Henna hair lovers!

[Sunshine4you]

I love using henna for my hair. Not only for the color but for all the benefits it's done to my hair since switching from chemical dyes.
My hair is thicker, healthy, shiny and easy to manage.
I also use cassia, alma and sedr powder as hair masks and to mix in my henna mix.

I thought I would start a thread for us henna lovers to share our recipes and tips!

So who else is a henna lover?

I haven't used henna for years but I am interested in the colourless henna .
I do like the conditioning effect it gave but I am going grey now and not wanting to colour my hair . I;ve got root to end natural streaks and in some lights they look silver/white or sometimes they do look blonder .

Where do you get the cassia and amla .
Would cassia turn my grey hair more golden ?

TiA

I've ordered some henna obovata so I'll see how it goes

Cassia is temporary, & really only visible over blonde to very light brown shades. It does take quite well on grey though. It lasts about 3-4 weeks IME. If it's lightening you want, raw honey or lemon juice might be a better option. They both work, but obviously as they're natural products the result isn't guaranteed to be consistent.

I've read about Indian rhubarb for lightening too, but apparently it's very easy to have it go wrong & end up with a slightly greenish tint, or for it to be yellow rather than golden in tone.

For a moisture treatment, 4 parts oil, 1 part aloe vera gel, & 1 part honey is amazing. Warm the honey first if you don't want a lightening effect. Great for counteracting too much protein. You can also use conditioner instead of the oil, if you can find one with no protein or silicones in. Very nice if you find henna a bit drying. My scalp doesn't like long exposure to conditioner or oils, so I just put it on the length.

I used to do cassia henna mix. 75% cassia, 25% henna, with aloe, honey & chamomile tea base. On my hair it came out strawberry blonde. Might try that again.

Another henna lover here! I use hibiscus tea as the liquid component, this gives it a deeper red shade rather than bright orange on grey roots. An Asian friend also mixes in mustard oil, but I found that far too heavy for my lank hair.

Ah this brings back memories! I also used the Body Shop henna (the chestnut one) and they used to sell little sample packs which were perfect for roots. Unfortunately as I developed more greys it turned them pink so I turned to box dyes. Developed an allergy to them after a decade or so and I'm now "au natural" (95% grey) which I don't mind but I loved and miss my chestnut years. Have fun with it ladies

I recently started hennaing my hair again, used to do it all the time as a teen. I love it, smells amazing too! I use apple juice to mix mine

I’m a henna virgin. I have straight fine but lots of hair. It’s chest nutty brown colour. What henna would you recommend to add a bit more red.

Madam before you pick up henna bear in mind it has to fade or grow out . Proper henna bonds with your hair so although you'll lose a bit of colour the first wash or so , it is there for the long haul
And you cannot be sure of chemical dyes over henna so you need to think if you want to use a box dye after .

It is messy ( oh my Gawd is it messy) you need to protect your clothes, bathroom, skin, ears

Many years ago I used Body Shop Extra Red . Smelled like an ashtray looked like a cowpat but such lovely colour

I used Lush bars for a while , you melt over a bain marie (pyrex bowl over simering water)
No metal spoons etc as it reacts
Patch test/strand test
It oxidises and darkens over the next couple of days
Keeping it warm ( clingfilm + turbie towel) increases the red

There was a huge thread about Lush henna a few years ago,
But (aside from the politics of Lush as a brand) Lush henna isn't pure henna it has conditioning agents . Smells lovely though , like Turkish Delight .

And I accidently managed to henna one of my DDs guinea-pigs (in my defence he threw his little head up while I was cutting his claws , he got his nose into the clingwrap) He was fine , we washed it off but he had a hennaed nose for a while . Daft rodent !

You can buy all the powders on amazon. Just make sure they are 100% natural.

Also I've just looked into using sedr powder as a natural shampoo... You mix it up as a mask and apply it like henna, leave for 30 mins then rinse off. Supposed to help aid thickness and clean the hair very well. I will try it tomorrow and report back!

I'm just place marking to read later, use lush red heels but I hate how hard it is to do and wondered if a powder would be easier. Welcome any suggestions, I would love the ease of a box dye but nothing else has ever given me the right colour, I'm naturally red but very grey now.

70sisaLimitNotaTarget thanks a mil, I’ve never dyed my hair so won’t be using a Box dye. My hair grows really fast . I don’t buy from Lush for various reasons. I’ll order some from Amazon.

Sunshine4you I’ll try Sedr too, my hair is looking ‘tired’.

@ditavonteesed I suggest looking for Yemeni henna on Amazon. It is one of the strongest henna's so it should get you to the red you desire after one or two applications. Just mix with warm water and add a few tables of lemon juice.

I looked for Yemeni henna on Amazon last night - couldn't find any. Maybe it was insomnia brain but which one do you buy @Sunshine4you?

sheadecadencelondon.co.uk/ayurvedic-hair-care/92-organic-rajasthan-henna.html

Amazon are out of stock for the Yemeni. But this stuff is good too, Rajhastani henna also gives vibrant results.

@ditavonteesed

I'm just place marking to read later, use lush red heels but I hate how hard it is to do and wondered if a powder would be easier. Welcome any suggestions, I would love the ease of a box dye but nothing else has ever given me the right colour, I'm naturally red but very grey now.

Powder is so much easier, compared to trying to get the lush stuff to melt. I just used to mix with hot water, didn't add anything else. Doesn't smell as nice as the Lush without all the additives but it's not a bad smell, just a bit grassy!

And you cannot be sure of chemical dyes over henna so you need to think if you want to use a box dye after .

I've found that the mere mention of henna terrifies hairdressers too, most won't touch hair that's seen henna.

From my experience, you can use box dyes safely - IF you know for certain you've only ever used henna with no chemical additives. 100% body art quality is always a good description, Lush is also fine as the other ingredients are just oils, fragrances etc. It's boxed mixes that may include metallic salts that can cause strange reactions with chemical dyes/perms etc.

A box dye won't lift henna out either, so you can dye darker on top of henna, but I don't think you'd get the intended result if you tried something lighter. I used to quite often dye dark brown over my henna when I fancied a change, then use a hair dye remover before re-hennaing (the remover used to make me blonder for a few before calming down to the henna red, had some fun colour experiments over the years!)

Pic shows henna on right, box dye on top on left, and result of the colour stripping in the middle

I've ordered this should arrive tomorrow .
Colourless

I should get 4 heads worth out of one pack .

@70isaLimitNotaTarget let us know how you find it. I find it's nice however my hair still loves henna more. Cassia is a completely different plant to henna.

Will do , I'll take a Before/After photo
I'm just after condition not colour really so this might do the trick.

My scalp doesn't cope with coconut oil which is always hailed as a great natural conditioner .

I used to use henna wax but I havent seen that for ages ( I feel another search upon me ...)

Never heard of henna wax, that's interesting. I recently tried a henna spray but found that rubbish.

Yes please share before and after pictures. I'll share pictures of my henna hair next time it's styled so you can all see the color.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget if it's primarily condition you're after, have you considered aloe vera gel? I use a prepared gel from Holland & Barrett. I definitely wouldn't do it for 7 days in a row though - just the odd day here & there when it feels a bit dry, when I can be bothered etc.

I use a cassia-blonde mix every month on my brown/blondish hair, to make the whites fit in with the rest

Love the result (turns my whites blonde) but my head smells like a hay stack for days

You can also buy Aloe Vera powder to add to your henna or cassia mix

I thought pure Cassia dyed your grey hair blonde? Is that not the case?

I’ve been using the ‘it’s pure organic’ auburn hair henna colour and absolutely love it!

I didn’t realise how damaged my hair was before, it’s so soft and shiny now! I used to think you could only get that level of shine on a hair tv advert!

I developed an allergy to hair dye so am not bothered by the permanent nature of henna, and despite warnings from friends, I didn’t go a bright unnatural orange. It’s a lovely deep auburn colour. My natural hair is a dark blonde, had about four inches of regrowth with a purple dye on the length, and the henna has uniformed it all out and given me highlights.

(Even had my friend who warned me off henna asking for the website I ordered sit from )