Henna Demystified – Part 2
Surprise! We were going to hold on part 2 until next week, but so many of you were eager to hear Rebecca’s usage tips that it just seemed cruel. Here’s how she does it…
Yesterday, I covered some general information about henna. Today I’m sharing my recipe and some techniques that work well for me. For more info, check out Henna For Hair. If you start with a kit, like one of these, it comes with dyes, instructions, a funnel-shaped plastic bag for applying the henna, and gloves (definitely use gloves!). Each kit covers collar length hair.
These days I’m using 2:1 henna to indigo. My grey ends up quite red, so my naturally medium brown hair ends up a rich auburn with redder highlights. This is my current process for doing my roots (more hair to cover needs more mix):
1. In a pyrex measuring cup, mix ½ cup henna with a half and half mix of lemon juice and filtered water, stirring with a silicone spatula (don’t use metal). The liquid can be anything acidic, but don’t use vinegar – I made that mistake the first time and it’s horribly stinky. I don’t measure the liquid, just pour a bit at a time and mix, adding more liquid as needed, until it’s mashed potato consistency. Cover with plastic wrap, touching the plastic wrap to the surface to keep air out. I leave it for about 12 hours for the dye to release, but if you keep it somewhere warm, say 95 degrees, it would only take a couple of hours.
2. When the henna is ready, mix ¼ cup indigo with a tiny scoop (~ 1/8 tsp) of salt, add filtered water and stir until it’s a yogurt consistency. Then scoop the indigo in with the henna, and mix well. I use the funnel from a kit to get the henna/indigo mix into a plastic hair dye bottle from the beauty supply store. I cut the tip to make a 6mm opening, perfect for root application. You can also put the henna on with the funnel or your fingers.
3. I part my hair in the middle and start there, squeezing a line of henna mix down to my scalp, as far back on my head as I can. Then I use a comb to make the next part about ¼ inch away and squeeze another line. With my gloved fingers I make sure the hair is pushed into the line of henna. I can get most of my head done like this, then flip my head over to get the rest of the back. That part is not perfect, I just let the tip of my applicator part the hair for me and it’s fine, though not as precise as using a comb. I check to make sure I’m covered, especially at the hairline. If I were going to do all of my hair, at this point I’d keep adding henna in sections and massaging it into my hair.
4. The henna needs to stay wet to work, so I cover with one shower cap, clean up any excess on my skin, then cover with a second shower cap. I cut triangles out of plastic bags to cover the “sideburns” area and another strip to cover the nape, tucking them under the shower caps. My biodegradable caps can be used several times, and I rinse and reuse all the plastics.
5. To get good grey coverage, I do this at night and sleep with a towel over my pillow.
6. I rinse in the morning at the kitchen sink to get as much henna out as possible, then use conditioner to get the last bit out. My hair smells like strong tea for a week or two.
It might sound like a lot, but it’s way less time (and money! and chemicals!) than I used to spend at the salon. Fellow henna enthusiasts: How do you do yours?
what’s the mystery? When I was in HS, I hennaed my hair – nobody knew me prior so they all thought I was a natural red-head. It came in a box, I followed the instructions on the package of the box which had an Egyptian art thing on it, which I believe, (forgive me any mistakes as this was a long time ago), was just add hot water and let sit on head for maybe an hour. No lemon juice. No problem. Was it not *really* henna, do you think?
OK, so I just read part I. I guess it wasn’t *real* henna
this is such good timing. i am working up the courage to try a henna/indigo/amla mix. can we see pix of your hair pre- and post- henna?
thanks for the rest of the recipe – I can’t wait to try it!
@Rebecca,
That is a great tutorial .. Thank you.
How often do you do it ?
@Jenni, maybe I can try to get some pics, but I’d rather not let my roots grow in enough for it to be obvious ; ) Scroll to the bottom of this page to see dozens of recipes + pics of results http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/index.html
@Nancy, I do roots in the neighborhood of every 6 weeks, same as when I did conventional dyes. Every 4th time or so I refresh the color all over. If I didn’t have grey to cover, I could go longer between root applications, because the color is not super far from my natural color.
I really want to do henna, but I’m SO scared of ending up with that orangey, super bright red that’s in a lot of those photos. Someday when I’m feeling brave I’ll have to get some help from them to get the right mix. Thanks for posting about this, Rebecca. I’ve been really curious about it, and while I’m still a little too nervous to try it you make it seem less daunting!
I’m with Pepper on that one. A lot of the blond/strawberry blond photos are more on the red side. I guess that’s my only disappointment, that fair ladies don’t really have an equivalent product. Cassia seems to require a lot more upkeep than henna and to only take on white hair. I might try it when I have enough grays and have to do my whole head. Meanwhile I will go on committing the green sin of getting highlights once or twice a year. I also have to add that reading Siobhan’s experience in the book did nothing to convince me to try greener options.
I’ve got to say the whole thing sounds scary as h*ll to me!
Those that are curious but scared – start saving hair from your brush and get some samples of henna, etc. http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hairsamples/
I can’t really help with the blondes – but @Pepper, what color is your hair, what color do you want, and are you covering grey? Check out the quick mix guide http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hairinstructions2.pdf. For example, 1:1 henna to indigo will do a brown on brown hair, so really any indigo at all really browns up the red (but of course it depends on your original color and how long you leave it on). The worst thing that can happen in the case of henna/indigo is that you’ll need to reapply with a different mix if it comes out too red (remember to wait a few days because the color will deepen as it oxidizes). But you’ll avoid mistakes at all by testing. I had several little hair balls that I tested to be sure I’d get what I wanted. The only thing the hairballs couldn’t tell me was how the grey would turn out – just expect it to be lighter and I recommend at least 5 hours and prefer overnight.
My hair is kind of an ashy, medium dark brown. I dyed it auburn for years, which is why I’m scared of the bright red since mine was always a subdued, coppery red. I don’t really have grays yet, just one or two (I’m 29) but my natural color is just so blah. It makes me less scared that I could do a test on my rogue strands & knowing I could redo it makes me feel better about it too.
@Pepper, I don’t think that with your color you would get anything too bright. Do the tests – a 1:1 henna/indigo will probably be very safe and just make your color richer, and try a 2:1 or 3:1 to get a bit more red. Probably leave it on 2-3 hours.
@Pepper, from what I’ve read, adding amla to henna/indiago might be a good choice for you. supposedly it can take the tone from warm to cool/ashy, which helps alleviate the brassiness. i’ve avoided henna b/c my skintone is very pale and cool and my hair is very dark – warm/red highlights look bizarro on me. but the amla is giving me some hope.
Thank you, ladies!! I will definitely be trying this out. Thanks again Rebecca for posting all this good info!
Hi guys, I am going to henna my hair before summer and lots of swimming in chlorinated pools. Will the chlorine affect my hennaed hair?
Wendy
@Wendy, I would think that chlorine would be rough on the henna just like it’s rough on color in general. I don’t know exactly what to expect, but try contacting the experts at http://www.hennaforhair.com, good luck!
@Rebecca, I am now a happy henna-er all thanks to you! People who know me can’t stop complimenting me and recently a hair dresser thought my red was natural. Thanks!
Have used a variety of colors from Henna King. They are very true to color, nothing to fear. My favorites at this time, light brown and dark brown. It is really true brown, not even the give away \red tint\. 2 to 3 hours was plenty even to cover my gray.