I will henna! Well, I want to henna...IDK. Help!

I received my BAQ jamila henna about a week ago from mehandi.com, but I am afraid to use it. I also purchased the generic biolage matrix balm condish from sally's and lipton's green tea, but I am just afraid I will do something wrong and undo what I have accomplished with my hair so far. I was thinking of trying Nikki's Henna Gloss recipe, but I am not sure. I want all the benefits that the henna has to offer, but Idk which route to take. Nikki mentioned in the recipe that you get the similar dye release, strengthening, and conditioning powers of a reg. full strength henna treatment, but how similar to that of a full strength henna treatment is it really? Obviously, I am a little confused. Someone, a word of advice, please? Has anyone who usually does a full strength treament tried this yet?

I think Nikki probably meant that it gives a similar feel to a regular protein treatment. Henna coats the hair shaft and can give the hair a feeling of being stronger and thicker.

What are you concerned about - the colour, loosening of curl or breakage? Or is it a general concern about the unknown? Unfortunately there is an element of risk in everything we do and it's not guaranteed that you will be happy with your results. However, in general henna is less damaging than relaxers and other chemicals due to being a natural, vegetable based dye and many of us here have been very happy compared to our previous experiences with chemicals.

Here are some downsides:

1. In many cases the curl loosens permanently and not everyone likes it.
2. Once you have used henna, it is difficult to subsequently radically colour your hair with chemical dye. Henna is best for those who are happy for their hair to be brown or black in the long term.
3. It's time consuming and quite messy.
4. Like a protein treatment it is initially drying so you will need to follow up with deep conditioning treatments and co washes until the dryness goes.

Benefits:
1. Strength of hair - I've been able to grow my hair longer since using henna. Many Indian women use it and you can see how long and healthy their hair looks.
2. If you have greys, it a good permanent way of covering the greys.
3. All natural - less risk of severe allergy.
4. It's been used for thousands of years.

Hi R2D2, once you indigo will you gray hair permentaly be black or do you have to continuously have to indigo?

Hi Carolina, yes the hair that you cover will be permanently black but any new growth will of course come through grey and you'll have to henna and indigo that as needed. I touch up every 4 weeks or so.

R2D2, I was just wondering how different is Nikki's Henna gloss from a full strength henna treatment? I am really not looking forward to the dryness, but I would love stronger, longer hair any day. So, I guess since it will be my first treatment, I should do a reg. henna treatment. What is your henna recipe?

A henna gloss is basically a shorter treatment with less henna and mixed with other ingredients and done more for strength and conditioning rather than colour. Many people do it in between full treatments.

My recipe is very simple, I just mix the henna powder with coconut milk until its pudding consistency, leave overnight at room temperature and then apply to the hair and leave for 3 hours. I have found coconut milk less drying compared to other mixes. Some people such as Nikki apply to their hair straight after mixing and leave it on their hair overnight so that the mixture releases dye in their hair. This is convenient if you don't have a lot of time. The amount of henna you need depends on your hair length. If you have any left over you can freeze it for use at another time.

I would suggest that you go to YouTube and look for some henna for natural hair videos and watch the ladies take you through the process. This way you will feel more confident when you are doing it yourself. Here is one example my first henna experience. There are plenty more on You Tube.

Wear your old clothes and use old towels. Put newspaper on the tiles. It can be messy but the more you do it the better you will get. Fortunately it doesn't permanently stain tiles the way it does with hair strands.

Okay! Thanks so much! I will do that & when I do decide to henna, I will let you know how it turns out. I also ordered some organic shea butter from bars-n-butters...do you use it? If so, how do you use yours. I may just wait until that comes in before I henna, so that I can try that on my twist out. Is that a good idea? Or too much experimenting at once? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hopefulcurls, you may use Sharika's shea butter now or after you henna. I bought her shea butter, which is so soft compared to the yellow one that that is hard. I use it every day in my hair. I made a shea butter concoction and have been using it for months. I combine the shea butter, add Nutiva Unrefined coconut oil, Black Jamaican castor oil , sweet almond oil, extra virgin olive oil, Hesh Amla powder, Hesh Maka powder to my mix. Just make sure you apply shea butter to damp hair.

A simple shea butter mix for you for now would be from what I see with your hair length [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] -- take about 5 tablespoons of shea butter and mix it with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix it in a container similar to the shea butter container from Butters-N-Bars. Try a small portion for now and see if you hair likes that. If not, you could always add more oils, decrease or change your mix.

I henna also every 4-6 weeks with Jamila from Butters-N-Bars. I add 2 tablespoons of Hesh Amla (my acid), 1 tablespoon of Hesh Brahmi, 1 tablespoon of Maka to my spring water mix. I have added in some henna batches hibiscus/sorrel; ground cloves; organic cocoa. I will be trying decaffinated coffee in about 2 months. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to indigo so I am trying other ways to get dark roots to cover the gray. Right now I have auburn roots, but am getting tired of the look so I'm trying ways to tweak my henna mix to get me to dark brown/black without the indigo. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

@hopefulcurls,

I only use Shea butter in my deep conditioners (I melt down a small amount and mix up with the conditioner together with castor oil and aloe vera gel). I find shea butter too heavy to use at other times and my hair would either feel too greasy or too dry.

Okay, thanks R2D2 & envizionj for the helpful insight!