Did henna treatment and still have dry hair after three DC's?

So, I am very confused/frustrated with what ever is going on with my hair. I did a henna treatment recently (my second one -- did not get good results with the first either) and my hair seems to be ridiculously dry. I mixed my Jamila henna with chamomile tea, a splash of lemon juice and few tablespoons of honey; I then jumped in the shower and shampooed(Organix coconut milk)/conditioned (Devacare) and detangled my hair. Came out of the shower, put the henna mix on whapped my hair and went to bed. I rinsed after about 10.5 - 11.5 hours put some more Devacare on and deep conditioned for over an hour. My hair was super dry after that. Later on that evening, I slathered on a ton of my heaviest conditioner - pantene relaxed and natural deep conditioning hair mask- and left it on overnight. The next day I used the bonnet dryer on it for approx 15 minutes then rinsed and my hair was.... dry. Not as dry as the the first time, but dang! So once again I put a ton of conditioner on - this time used Devacare and some Nexxus and threw some CD Hair elixir (product junkie here [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] ) in the mix and put the dryer on for another hour. After I took the dryer off I still left the products on for a while then eventually rinsed. The result? Hair that doesn't seem as insanely dry as it was, but is definitely not as moistured as it was before I did the henna. So tell me you lovely and knowledgeable ladies.. what on earth did I do wrong? I would like to try henna again.. but I'm really worried that my hurr won't be able to take it...

JT

I did a henna treatment Sunday and my hair was ridiculously dry & itchy. I made a conditioner using kimmytube's directions and it has helped tremendously.

I would consider varying your henna mix. Some people do find lemon juice too drying so one possibility is that your hair found the mix too acidic. Chamomile tea is also somewhat acidic, so perhaps in combination it was too much for your hair. I certainly agree that 3 DCs is over the top. I would expect to get normal moisture levels back after 1 DC and 1 co-wash.

Maybe have only chamomile tea and the honey if you really like that. Other ideas are mixing the henna with yoghurt or coconut milk. I'm a coconut milk fan personally and found it less drying than using stronger acids but it's a matter of experimenting with different mixes to find what works for you.

The first time I henna-ed I used lemon juice and water.. OMG NEVER AGAIN! My hair was super dry afterwards. I can't remember how many times I had to condition it to get it back to normal (I did it around Easter). The second time I used tea and honey, and I think it was less dry, but it took two DCs to get my hair feeling decent again. Doing regular henna treatments may just be too much for my hair. I may give it one more go using coconut milk next month. If the dryness persists, I plan on going to henna glosses, which should offset some of (maybe all? *fingers crossed*) the dryness.

The problem could be the length of time on your hair was too long. Next time, when you have free time, leave the henna on for only 4 hours. That's what I do now since it's only about the conditioning. You can get great results without dye release too. Just add hot water, wait for 1 hour and apply to your hair. Leave on for as little as 30 minutes to 4 hours.

Good suggestions.
I henna regularly but had the same prob after my first treatment. I use green tea/olive oil/honey/egg in my mix and it seems to work well. One thing I added was greasing my scalp with Oyin burnt sugar pomade after its alllll done. My hair loves oil and this stuff seeps not only into your scalp (without clogging pores) but into your hair too. Now my hair is always soft and full of moisture after henna. Good luck!

It seems that you may be on protein overload. For people with normal porosity (the ability for stuff to enter your hair cuticle), you automatically have regular amounts of protein. For those with hair that has low porosity (usually more coarse hair), you really produce alot of protein. This means that you should stick to DC's without added protein, especially after henna, because it can make it dry and straw-like. Check the ingredients of your conditioner. If you see protein or ingredients like eggs, wheat germ, keratin...those are proteins and too much can damage your hair. You should use emolient based conditioners (without protein) to condition after henna (shea butter, EVOO, Coconut Oil) that gives you intense moisture.

My hair is overly porous (absorbs everything because it's so damaged), therefore, I need extra protein.

Check out livecurlylivefree.com to get the facts on curly hair, hair texture, and porosity and ingredient lists.

Peace and Love

Try a better Deep Conditioner. I henna OMG all the time, however I DC many times in the same week I henna with a Dominican DC or Cholesterol. Leave the DC in overnight if possible or definitely for more than 15 minutes, that's not enough time to make a difference. Allow yourself more wiggle room when you are doing your Henna applications so that you can DC without rushing or limiting the time. Time is your best friend when Henna'ing. My hair was hard he very first time when I thought Suave condish was good enough alone, NOT.

DC for 30-45 minimum if not overnight over the weekend [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]