My 1st Henna Treatment

Ladies,
This wknd, I did my 1st Henna Treatment and all I can say is . . . . GOOD LAWD!!! Luv, Luv, Luv, this stuff!!!!!!! I've been "officially natural" since January '10, but havent relaxed my hair since February '09. My hair experienced severe damage from a bad weave, and my edges, which were pretty thin to begin with, are now nonexistent. I decided to try Henna after reading all the positive reviews and after seeing the great before and after pics. I added the Amla powder after reading about how it can thicken your hair, which I need for my edges.

Here is my mixture:
100 mg of Jamilah Henna
100 mg of Amla
4 Tbsp of Honey
1.5 cups of Green Tea (4 bags)

This was mixed and about 8 pm on Friday and applied by 6pm on Saturday. I left it on for 3 1/2 hrs with a heating cap. My hair was soft as soon as I rinsed it out and the shine . . . . to die for. I DC with Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment for 45 min. I washed that out and added Karen's BB Hair Milk and my Leave-In. I 2-strand twisted my hair adding DevaCare Set It Free to each Twist. I also added a dab of Karen's BB Hair Butter to seal.

I don a wig on most days because its hard to style my hair because of my thin edges, however, today I'm going to give styling a shot (twist out w/ head band). I'll post pics later.

The only problem I see after the henna application is an itchy scalp. I'll have to do research on this. I do plan on henna-ing agan this weekend since, according to what I've read, it has a cummulative affect.

aww i'm so happy for you! Henna's been the single greatest thing I've done for my hair. (Sayin this with a henna wrap on my head lol)

After you henna you should do a deep conditioner.. I use olive oil and Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner, wrap it up and sleep on it. In the morning you should have soffft hair and styling should be easier.

Show us some pictures gurl!

yeah i wanna see some pics, i still havent henna'd my hair yet...i wanna give it a try but i get nervous about it LOL

@krissyc39
Hey girl! Thanks so much for the advice and the feedback. I did deep conditioned and I used Jessicurl Weekly Deep Conditioner for about 45 minutes. The one thing I realized is that I definitely need to allocate more time for this entire process. I ordered more henna and amla and plan to henna as soon as everything arrives. I'll try sleeping with it in my hair over night this time around.

I'll post pics this weekend!

@brownSkinDiva Girl you should definitely give henna a try. I'm crazy paranoid about my hair, but gave it a shot anyway and I'm so glad I did!!

How's the color working for you? I had died my hair brown and the henna turned it a crazy copper red at first but it eventually toned down to burgundy in the light and a sexy red in the sun lol. Just mentioning it because the color change was the biggest thing that kept me from henna.

@brown SkinDiva I'll post pics of my first henna treatment it you'd like

iceladavid wrote:Ladies,
This wknd, I did my 1st Henna Treatment and all I can say is . . . . GOOD LAWD!!! Luv, Luv, Luv, this stuff!!!!!!! I've been "officially natural" since January '10, but havent relaxed my hair since February '09. My hair experienced severe damage from a bad weave, and my edges, which were pretty thin to begin with, are now nonexistent. I decided to try Henna after reading all the positive reviews and after seeing the great before and after pics. I added the Amla powder after reading about how it can thicken your hair, which I need for my edges.

Here is my mixture:
100 mg of Jamilah Henna
100 mg of Amla
4 Tbsp of Honey
1.5 cups of Green Tea (4 bags)

This was mixed and about 8 pm on Friday and applied by 6pm on Saturday. I left it on for 3 1/2 hrs with a heating cap. My hair was soft as soon as I rinsed it out and the shine . . . . to die for. I DC with Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment for 45 min. I washed that out and added Karen's BB Hair Milk and my Leave-In. I 2-strand twisted my hair adding DevaCare Set It Free to each Twist. I also added a dab of Karen's BB Hair Butter to seal.

I don a wig on most days because its hard to style my hair because of my thin edges, however, today I'm going to give styling a shot (twist out w/ head band). I'll post pics later.

The only problem I see after the henna application is an itchy scalp. I'll have to do research on this. I do plan on henna-ing agan this weekend since, according to what I've read, it has a cummulative affect.

Iceladavid, you may have used too much acid in your henna mix. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Amla is acidic so you really only need about 2 tablespoons for every 100 grams of Henna. The green tea is another acid, so since your combined so much of both acids, that was probably the cause of your itchy scalp. Amla helps retain the curl pattern that may be lost from constant hennaing. Some people experience this and some don't.

If you really want to thicken up your hair, you could also apply weekly conditioning. I mix 2 tablespoons of Hesh Brahmi, and 2 tablespoons of Hesh Amla with hot water to make a thick paste like yogurt. I let the mix sit for 15 minutes. I apply this mixture to freshly shampooed hair. Before I apply the mixture, I apply any type of oil I have available (e.g., castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, etc.) on my hair. I leave on the mixture for 1 hour or more and then wash out with a quick shampoo to remove any residue from the powder and then use my Aussie Moist instant conditioner, rinse and style with my hair butter concoction. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

hi Icela,
think Envizion is onto something here, now usually green tea of the herbal variety wont be acidic but this may vary depending on the brand used HOWEVER
hONEY IS VERY ACIDIC
AMLA IS VERY ACIDIC
it's a wonder your head stopped itching ;-) But no worries just remember when you are using amla only add about 1/3 of the box to your henna and just add purified or spring water no other acid.
As for your edgesyou may want to try maka/bhringraj powder or oil and if you have any ??s as always you guys know where to find me ;-)
Happy hennaing,
Sharika

@envizionj
@butterqueen
Ladies, your assistance has been invaluable. I'm going to henna again this weekend and will tone down the acidity [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . Looking forward to posting pics this time.

Thanks guys!

iceladavid wrote:@envizionj
@butterqueen
Ladies, your assistance has been invaluable. I'm going to henna again this weekend and will tone down the acidity [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . Looking forward to posting pics this time.

Thanks guys!

Iceladavid, you are welcome. Try adding 2 tablespoons of Amla, mixed in with your 100 grams of henna, add water until you reach a yogurt consistency, and let it sit for 12 hours for dye release. I've never used honey, but I guess you can add about a tablespoon if you insist on using it to your mix as well. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]