Texturizer and Henna

This morning i got it in my head i was either going to cut my hair off or texturize it. Needless to say the texturizer won. In any case i bought the thing put it in within about 2 mins of sitting there i freaked and washed it out. Its finally dried and it looks the same as it usually does im not sure if its any different as this is my first experience with chemicals. Im 25 and have been natural since birth. My question is im due for some henna next week is it ok to put my henna in, also i have heard henna can loosen the curl pattern naturally, is it something you need to add my henna mix comes with henna amla and shikakai and ive been using the same mix since i was like 12 and its not changed although the colour does depending on where i get the mixture from my aunty is heavy on the amla but my mother is practically a henna purist. I also asked them and after much yelling about putting crap in my hair they dont know either. ill attach pre texturizer photos with pictures i took today.

Here is a picture i took last week pre texturizer

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This is it wet today

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This is today when it dried i didnt put gel on it because i wasnt sure i should do that either ??



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I also have general pictures of my hair on flickr, from 9 years ago..the one that looks like im on the beach to last week the blue shirt and the pony tail.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39582377@N08/sets/72157623999180332/

Any help will be appreciated not only with henna but my hair in general once i was too old for braids i alternated between letting it go wild and cutting it off once a year. id really like to see it long again.

Yes, if your mix is all natural you can apply henna on chemically treated hair. Many people have applied henna over hair which was previously treated with chemical dye for example. I'm not sure about whether it makes any future relaxers or texturisers more difficult to take though. Are you wishing to continue to texturise your hair?

How are you feeling about your texturiser? What was the reason you put it in - for manageability? I am a bit confused about which photos are pre and post texturizer but I have to say I think your hair looks just gorgeous particularly in the photo where you are wearing the red shirt.

With henna, you are more likely to get a curl loosening effect when it is used by itself and when you use it frequently. The way it works is that henna coats the hair shaft and weighs it down, so the more often you coat it the more you weigh it down etc. Amla is actually often used as a way to lessen this effect, where people don't want their curls to loosen.

Also the curl loosening effect doesn't happen for everyone. From what I have read, it seems to be more prominent on hair that was curly to start off with e.g. type 3 hair than kinky e.g. type 4b.

my henna is all natural and no i dont intend to texturize it.

the one at the top was before the texturizer and the two at the bottom are after and dry. I wanted one because i hate how thick my hair is and its irritating since i have been about 16ish ive cut my hair off every year and let it grow out until about april and i cut it again but this year im trying to leave it alone and let it grow. I dont have a problem growing hair its getting it to behave. i only know two hairstyles....one puff or two.

Ive been getting henna for years but its always been mixed with amla im going to ask my mom to mix me a bath without it and see how that goes.

Also i noticed your in australia, where abouts im moving to melbourne actually in two months and im terrified of dealing with my hair there.

My daughter has never fully relaxed but texturized twice in her life. At first there was no difference but over time the texturized hair did not hold up well at all. It split faster, broke faster and refused to take any style after a while.

Make sure you condition and protect. Even 2 minutes is enough to start damaging the cuticle. If the mood ever hits you again, stop here at CN and at the same time, look for professional advice. The only successful texturizing i have ever heard of was Miss Jessies and they do that at their salon.

That said, I have noticed that there is a difference in how my curls behave after henna depending on whether i seriously detangle or not. Sounds weird but it's almost like the henna "fixes" the hair as it is when it's applied. The last time i hennaed I sort of half detangled the top but was really thorough in the front. The front curls are a lot looser now. The top is how it usually is.

This may just be me. But next time I am going to detangle my whole head before applying henna and see what happens. The loosening of the curl wears off anyway so it will be interesting.

Good luck!

Does anyone know if putting henna on texturised hair makes it hard for applications (texturiser) after the henna process?

I'm sorry I can't answer your question NappyNat and BellaButterfly, but if it helps, I also had a texturizer applied 3 weeks ago. I have a 4b TWA with gray at the hairline.

I have been using henna-indigo since summer '09. I think a quite a few weeks had passed between my last henna-indigo, because I had a lot of "orange" at my hairline when I got my texturizer.

I waited two weeks after my texturizer to apply my henna-indigo this Friday, and I noticed that my hair at the crown was a bit "straighter" than it was before. It was a bit disconcerting.

I got a little scurred when I wash-n-go'd this Sunday. I had to camouflage some long scraggly locks by scrunching them down when I applied my IC Fantasia gel.

All in all - I think my history of indigo use may have made my hair process unevenly in some places! If my hair survives the texturizer, I don't think I'll texturize again. Coloring my gray with henna-indigo is more important to me than applying a texturizer.

It's only hair and it grows back, but when it's jacked up that's a long few weeks...

Doesn;t it seem like the henna would penetrate at least the same, maybe a little more since the hair will be more porous after the texturizer?

I think you have a point swoodward....My only concern is if the hair loosening effect along with the texturiser could make the hair too straight....

thanks thetruthisoutthere

Nat