Henna for Hair!!

That's right... I took the plunge and dyed my hair with Henna!! First, why did I do this? Because I love having red and auburn hair. Love love love. But I don't love the damage that traditional hair dyes do to my hair. In fact, I went back to my natural hair color in 2010 (by chopping off all my hair :-O ) because I couldn't take the frizz and damage. So, imagine my delight when I found out about using Body Art Quality Henna (Pure, high quality henna with no additives) instead. It strengthens and smooths your hair in addition to giving very permanent, very rich color. So, I decided to take the plunge. And I am very excited to share this journey!

First, I want to caution you all that if you are thinking about using Henna, ONLY use Body art quality henna. Do not use the "henna dyes" from the natural food store. Those compounds have added chemicals and are not pure henna. Some barely contain henna. Now some of you have probably heard that after using henna, you CANNOT use traditional dyes because it will melt your hair off. This is only true with the store bought "henna" dyes that contain metallic salts. Dangerous!! I will only ever buy my henna from Mehandi, where the henna is independently tested for purity. I got the Ancient Sunrise® Rajasthani Twilight Henna, which has the highest concentration of Lawson, (the dye molecule in henna) that Mehandi sells. 

I could give you a run down of the dos and donts with henna, and why its good for your hair, etc etc etc. Or you can read more about it from someone who is doing her PhD dissertation on it. Click here for a link to a free pdf ebook that tells you all you ever wanted to know about henna and using it to dye your hair. It has instructions for using henna as well as indigo, cassia, and alma. (Adding alma cools the tone of the color. adding cassia lightens the henna dye to make it more orangey. Cassia is also a colorless conditioner and strengthener. Adding indigo makes your hair brown. There's also a way to get your hair black using first henna then indigo. Just some other options!) *Note: Some people say that Henna straightens their hair/ relaxes curls. if you don't want this, amla is supposed to add texture and curl to your hair so adding some amla to your henna can combat its curl-relaxing properties.

Here is a link of a bunch of mixes that other people have used along with pictures of their results. 

Here is what I did!

200g Henna from Mehandi.com
Juice from 3 lemons (the acidity releases the dye)
Apple cider vinegar (has moisturizing effects while still acidic)
Cranberry juice (not as harsh as lemon juice but still acidic)
Clove powder (helps with the smell and possibly makes it dye darker)
Warm water
*lemon juice is drying, but releases the dye the best, which is why I used a combination of fluids

In a GLASS bowl (apparently you need to use ceramic or glass. I used glass because I knew it wouldn't stain) I mixed the henna powder with the lemon juice and cloves then started to add ACV and cran juice until it became mashed potato-like in consistency. Then I covered it with two layers of plastic wrap (one smooshed up against the henna to make a seal, another to cover the whole thing. Then I put the bowl at the top of my cabinet (out of sunlight) for about 15 hours (10-12 at least, I just had to wait until after kid was in daycare) 

First, I washed my hair twice with a clarifying shampoo and while it was still mostly wet,  I sectioned my hair into 7 sections using clips and wrapped an old towel around my shoulders, **securing it with a hair clip** (this is important! Having it slip off in the middle of this operation is no fun!) I got all my materials together (a bunch of nitrile gloves, plastic wrap, and a shower cap), and finishing making my henna mix. I warmed up some filtered water in the microwave and added it to the henna until it became greek yogurt-like in consistency. 

Now the fun part! I went outside and did this on my lawn to avoid staining anything in my house :) I just took handfuls of the henna mix and glooped it into my hair WHILE WEARING GLOVES!!! I went section by section, making sure I really got every strand of hair coated with the mix. I then massaged it in to my hair and scalp and really worked it through to make sure I didn't miss anything. This stuff is THICK, so doing it by sections is absolutely the best way to go. 

I piled my hair on the top of my head, then I switched gloves and covered my hair with plastic wrap, followed by the shower cap. Then I went inside, washed off any dye that got on my skin, and put a towel on my head, securing it with another hair clip and headband to keep the heat in and help the henna process. 

Rinsing (more tips below): For the first rinse, use cool water and your gloves. By this point it won't stain your skin anymore so don't worry about the gloves. After the first rinse, use conditioner to rinse until water is clear.  Next day you can shampoo and condition as normal

Tips: 
- I left the clips, towel, (really anything that got henna on it) outside on the grass. Once I got everything situated, cleaned up, and secured inside, I got out the hose and hosed off the towel and the clips and let them dry outside
- A baking soda paste will remove any stains on your skin! I am... clumsy. I've never been able to avoid making a mess in my life. So needless to say I had orangey spots on my arms, neck, ears, and forehead. But the baking soda paste took care of them all, no problem :)
- The longer you leave it on, the darker the color. You're supposed to leave it on for 2-4 hours, so I opted for like 4.5. Some people even leave it on overnight! 
- I have a bob hair cut that is a few inches above my shoulders with hair that is a tad thicker than normal. I used about half (or maybe a little more) of the 200g mix. 
- Any leftover mix can be frozen for up to one year, thawed, and used. I double freezer-bagged my extra mix then wrapped in aluminum foil before putting in the freezer. 
-Wash any utensils used right away! Henna dries and is hard to get off, washing utensils and bowls right away makes life a lot easier. And with 2-4 hours to kill, might as well! 
-Use a smaller towel or hand towel (just anything big enough to wrap around your head) for the final wrap. The henna plus everything else makes for a heavy head. A smaller towel will make it easier on you :)
- When you go to rinse, do it outside with a hose AND GLOVES! Then wrap a towel around your head and  head in to your shower. Once there, It took one good rinse and scrub with conditioner to get the henna out (or at least it felt like it was out), but the water was still coming out orange. So I did a second rinse, which did not change much but made my hair smoother :) So then I did a rinse with 2 cups water and 1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar. I also used cold water. After rinsing the ACV mix out liberally, I had clear water rinsing out of my hair, so either the liberal rinsing or the ACV worked :)
- When you first see your hair post henna you may freak out a little bit. Its going to be a bit bright, unless you had dark hair before using henna. But its okay, because it will deepen in color over the next 3 days, so don't judge your color until after that!
-THE SMELL: Those of us with first hand farm knowledge know the smell of Hay Silage. It is a very particular smell. And it is exactly what Henna smells like. Now, I love the smell of Hay Silage. But not on my hair for 3 days (which is how long the smell usually takes to wear off). The cloves didn't seem to help all that much, although I may not have added enough? Anyway, apparently  Ginger powder helps neutralize the smell really well. Mehandi.com sells Ginger soap to use, or you can add ginger powder to the henna mix. I will be making my own ginger shampoo once I go get some ginger powder!!

The Final results will be added later, so no one be scared by the freshly hennaed preview!! I'm a little scared myself :-) but it will darken! It WILL Darken. It will darken... it will darken.... Okay, I have to keep telling myself that and will update you once it does!