Using Henna With Only Lemon Juice

Hi ladies,

I was sitting here wondering, with a very random henna thought lol, what are the results like for henna users over time if they never change their henna mixture? For example, both of my henna treatments were straight-forward lemon juice and BAQ henna mixes. I had no problems at all either time. I know alot of you ladies stay away from only lemon juice at all costs but for those of you who are in the rare few, what have your lemon-juice only mixes do to your hair over time?

Also, would any of you long-term users/experts (non-lemon and pro-lemon ) suggest a change?

I'm not due for my next treatment for another month or so but this gives me something to consider beforehand.

Thanks in advance!! (off to class I go [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] )

I'm a non lemon juice user but I'd say that if it is working for you and you aren't seeing any dryness then stick with that formula. If it wasn't working for you, you'd certainly notice from having your hair being very dry and breaking off, but this is not happening for you.

The dryness is the only downside I have noticed about lemon for many people with Afro hair. There are no other long term side effects that I'm aware of.

If it ain't broke then don't fix it

R2D2 wrote:
If it ain't broke then don't fix it [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I've always liked that philosophy! lol Thanks for your input. I have only seen/read so many things about using lemon juice and dryness is the only main thing I've heard also. I guess either nobody has ever really used it long-term on afro hair to really know, like most people probably start experimenting with new mixes sooner than later [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Hmm...

I am not sure if it was the lemon juice or just the first henna but my hair felt like a bag of Lays potato chips. It was crunchy and loud. I just think that the lemon juice was too acidic for my hair.

@ DreamMerchant, that seems to be the most popular problem. I guess I'm one of the lucky few who don't have that feeling afterwards. Hopefully it will stay that way lol

I've been using Jamila Henna and Lemon Juice for a year now....honestly...henna dry your hair out no matter what you use....you have to offset it with a deep moisturizing treatment..whether you use lemon juice or not...I don't know of anyone that actually did a henna treatment and after there hair is soft...henna does not make your hair soft..it strengthens it...you then have to soften it yourself....same as a protein treatment..it suppose to make the hair hard to "strengthen" it...then you moisturize your hair after...its needed to make you hair strong its one of the requirements to grow beautiful thick long hair....

Nappturall wrote:I've been using Jamila Henna and Lemon Juice for a year now....honestly...henna dry your hair out no matter what you use....you have to offset it with a deep moisturizing treatment..whether you use lemon juice or not...I don't know of anyone that actually did a henna treatment and after there hair is soft...henna does not make your hair soft..it strengthens it...you then have to soften it yourself....same as a protein treatment..it suppose to make the hair hard to "strengthen" it...then you moisturize your hair after...its needed to make you hair strong its one of the requirements to grow beautiful thick long hair....

After reading [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] all the info on Henna and how it dries the hair... my first thought was it's like a protein treatment. Which means a deep moisturizing conditioner after the Henna application.

I will try the Aphogee Moisture Balancing Conditioner or Elasta QP DPR-11 both are deep moisturizing conditioners.

Did not fine anyone else who mentioned this but you that I've read (same as a protein treatment). I was going through the forum thinking am I the only person who thinks this. Thanks for the info.

Lovely

I use ACV, personally. When I first started I used lemon juice but didn't like the smell and that type of acid. So I switched to ACV and I have been using that ever since. The acid just releases the color. So I believe it's just personal preferance to which acid you want to use. Some curlies use orange juice.

Also, I have been using henna for going on 1 year now and I have found that over time my hair has become softer, not drier (however not extremely soft) after a plain water wash out. I still use condish for as a cowash several times after the water wash out. Then DC afterwards. By the rinse out of DC phase my hair is extremely soft.

@Lena_Jolie: I have never used henna before, but i was reading up on cassia and I read some where (i 'm sorry i dont remember were) that you can use orange juice too, I thing you just need something acidic to release the color

Cassia won't release as much colour as henna. That's why many people who don't want colour use it for similar conditioning benefits as henna but without the colour. Some people who have mixed it with acid have sometimes experienced a greenish tinge, sometimes light golden. It might be better to mix it with water only.

As for henna, I am a rebel. I don't need acid to get great colour release. I've done both ACV and no acid (coconut milk only) and the colour release was the same. I usually leave it close to 12 hours to release so perhaps those wanting a faster release find the acid most useful there. I have a lot of greys now and no acid does the job fine. I prefer no acid as I get softer hair. The time I used it with ACV my hair was very dry and felt strawlike. But I'm just one individual and that's why I encourage everyone to experiment to find out what works best for them.

Most Indians just use plain warm water and they've been using henna for hundreds of years.

Hi I say stick with what works for you.I use orange juice to mix my henna. I use the yemen because i have some gray. I love the results. One time I changed the mix and used green tea I didnt get good coverage for the gray so I went back to my orange juice.

Nappturall wrote:I've been using Jamila Henna and Lemon Juice for a year now....honestly...henna dry your hair out no matter what you use....you have to offset it with a deep moisturizing treatment..whether you use lemon juice or not...I don't know of anyone that actually did a henna treatment and after there hair is soft...henna does not make your hair soft..it strengthens it...you then have to soften it yourself....same as a protein treatment..it suppose to make the hair hard to "strengthen" it...then you moisturize your hair after...its needed to make you hair strong its one of the requirements to grow beautiful thick long hair....

Thanks for putting that out there, everything else I've read in other posts and such about henna treatments make it seem as though henna alone won't dry it out. I can understand the acidity of different juices making that worse. My hair isn't necessarily soft after rinsing but usually when I rinse conditioner is definitely involved lol

JRoshelle wrote:@Lena_Jolie: I have never used henna before, but i was reading up on cassia and I read some where (i 'm sorry i dont remember were) that you can use orange juice too, I thing you just need something acidic to release the color

I've always considered using orange juice but I wasn't sure if it really made a difference. That's what I used when I tested my henna sample before I took the plunge. I may eventually use orange juice so I don't just have to keep buying lemon juice (I have made some good lemonade with it though lol)

raina wrote:Hi I say stick with what works for you.I use orange juice to mix my henna. I use the yemen because i have some gray. I love the results. One time I changed the mix and used green tea I didnt get good coverage for the gray so I went back to my orange juice.

I will certainly stick with it until I run out of lemon juice. After that, orange juice might be fair game. I use the Yemen too but not for gray coverage; just because it has that high dye content and I wanted to see what my hair will look like (color-wise) in the long run....its a very pretty burgandy/reddish color in certain lighting but black/dark brown in normal conditions

Thanks for all your responses ladies [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Lena_Jolie wrote:
Thanks for putting that out there, everything else I've read in other posts and such about henna treatments make it seem as though henna alone won't dry it out. I can understand the acidity of different juices making that worse. My hair isn't necessarily soft after rinsing but usually when I rinse conditioner is definitely involved lol

Sorry if I was one of those who implied that henna alone won't dry out. There are degrees of dryness of course. I've found for myself that without acid that my hair was significantly less dry than with acid to the point that I probably could get away with just co-washing after rinsing everything out rather than DC. I do religiously DC though.

Since you don't experience that strawlike level of dryness that I and other ladies have experienced with acid then there is no reason change your mix. I hope none of us have made you feel like you were doing something wrong! The great thing about henna is that it's so versatile, you can change things around to suit according to your own individual needs. Being on these hair boards make me appreciate just how different our hair responds to things even though we have similar hair. Some ladies hair hates protein, whereas mine just loves it for example.

R2D2 wrote:

Lena_Jolie wrote:
Thanks for putting that out there, everything else I've read in other posts and such about henna treatments make it seem as though henna alone won't dry it out. I can understand the acidity of different juices making that worse. My hair isn't necessarily soft after rinsing but usually when I rinse conditioner is definitely involved lol

Sorry if I was one of those who implied that henna alone won't dry out. There are degrees of dryness of course. I've found for myself that without acid that my hair was significantly less dry than with acid to the point that I probably could get away with just co-washing after rinsing everything out rather than DC. I do religiously DC though.

Since you don't experience that strawlike level of dryness that I and other ladies have experienced with acid then there is no reason change your mix. I hope none of us have made you feel like you were doing something wrong! The great thing about henna is that it's so versatile, you can change things around to suit according to your own individual needs. Being on these hair boards make me appreciate just how different our hair responds to things even though we have similar hair. Some ladies hair hates protein, whereas mine just loves it for example.

Noooo lol you didn't say anything wrong. No apologies necessary. I don't think you ladies are making me feel like I shouldn't be using it just because. I asked for your opinions remember lol I've read in multiple places (not just this forum but others too) and I'm not even sure who said what, that henna dries hair out and that highly acidic mixes make that dryness worse. I was just curious as to whether anyone had used only lemon juice or any other acidic juices over the long term with eventual negative effects. I guess I just wanted to know of any potential dangers ahead of time so I couldn't say "I didn't know that could happen" or "nobody told me" lol

I appreciate all of your input ladies [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] *hugs for everyone!*