1st Henna went horribly wrong

OK... I thought I had done plenty or research, but I think I was blinded by the desire to henna that I didn't stop to think about how my hair might react to it. To begin with I made two VERY major mistakes:

1. I did not detangle my hair before starting... I had been wearing small twists and a twist out for a total of nearly a month, so I had a TON of shed hair that just got tangled up and matted in the henna and subsequent DC.
2. I didn't think about how much protein I was adding to my hair so it ended up not only being matted and tangled but crunch and hard and absolutely a nightmare.

I am looking for the henna gurus in the house to look at the steps I took and make suggestions on what I can do differently to get better results next time. I have also included pics with some of the steps.

Here are my steps.

1. I mixed henna w/ yogurt and herbal tea... it was a thick pudding consistency. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
2. I applied henna mix to my hair starting from the back in small sections until entire head was covered. Because the mix was so thick, I spritzed my head with a little water and smushed the henna all through my hair to make sure it was completely coated. I then pinned my hair up in the back covered with a plastic cap and then a scarf and went to bed. Henna stayed on for a total of about 12 hours.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
3. I rinsed hair using warm water until the water ran clear. At this point hair felt SUPER DRY and even though no more henna was rinsing out, it felt like there was still graininess in my hair. I had already planned to put a coconut milk/banana/avocado deep conditioner on, but before I did that I decided I needed to wash out the henna better.
4. Cleansed scalp and hair with Dr. Bronners Castille Soap... after this hair still felt crazy dry, but not gritty.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
5. Applied mix of coconut milk/banana/avocado/olive oil... I applied it the same way I applied the henna using small sections starting from the back, but even as I was doing it I had a sinking feeling it was going to make things worse as there was a patch of hair in the back that was completely clumped together. I pinned up may hair and covered with a plastic cap for 4 hours.
6. I rinsed hair with warm water until the water ran clear. At this point hair felt like STRAW and it was sticking together like I had glue in it or something... I was starting to panic! The matted section in the back felt HUGE. I came to CN to see what might be the problem and thought protein sensitivity might be the issue.
7. I applied a mix of HE HH, olive oil, Giovanni TTT conditioners and again covered with a plastic cap. This time I also covered with a warmed wet flannel pillowcase to get moist heat on it. I kept reheating the pillowcase as necessary and kept this in my hair for another 4 hours. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
8. After 4 hours I detangled with a shower comb... it took about an hour and 20 minutes to get through my entire head. While the hair was feeling better, it was still feeling dry, just with a bunch of wet slippery stuff on top of it.
9. After detangling I cowashed with Suave apple conditioner and brushed though the hair with my denman brush to make sure all of the grit from the henna and bits and pieces from the avocado and banana were out of my hair.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
10. Finally after the cowash I applied Giovanni direct leave in and olive oil and sectioned and braided hair and let air dry. While it was drying I applied some castor oil with my fingers to my scalp because it was feeling crazy itchy... I tried to keep it light, but whenever it would itch again I applied a little more.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
11. I finally took out the braids this morning, and while the hair looks pretty good, it still feels out of whack and I am not sure exactly how to explain it.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Any advice you ladies can provide is greatly appreciated.

Here are the steps I followed:
http://public.fotki.com/RBGchick/hair-challenges/henna-1/henna/

After you rinse out the henna you may want to DC instead of shampooing. The henna CAN dry you out and shampoo will worsen that. Also it seems like you used a lot of products-maybe next time trying a little less. You never know how they are going to react against each other.
I would suggest DCing until your hair feels "back to normal"

The mistake was the yogurt...thats protein so adding it 2 the henna gave u a keratin/protein overload! Use water or tea and thats it..honey if u must add something...but whatever u do...lay off the protein b4 or immediately after henna. HTH! U have gorgeous hair by the way!

I agree, the yogurt was too much. I suggest to keep your henna mix simple. My mixture is just henna, chamomile tea, and honey (if I remember). Thats all. I wash my hair and finger comb through to get out tangles before I apply the henna. I let my henna sit for 6 to 8 hours and then rinse it out. First I just use water, then I rinse with conditioner (HE or Garnier Fructise). After that I deep condition (and add a little oil) and let that sit for about 4 hrs. After I wash that out my hair is soft again (henna leaves it kind of dry at first).

Dr. Bronners can be very drying if it is not diluted! I used Dr. Bronners Lavender Castille after my first henna and my hair was ultra crunchy. After my second henna treatment, I co-washed for about 3 weeks then I shampooed my hair with Nyle shampoo. This East Indian woman at the market told me to use Nyle shampoo with henna. I do not know if there is truth to it but she a had braid as long as my leg down her back and about as thick as my arm. Also, after the second henna I focused on moisture and put some Amla oil and some Hesh Almond Herbal oil in my hair for twelve hours and then sat under a hard hat dryer for 30 minutes. I have never had crunchy post henna hair again.

I don't know if all the blame can be placed on the yogurt because that is what I used and it turned out great. My hair was wonderfully soft and I more than likely will do it again (if the yogurt is on sale ). I think it was a combination of products. Product overload can kill your hair no matter what treatment you are doing.

I think the problem with yogurt is that it impacts each of us differently. I did a ton of research before applying my first henna and although there were LOTS of good and interesting mixes out there, I decided to keep it simple.

I just mixed with green tea and after the dye release (I waited 8 hours), I then added a little more green tea, some honey and a couple drops of lavender EO for fragrance. There are a TON of more things I want to try in my mixes but I thought it was important to start off simple with things that worked for almost everyone.

Also, I would definitely detangle next time before applying the henna. I actually applied my henna to damp hair b/c it made it easier to part and such.

But everyone is right, henna can be drying for some so a good DT after can definitely help. I hope you give it another shot!

If I may interject here! I also, like Tia use yogurt. In fact the lady at my Indian grocery store- states that is what they use. They only use water or plain yogurt. When I told her that people add oils and use various teas - she laughed!

I am also protein sensitive! This is where you went wrong
5. Applied mix of coconut milk/banana/avocado/olive oil

You sound like you are protein sensitive.

My hair would have dried out soo bad from that concoction! I would be adding oils to it until My pillow would have looked like a soul glow commercial!


I would definitely lay off off bananas, coconut milk & avocado

Okay, I read your routine carefully and one point I'd like to bring up is that perhaps having henna in your hair for 12 hours (possibly also the combination with yoghurt as well?) was just too much for it. Perhaps another time, you could experiment with mixing it, letting it sit until the dye releases first and then putting it on your hair for 2-3 hours only? This is the more common way of doing it, although I've done both.

It's all a matter of experimentation and finding what works for you. Your hair photos look absolutely gorgeous though! That hair is so thick and shiny. I think with another co-wash tomorrow it will feel back to its normal self.

NylaCoils wrote:If I may interject here! I also, like Tia use yogurt. In fact the lady at my Indian grocery store- states that is what they use. They only use water or plain yogurt. When I told her that people add oils and use various teas - she laughed!

I am also protein sensitive! This is where you went wrong
5. Applied mix of coconut milk/banana/avocado/olive oil

You sound like you are protein sensitive.

My hair would have dried out soo bad from that concoction! I would be adding oils to it until My pillow would have looked like a soul glow commercial!


I would definitely lay off off bananas, coconut milk & avocado

If she's protein sensitive yogurt would be detrimental because that too is protein.?! I also asked a lady at the indian store she said lemon juice or water either releases the dye. So it sounds, like everything else, trial & error...what works for me may not work for you. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I think the tricky thing with henna, is that everyone suggests something different. From yogurt, to lemon juice, to tea, to oils, it depends on what your hair can handle. Like tia said, you should probably keep products minimal. The shampoo-ing post henna is automatically out, since henna is drying and the shampoo is as well. From what I've noticed, those who have successful henna treatments usually cowash and DC after henna. I'm protein sensitive so henna alone is a bit much for me. I have to cowash with nearly an entire bottle of condish and then dc with heat to prevent me from being a scarecrow! Hope this helps.