Do ya'll henna?

[sareca]

I really want to try this whole henna thing out. Its like, I cant escape it. I could really use this treatment considering this months new growth is off the hook, and I know my hair color and shine could use a boost.

ANYWAY- I'm looking at the order form here and I want to know if the sample size of ADDITIONAL HERBS would be enough for one application. I already know I'll probably get the normal 100g of Body Ary Quality Henna, and use Red Wine Vinegar as my acid. Is it recommended to get the alma powder as well?

I'm doing this for the first time so keep it simple!

I appreciate the help Henna Experts!

I don't add any herbs to my mixes. My next henna mix will consist of : henna (300g), tea tree oil (1oz), water (enough to get a pancake batter consistency).

Amla is wonderful, but they only send you about 2 tablespoon of powder per sample (maybe less, I can't remember). You'll need much more than that in your henna, but 1 tsp of amla will make a great amla rinse.

Your mix (henna and red wine vinegar) sounds great to me. Especially for a first time. I think the herbs and spices are great, but not necessary. They are fun to play with tho and certain spices can influence the results color.

Good luck!

 

[douglala]

I really want to try this whole henna thing out. Its like, I cant escape it. I could really use this treatment considering this months new growth is off the hook, and I know my hair color and shine could use a boost.

ANYWAY- I'm looking at the order form here and I want to know if the sample size of ADDITIONAL HERBS would be enough for one application. I already know I'll probably get the normal 100g of Body Ary Quality Henna, and use Red Wine Vinegar as my acid. Is it recommended to get the alma powder as well?

I'm doing this for the first time so keep it simple!

I appreciate the help Henna Experts!

I have not used any additional herbs so I can't help you there.

But I have used the amla. I almost always add it to my mixes. It works great!
However, I know Sereca does not add the amla to her mix but uses it as a seperate rinse. She just posted the link to her receipe a few posts above yours. Check it out!

 

[sareca]

Great. Thanks.


How does the FNWL amla compare to the hennaforhair one?

I know FNWL is cheaper but is it just as good??

I wondered the same thing. Sometimes vendors store herbs in open bins and containers. Herbs degrade rapidly when exposured to air or heat. So even if they were the same quality they may not be now.

My amla from FNWL should arrived Friday.

 

[sareca]

I have not used any additional herbs so I can't help you there.

But I have used the amla. I almost always add it to my mixes. It works great!
However, I know Sereca does not add the amla to her mix but uses it as a seperate rinse. She just posted the link to her receipe a few posts above yours. Check it out!

We must have been posting at the same time. Are we both on henna duty today? I'll leave you to it. I'm off makeup shopping.

 

[douglala]

We must have been posting at the same time. Are we both on henna duty today? I'll leave you to it. I'm off makeup shopping.

Ohhh, makeup....Have fun!!

I can hold the forte for the next hour but then I'm out!!! Until I get home and get back on the computer this evening!!!

 

[douglala]

I wondered the same thing. Sometimes vendors store herbs in open bins and containers. Herbs degrade rapidly when exposured to air or heat. So even if they were the same quality they may not be now.

My amla from FNWL should arrived Friday.

Oh so you haven't tried FNWL amla yet. I may place a small order of amla from FNWL today. I ran out yesterday and I can't wait any longer.....

The amla I got from the Indian market sucked. It said 100% pure amla but it was very light in color. The powder was a tannish color and the paste was very light brown. It had some kind of green appley smell to it. There is also a green apple on the box....The box is part English but mostly in their language so I think it was Lost In Translation

 

[Candygirl]

Sorry, that was too funny. I don't add anything to my henna. I take it straight to da head.

Yall are good if you can stomach the manurey smell it let's off. Shoot this stuff is strong as skunk skeet. I gotta have my spices in this mess.

 

[Lavendar]

I think of it as a watery leave-in like IC Moisturizer or Aphogee Green Tea Reconstructor. You just spray or pour those on your hair too.

But I'll tell you why I started using amla alone. When I mixed amla and henna I always felt like henna overwhelmed amla. I had no idea how powerful amla was until I used it alone and my hennas never came out different when I stopped adding amla. It's probably just a matter of perception for both of us. :wink2: Feel free to ignore me and do whatever feels natural.

If you're still not buying this "rinse" thing, but want to use amla alone, you could:

• Add a little hot water to your amla (just enough to get it the consistency of your henna mixes)
• Let it steep for 10 minutes

Apply it to your hair just like henna. Wrap it w/ plastic wrap just like henna, leave it an hour, and rinse. It rinses out just like henna too. I've found with or without the pulp equally effective, that's why I strain the pulp and use it on my skin.

HTH

Girl, I wouldn't even think of ignoring you...that's why I asked. I had this picture in my mind of just pouring of pot of water with alma over my head and all down the drain. I got it now though! I will definitely give it a try and let you know how it turns out!

Now....how do you use the pulp on your skin? As a scrub?

 

[Mestiza]

You're right it does smell like funky spinach! Fortunately, I love spinach. I eat it raw, right out of the bag. yummie!

Henna will start to smell different to you after a while. I don't even mask the smell anymore. Just take it straight to the head. In the meantime, get some essential oils to mask the smell. Lemon essential oil works pretty well, but you gotta use 30-40 drops.

I kinda like the smell of henna, now. I take it straight to the haead, too!

 

[alexstin]

What does the amla rinse do your hair?

 

[douglala]

Girl, I wouldn't even think of ignoring you...that's why I asked. I had this picture in my mind of just pouring of pot of water with alma over my head and all down the drain. I got it now though! I will definitely give it a try and let you know how it turns out!

Now....how do you use the pulp on your skin? As a scrub?

I've used the amla as a scrub and it's lovely..... I will either use the scrub plain or mix in a little of my Neutrogena cream fash wash just to help it spread better. It's a great natural exfoliant.

 

[SweetNic_JA]

Henna newbie here. I have very fine weak, natural, 4a/4b hair. Henna sounds like the only thing that will stengthen my tresses. I ran an experiment this morning and I am not confident about my procedure. Maybe some of the gurus here will tell me if I did it right

Here is what I did.
I bought my henna from an Indian grocer on Sunday. I met a lady in the store (a white lady) and she told me that I should mix yogurt and a bit of EVOO with my Henna. I learned about the EVOO on the board, but I had not yet read about the yogurt.

When I got home I mixed some Henna with plain white yogurt and EVOO. I stirred until the mixture had the consistency of mint green cake mix. I sealed the mixture and let it sit for over 24hours. I waited that long partly because I wanted to find Indigo at a store in CT. Unfortunately I waited in vain because I have not found Indigo, muchless an Indian store.

This morning I decided to apply my 24 hour old mixture to my hair. I did not mix nearly enough to have it sit on my hair with the consistency of a cream relaxer, but there was enough to apply to my full head of natural hair.

I let the mixture sit in my hair for almost 2 hours before I showered, rinsed and left for work.

I still smell the Henna in my hair, but I doubt that I did it right. Will an expert chime in?

 

[HoneyDew]

Ok guys I have used the cassia I order from HFH several times now and I am not sure it is giving me the same effect as teh commercial products I have used. I did use Rainbow brand henna but left it in for about 2 hours. I was in love.

I have used cassia 3 times now , but I only left it in for about 30 min. It just did not work the way the rainbow henna did.

Could it be because I left it in longer that time??

 

[sareca]

I've used the amla as a scrub and it's lovely..... I will either use the scrub plain or mix in a little of my Neutrogena cream fash wash just to help it spread better. It's a great natural exfoliant.

Cosigning! Sometimes I don't mix it with anything. Sometimes I just scoop the warm pulp on my skin and rub lightly in the circular motion. Do it over the sink because most of it will fall off. Then I put a wet face towel in the microwave for 15 seconds, put the warm towel over my face for a few minutes then rinse. It's kind of a steam/amla scrub. I do this everytime I do an amla rinse.

 

[alexstin]

Ok guys I have used the cassia I order from HFH several times now and I am not sure it is giving me the same effect as teh commercial products I have used. I did use Rainbow brand henna but left it in for about 2 hours. I was in love.

I have used cassia 3 times now , but I only left it in for about 30 min. It just did not work the way the rainbow henna did.

Could it be because I left it in longer that time??

I think I'll stay away from the Cassia. You're not the first person to have less than stellar results.

 

[douglala]

Henna newbie here. I have very fine weak, natural, 4a/4b hair. Henna sounds like the only thing that will stengthen my tresses. I ran an experiment this morning and I am not confident about my procedure. Maybe some of the gurus here will tell me if I did it right

Here is what I did.
I bought my henna from an Indian grocer on Sunday. I met a lady in the store (a white lady) and she told me that I should mix yogurt and a bit of EVOO with my Henna. I learned about the EVOO on the board, but I had not yet read about the yogurt.

When I got home I mixed some Henna with plain white yogurt and EVOO. I stirred until the mixture had the consistency of mint green cake mix. I sealed the mixture and let it sit for over 24hours. I waited that long partly because I wanted to find Indigo at a store in CT. Unfortunately I waited in vain because I have not found Indigo, muchless an Indian store.

This morning I decided to apply my 24 hour old mixture to my hair. I did not mix nearly enough to have it sit on my hair with the consistency of a cream relaxer, but there was enough to apply to my full head of natural hair.

I let the mixture sit in my hair for almost 2 hours before I showered, rinsed and left for work.

I still smell the Henna in my hair, but I doubt that I did it right. Will an expert chime in?

A few questions...
What brand of henna did you use? Did you verify that it was 100% PURE HENNA??
How much henna did you use? How many grams or ounces? You mentioned that the color of your mix was mint green. If your mix was that light you many have either used too much yogurt or not enough henna. Henna should be the #1 ingredient in your mix.
Did you condition your hair after rinsing out the henna? It's okay to still smell the henna. Just rinse again tonight.
So how does your hair feel and look now? Do you see any color in the light/sun? I'm thinking that you may have let the mixture sit out a little too long...maybe??

I used yogurt in my mix once and my hair came out dry BUT I think that was because I used lemon juice and NO evoo.
My usual mix is henna, EVOO, Honey, and a few drops of my Rosemary Essential Oil. For my next treatment I will add the yogurt to this mix and compare the difference.

 

[douglala]

Ok guys I have used the cassia I order from HFH several times now and I am not sure it is giving me the same effect as teh commercial products I have used. I did use Rainbow brand henna but left it in for about 2 hours. I was in love.

I have used cassia 3 times now , but I only left it in for about 30 min. It just did not work the way the rainbow henna did.

Could it be because I left it in longer that time??

I've used Cassia successfully mixed with either henna or indigo. I just did a treatment Sunday night that was 2 parts cassia and 1 part indigo and my hair loved it.

However, I have used Cassia by itself and it was just OKAY....

 

[SweetNic_JA]

A few questions...
What brand of henna did you use? Did you verify that it was 100% PURE HENNA??
How much henna did you use? How many grams or ounces? You mentioned that the color of your mix was mint green. If your mix was that light you many have either used too much yogurt or not enough henna. Henna should be the #1 ingredient in your mix.
Did you condition your hair after rinsing out the henna? It's okay to still smell the henna. Just rinse again tonight.
So how does your hair feel and look now? Do you see any color in the light/sun? I'm thinking that you may have let the mixture sit out a little too long...maybe??

I used yogurt in my mix once and my hair came out dry BUT I think that was because I used lemon juice and NO evoo.
My usual mix is henna, EVOO, Honey, and a few drops of my Rosemary Essential Oil. For my next treatment I will add the yogurt to this mix and compare the difference.

I will have to check the container once I get home because I am not sure of the brand name. It is 100% pure, grounded BAQ Henna leaves produced in India. The color is similar to the green you see in this picture below. My mixture maybe a little darker.

About conditioning - I really did not have time to condition because I was running late for work, but I am going to do a deep conditioner once I get home.

 

[HoneyDew]

I am not sure if any henna newbies have seen this but I found it informative:

www.hennapage.com/henna/what/freebooks/mix.pdf

 

[SweetNic_JA]

I am not sure if any henna newbies have seen this but I found it informative:

www.hennapage.com/henna/what/freebooks/mix.pdf

Wow, thanks! I was looking this an instruction package similar to this one.

 

[JLove74]

I will have to check the container once I get home because I am not sure of the brand name. It is 100% pure, grounded BAQ Henna leaves produced in India. The color is similar to the green you see in this picture below. My mixture maybe a little darker.

About conditioning - I really did not have time to condition because I was running late for work, but I am going to do a deep conditioner once I get home.

It's funny you should mention the Rainbow brand henna. I was in Whole Food and saw they had it. So I got to reading and the only thing it had for ingredients was 100% natural - but it didn't say if it was pure henna, so I was a little scared to get it. But now, I'm looking at the webpage and it says All Natural * NO Additives * NO Chemicals.

SweetNic can you compare Rainbow to HFH cassia (which arrived in my mail yesterday)?

 

[HoneyDew]

It's funny you should mention the Rainbow brand henna. I was in Whole Food and saw they had it. So I got to reading and the only thing it had for ingredients was 100% natural - but it didn't say if it was pure henna, so I was a little scared to get it. But now, I'm looking at the webpage and it says All Natural * NO Additives * NO Chemicals.

SweetNic can you compare Rainbow to HFH cassia (which arrived in my mail yesterday)?

I have used both and the Rainbow Henna was better, in my opinion.

I used it just once and I left it in for about 2 hours. That was the 1st time I had tried henna. It was harder to rinse out than the HFH cassia, but the outcome was amazing.

I have since used cassia 3 times and I am just not that impressed. I did not leave it in as long so I am going togive it one more chance. I will leave it in for afew hours to see if that helps. If not, I am giving up on the cassia, or just use it in between henna treatments.

 

[Kimberly]

I have a question. I hennaed for the first time this past weekend and I got the stuff all over the d@mn place... ...how do ya'll keep from dripping it? I wore gloves and used my hands to apply it.

I wanted to talk about my henna experience but my home computer is acting up and I haven't brought the info about the henna brand that I used with me to work...

Overall, it was interesting. I got mine from a health food store that said 100% natural only henna and the plant derivative that they used for the color (mohagony). I mixed it with an egg, fresh squeezed lemon juice, once ounce of evoo, and enough hot water to get the right consistency. I will say this. The box that I got was a 4 oz box. They said for shorter hair, to use half the package so that's what I did and, after letting it sit all day before applying it, I found out that I did not have enough to do my whole head from roots to end so I went back and mixed up the second half quickly and applied it immediately. The instructions that came with my package did not say that the henna had to sit for the color to release. So, I guess you could say that I used 2 eggs, juice from two lemons, 2 ounces of evoo... but it turned out pretty well. I did follow up with a DC afterwards (I used patchouli and wheatgerm from Bath and Body Works). I think I'm the only one that can tell the subtle difference in color. I had some very light colored hair that had grown from my head here in recent months and the ends were very dark. Now, it looks all the same color with some slight bronzy looking highlights..

I'm going to go by an Indian store this weekend and see what they have. I'd like to make this part of my weekly routine. I can definitely see the benefits from the conditioning alone. Next time I'll know to use 4 ounces....until I get longer hair...

 

[Kimberly]

Also, am I suppose to have little bits of henna in my hair or did I not rinse it out good? I poo'd and con'd this morning for the first time this morning (my directions said to wait at least 3 days even though I DC'd right after) and it feels a lot silkier today than it did the first day and not so "grainy".

 

[victorious]

I am not sure if any henna newbies have seen this but I found it informative:

www.hennapage.com/henna/what/freebooks/mix.pdf

Thank you!!!

I'm doing a harvest test tonight.

 

[SweetNic_JA]

Okay here are my brands:
1. Mohini Royal Henna - 100% double refined mehndi. It says it's special for hair, beauty parlor and palm decoration. I just saw that my bag has an expiration date which is date 05/2006. Ah well, I'll use it anyway. $3.00 300 grams

2.Reshma Henaa- Natural Hair Coloring & Conditioning Agent. 100% Herbal Product . No chemicals added. Ingredient: Powdered Henna Leaves. It says, "WARNING NOT INTENDED FOR USE ON SKIN". . I am natural so I don't think this is a threat to my hair. $4.75 200grams


JLove, I have never owned or tried either of the brands you mentioned. I'm a lil' ol newbie when it comes to Henna. I will keep you updated on the above brands I mentioned.

 

[Lavendar]

Cosigning! Sometimes I don't mix it with anything. Sometimes I just scoop the warm pulp on my skin and rub lightly in the circular motion. Do it over the sink because most of it will fall off. Then I put a wet face towel in the microwave for 15 seconds, put the warm towel over my face for a few minutes then rinse. It's kind of a steam/amla scrub. I do this everytime I do an amla rinse.

Thanks douglala and sareca! I will be doing this with my face steamer!!

 

[Lavendar]

I have used both and the Rainbow Henna was better, in my opinion.

I used it just once and I left it in for about 2 hours. That was the 1st time I had tried henna. It was harder to rinse out than the HFH cassia, but the outcome was amazing.

I have since used cassia 3 times and I am just not that impressed. I did not leave it in as long so I am going togive it one more chance. I will leave it in for afew hours to see if that helps. If not, I am giving up on the cassia, or just use it in between henna treatments.

Question about the Rainbow Henna: I have read over and over that henna only colors the hair red. So how does rainbow henna color the hair so many different colors and not have any additives?

 

[LovelyLionessa]

I have used both and the Rainbow Henna was better, in my opinion.

I used it just once and I left it in for about 2 hours. That was the 1st time I had tried henna. It was harder to rinse out than the HFH cassia, but the outcome was amazing.

I have since used cassia 3 times and I am just not that impressed. I did not leave it in as long so I am going togive it one more chance. I will leave it in for afew hours to see if that helps. If not, I am giving up on the cassia, or just use it in between henna treatments.

Honeydew, I have some Rainbow Cassia, their "Persian Neutral Henna," is that the kind you used? Do you think I should use it in conjunction with some of my Colora Henna if the results from the Cassia alone aren't that great?

 

[LovelyLionessa]

I've used Cassia successfully mixed with either henna or indigo. I just did a treatment Sunday night that was 2 parts cassia and 1 part indigo and my hair loved it.

However, I have used Cassia by itself and it was just OKAY....

So, when using the Cassia, you recommend using it with henna as it's not as good alone? How many ounces or grams of henna and cassia did you mix together to get good results, Douglala?