conditioner. but i will try the jessicurl when it runs out. (trying not to be a product junkie)

i'll also try your dark of moon henna treatment as well.

thanks

Hi Reggiestr,

No problem, I have seen the henna cream at Sunflower too and wasn't sure if I should buy it. But given your account, it may be worth a try. Is it like applying henna (making a concoction) or is it more like a deep conditioner such as "Henna Placenta"? I would like to see less shedding too. But yes, do give either a try, you shouldn't be disappointed.

I use Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle and it's not really moisturising- no matter how long I sit under a heathood. How do you like Komaza Care Olive oil? Is it one I can pick up in a store?

Thanks!

hi fritter,

the henna cream says "hair coloring and hair treatment". it did make my hair a nice deep shiny black and soften it, so i would agree with both.

the komaza care conditioner is only available on-line: http://www.komazahaircare.com/products/120/Olive+Moisture+Mask.html

however, they ship fast. also, most of their products are available in a smaller sample size. that way if you don't like it, you won't be stuck with a tub full.

let me know how it works for you.

Sounds lovely, I'd have to try the henna cream soon and I'll be sure to post my results too.

Komaza's next on my list

Thanks again.

I used to use Surya Henna cream before I went to using 100% henna and indigo and I recommend it. It had a nice conditioning effect on my hair and I think the best thing about it is that it has a similar convenience factor as in the box dye, only taking slightly longer and being a lot less messy. I did leave it on my hair for an extra hour than recommended to ensure that the colour took more deeply.
The downside is that it does wash out - the colour lasted 2 weeks for me, bearing in mind that I am a frequent co-washer. I have a fair it of grey and wanted something more permanent, which was partly why I went to using henna and indigo powder. They are both conditioning but I've personally found that henna powder a bit more so. Henna cream only has a small amount of henna in it and they have mixed it with other natural compounds (not metallic).

I noticed in the instructions that they made the comment that they had received a lot of positive feedback from their customers with afro hair.

Anyway hope you like your results.

Thanks R2D2 for the info. I have put it on my list to try when I ran out of my current products.

Henna is drying to my hair so I can relate. However, Like the previous posters suggest - Moisture. After I henna, I do the baggy method overnight and that remedies the problem!

Well dang, it looks like I am the only one that didn't experience drying. Did anyone else mix with yogurt?

@Tiashauntee: lol, no I did not mix with yogurt. I had heard about that mix but wasn't sure if I'd run into problems washing it out. Did you and what kind of yogurt?

FritterFritter wrote:@Tiashauntee: lol, no I did not mix with yogurt. I had heard about that mix but wasn't sure if I'd run into problems washing it out. Did you and what kind of yogurt?

Just some store brand plain yogurt. I was nervous so I want to use something kind of neutral. Hennaforhair says not to use yogurt...but I can be kind of a rebel at times

I, too, stole Tia's idea and used yogurt... =)

Application wasn't as messy, rinse out wasn't a problem, and it didn't dry my hair out at all either. I guess the only "down" was I didn't get as much of the color that others get.... but to me, all the other benefits outweighed the lack of color, which I can technically see slightly in the sunlight....

Thanks Tia, I will try it in my next application & thanks CurlieC, I'm happy to hear it isn't much of a hassle. I don't care much for the colour anyway. I really like the henna I currently have and it has great dye release, which is a property I'm not looking for. I will give yogurt a shot.

I use yogurt! Love the application of the henna- It still dries out my hair! I have used fresh squeezed lemons and acv -also !
No matter the mix - i still have to baggy to prevent dryness. I think because henna is a protein and my hair is protein sensitive!

I hear you Nyla, same here. I can't imagine soft, glorious hair after henna. It just leaves my hair sort of squeaky, like it's dry even though it's wet. But it does make my strands strong and that's why I like henna. It is only after I deep condition that I have soft, silk-like strands.

I will be surprised if yogurt makes a difference and I'm willing to give it a try.

Or if you have any cans of coconut milk in the cupboard use those! I think this has a similar effect to yoghurt. I did find henna a lot less drying when I switched to mixing it only with coconut milk. Prior to that I used green tea. My worst dryness result was when I added some ACV to the mix. The dye release was the same as without ACV, so I didn't do it again.

I just did my first henna treatment and my hair is so dry right now, it hasn't been like this in a very long time but I've been doing my best to get the moisture back. I deep conditioned but I under estimated how long my hair has grown and only got one packet and had to mix that with my regular conditioner I left it on for about 2-3 hours and it was still dry. Perhaps it was because I used a shampoo for the first time in about 7-8 months and my hair was not happy after I did that. I but some leave in conditioner in afterwards cause I didn't want too much product in my hair when I did the henna. I had a hard time getting the henna out so I had to cowash it like 4 times. I will get the Jamila henna next time I used a herbal henna mix and the herbs are what I couldn't get out (seemingly) I had branches and stuff stuck in my hair. What can I do to get the moisture back it's been 2 days since I did it. Excuse long message, I hate dry hair!!!

Angelica, have u tried to deep condition with olive oil + cling film. Wrap your head with cling film and sit under a heated hood. It seems to work for me and I have dry course thick 4a/b hair. Let me know

angelic- I have to DC with an oil! after I apply henna! My hair doesn't like olive oil! Nyla is more of an avocado or sweet almond oil kind of girl! Try different oils to after you do the henna! I don't apply oil to my mix because the color wont adhere to my hair as well. However once all the henna is out! I HAVE TO DC! Or experience desert dry hair!

Thanks ladies I'll try the cling wrap dc and maybe experiment w/ some other oils...my hair actually loves olive oil but coconut oil is my hairs favorite thus far. Can you DC with coconut oil? It's weird because parts of my hair feel very soft but the ends and the sides feel dry I have it in twist now and I'm leaving it alone until tomorrow when I go to church maybe keeping it covered will help....we'll see how it goes. FritterFritter I don't have a hooded dryer will it still work for me?

Hi Angelic, I really like coconut oil too and it is effective as Deep conditioner. You don't necessarily need a hood, but you may have to keep it on for a longer period. I walk around the house doing chores with my hair in oil+clingfilm, then I sit under the hood for 30min. You can keep it one for a few hours and then maybe take a hot shower so the steam increases the effect. I may not even use my hood as often anymore, it leaves my scalp a bit tender Hope this helps.

@FritterFritter & Angelic: You might be interested in this article about coconut oil

http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2003/cc054n02/p00175-p00192.pdf

It provides research support about the effectiveness of coconut oil. This article made me love coconut oil even more