the SMELL of henna

I did a henna treatment on my hair 3 weeks ago and I swear I can still smell it. Does anyone else experience the lingering smell of henna?? If so, what in the world do you do about it???

LOL my husband and daughter really hate the smell of henna and groan on my henna days. I have a slight lingering smell for only a day or two afterwards though. I co-wash a few times a week, so perhaps that helps to get rid of it.

Perhaps you could put a few drops of essential oil e.g. Rosemary into your follow up deep conditioner?

i've cowashed a few times, done a homemade treatment, done a hot oil treatment and done a deep conditioning treatmemnt (make that two!) since i did my henna. i didn't add any essential oils to my follow-up deep conditioning last time so maybe that'll do the trick. i don't smell the henna all the time but i do when i'm doing a treatment that involves using my hooded dryer. i then smell it the rest of the day. i was just wondering if anyone else experienced this "phenomenon" lol.

Thanks for the tip!!

You could also add your EOs to your mix once it has cooled. I did my first cassia treatment last Thursday and it smelled like black tea. It didn't bother me and I also didn't use a dryer so perhaps the heat is penetrating the scent into your hair.

I add a teaspoon or two of ginger (ground ginger) to my henna mix and it takes the smell almost completely away. I mix my henna first then I dissolve the ginger in a little warm water and add to the henna. By time I rinse my hair with a condition with a nice smell like Giovanni Leave In and Deva No Poo and then condition again, I have a very faint smell if I smell any henna at all when I am done. I got the ginger tip from mehandi.com. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Great tip Curly63!

Thanks curly63. I just started mixing my first henna ever and was like darn, this smells awful! Then I checked the henna forum because I knew someone would have a solution. I love CurlyNikki's forum!

i think i'm going to try the ginger in the henna and the EO in the conditioner. and perhaps the heat (hooded dryer) had something to do with it too. i might shorten the amount of time i sit. thanks for all of the tips!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hubby cant stand the smell of henna even when I dr. it up with EOs. I don't smell it after I rinse it out though. I don't use heat. I usually just sleep in it and rinse it out the next morning.

I love the smell of henna, but realize others may hate it. (Don't know yet.) I mixed my first henna today and used black tea and the juice of one lemon so you know I smell like the forest in autumn. I just finished putting it in my hair and am sitting here with a lovely head full of plastic wrap.

I was thinking that the smell would disappear once I used conditioner but if not, I was going to do a quick apple cider vinegar rinse. Usually that wipes out anything (I love vinegar - I know I am weird!).

After reading more posts I thought that could be a little drying so I have pulled out the rosemary essential oil for tomorrow morning's deep conditioner. Just in case though, has anyone tried vinegar after henna?

If everyone complains when I wake up tomorrow about my earthiness, then next time I'll use the ginger in the mix!

Thanks!!! You are all wonderful ladies!

i'm beginning to think it my was my incessant need to use heat anytime i put plastic wrap on my head that might sealed in the smell. i think i'm going to cut that out completely next time and just sit for longer.

but i toyed around with the idea of an ACV rinse after the deep conditioning. let me know how that works out!

good luck!

Ok, I left the henna mix on overnight wrapped in plastic wrap, a plastic cap and a towel. This morning I swirled in a tub full of warm water and the henna rinsed out first try!(yay!) I have a deep conditioner in now (Kiehls olive oil deep conditioner and PrettyNaturals leave in conditioner - contains rosemary oil)) and the henna smell is going away. I'll check back in later. I did not try additional heat because I left it in for 9 hours. We'll see about the smell...

Sorry I can post any pics yet - no skills!

I've also read that you can add ground cinnamon to your Henna to help with the smell.

The other suggestion is ground clove. However, that will cause the Henna to stain a little darker.

I tried the cinnamon because I'm not really fond of the smell of clove either, and that seemed to help. Yesterday was my second Henna application and the cinnamon seemed to help. Yaay!

I haven't henna'ed in forever but i really hate the smell and would rather not add more "things" to it.

I like the idea of ground ginger or cinnamon. I wanted to mix something with ginger because I love the smell of ginger but it can be very irritating. I just did a henna treatment. So next month's henna tx, I will try this.