Want more
info on Henna for Hair? Go to
the website
and forum devoted to Henna for
Hair!
Henna makes your
hair shiny, healthy, and strong!
Henna has safely colored and conditioned women's hair for at least six
thousand years and it does a lovely job!
Henna has tannin in it and the tannin molecules bind into keratin
(hair) molecules and make the fibers physically stronger, like winding
threads together to make a stronger string. After you henna hair, it is
softer, stronger, it tangles less, and the split ends disappear.
Traditionally, henna was believed
to have the quality of "Baraka" meaning "blessedness" or "grace."
It was believed to be able to avert the evil eye and thwart demons that
caused disease, depression and misbehavior. Your regular hair dye
never did that for you!
Henna is good for you and your
hair, and you can use it as often as you like!
I am not a beautician-- I'm just
a lady who's been using henna on her hair for ten years. I'm
telling you what I know here, but I'm NOT a licensed
professional. I am also working toward my PhD on henna, so I
really do know a great deal about the chemistry, techniques, and
traditions of henna. Everything on this page DOES have a sound
basis in research and chemistry.
This page is here because people ask me questions about hennaing hair
all the time. My hair is nearly to my knees and thick, (though
I'm in my fifties). My hair would not be this thick, long and
glossy without henna. It covers all the gray and keeps it in
great condition. The picture above is my hair, in the sunshine.
It is normally brown with 20% gray. Read on for more info on how
to do YOUR hair!
If you henna YOUR hair, what
color will it be?
Every woman's hair will come up a
bit different with henna, because henna is natural vegetable tannin
that stains your hair. Henna is a translucent stain.
Hennaing your hair is like coloring with a red-orange crayon on black
paper, brown paper, or manila paper. Hennotannin molecules lodge
into the keratin of your hair and those molecules are red-orange.
The color of the paper shows through the crayon and the result is a
blend of the two. Thus, every person's hair will come up
differently with henna. The henna tannin molecules are
red-orange, and stain pure white hair the same color of a ginger
cat's red fur. On dark hair, these molecules catch the light in the
sunshine, so hair will be somewhat reddened and will have glossy red
highlights with henna.
- If your hair is blonde, henna may make it vibrant red or
strawberry blonde.
- If your hair is red, henna will restore vibrant red color
and glossiness that you lose to age and sun damage.
- If your hair is mousy brown, henna may make it rich red or
copper penny red.
- If your hair is medium brown, your hair may come up the
color of an Irish Setter dog.
- If your hair is dark brown, it will be deep chestnut with
red highlights in the sunshine.
- If your hair is black, it will be very dark chestnut with
red highlights.
- If your hair has gone all gray, henna may make it orange.
- If your hair is brown streaked with grey, it may be rich
auburn with red threads.
- Totally gray hair may go tangerine if you don't use the
best possible henna! To get a beautiful natural looking red or
auburn over gray hair, use body art quality henna from one of the
sources linked below! Mix it fresh, and apply it generously,
leave it in for two hours or so, and reapply every month. Your
hair will gradually become beautifully silky and deep rich natural
looking red! Work the henna clear to your scalp-- it will
help your hair be stronger and thicker, and it's good for your skin!
Henna always leaves my hair
silky, easy to brush, thick, and well conditioned.
Who should NOT use henna in
their hair?
You should NOT put COMPOUND
HENNA on hair that has been straightened, permed, dyed, or bleached
in the previous year. The results can range from peculiar to
catastrophic. Goat vomit green and swamp bottom black are the most
common color results. If you use BODY ART QUALITY HENNA on your
straightened, permed, dyed, or bleached hair, you'll probably do just
fine, but test first!
If you have used ANY commercial hair dye in the previous year, harvest
your hair from your hairbrush and henna your spare hair to see if you
get the infamous green or if enough of the chemical residue has rinsed
out that you get nice results!
Compound henna over
Synthetically Dyed Hair = DEAD HAIR!
I do mean dead. You can't fix it.
This is "shave your head and join a nunnery" dead hair!
Start over. Grow it again.
If you use body art quality
henna on your hair, there won't be any problem.
How do you know if henna will make your hair totally beautiful or
completely ruin it? Try some! Mix up
a little bit of body art quality henna and try it on hair you've
harvested from your hairbrush. Want enough to try twice (once to
test and once to be sure)? Avert potential disaster for $1.00!
Mix up the henna with lemon juice
until it's the consistency of yogurt. Some ladies use red wine or
vinegar to mix... Use anything that is acidic and smells good to you.
No need to stink up yourself or the house. Let that sit
overnight. You do that to let the dye release from the leaves.
That's really all that's necessary.
However. . .
There are as many henna recipes as there are ladies hennaing their hair.
Go HERE to find out
how people mix their henna!
REAL PEOPLE'S HENNA
MIXES
How can you get some henna and other goodies?
How do you Henna Your Hair?
- Mix up a one-pound plastic margarine tub size batch of
henna paste for neck-length hair.
- Mix up an additional tub for every twelve inches of hair
beyond that.
- If you are a henna artist, save up your leftover paste in
the freezer and add that to the mix.
Get the henna muck into your hair:
- This is like trying to plaster a big hole in the wall. This
is very messy. You will have to completely clean the bathroom
after you're done with this. This DOES look like goose poop.
Send people who cherish illusions about
your feminine perfection elsewhere for a while.
- Put on plastic gloves of some sort (or else you'll have
ORANGE hands) and work the thick henna paste into all of your hair,
down to the scalp, and out to the ends. A big spoon might help or
it might not. I just grab whole handfuls and work it in.
Some people load the henna into used mustard squeeze bottles and squirt
it in . You can use carrot bags to squeeze the henna into your
hair. Henna won't hurt your scalp at all, but if you get it on your
ears and forehead, wipe it off. Henna will stain your skin but
the stain will go away in a day or two.
- It doesn't seem to matter whether you apply henna to wet
hair or dry hair. I wash my hair the day before and then henna when
it's clean and dry.
- When I've got ALL my hair totally slathered in henna, I
sort of sculpt it into a pile like a child playing with mashed
potatoes. I cover it with a sort of saran-wrap turban to keep it
from glopping around the house. Henna can go flying everywhere,
and will stain the cat if it lands on her.
- Henna can stain silk wool, or other fibers if it lands
there and goes unnoticed for a long while.
- Don't sit on your best chair and don't wear your favorite
clothes.
- It doesn't stain bathroom fixtures ... or if there seems a
little stain, just blast it with bleach and it'll be gone.
- Leave the paste in your hair for an hour or five. If
you can add some warmth, as in wrapping this in a towel and sitting in
the sun in the garden, you'll get more color. This all looks
absolutely gross, but if you sent everyone else away, who cares?
If you really want intense color, put a dryer bonnet over your hair and
cook it into your hair.
- Then ... Rinse it all out.
- Shampoo with a gentle shampoo to get the last out if you
like.
- Cleaning up the bathroom is going to be a job, as it will
look like a heard of geese invaded and did something vile all over the
place However, it all goes away with rinsing.
- Some people have a problem with the henna scent that
lingers in the hair a few days. It smells a bit like fresh
hay. It's not near as bad as perm smell. It goes
away.
The henna color darkens over the next several days, so don't panic if
you see orange. It'll mellow out. If you henna your hair
every month or so the color will keep building up until it's all a
lovely rich red. You can henna as often as you want. It
won't hurt your hair.
Where do I get henna for my hair?
Stale henna, or off-season harvest season henna is often responsible
for orange hair. Buy your henna from one of those body art
quality henna sources and you’ll get the best henna!
You can get it at the store, but it may be stale there, or may have
ingredients that will harm you or your hair. The other problem is
that if you get it in a box at the store, there are probably unlisted
ingredients that are COMPOUND HENNA.
Synthetic Dye over Compound Henna
= DEAD HAIR!
I do mean dead. You can't fix it. You killed it.
May as well shave your head and get a lot of piercings....
At least until it grows back....
Or ... use Body Art Quality and test your hair first!
Why is henna better than commercial hair dye?
Nearly all commercial hair dyes have P-Phenelynediamine or a variant of
it. That is proven to cause delayed hypersensitivity reactions
(blistering and sores on your scalp), is a transdermal toxin, is
strongly linked with asthma. The dark brown and black commercial
hair dyes may be linked to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Check out these
warnings by the government and industrial safety standards if you want
a wake-up call on dying your hair with that commercial stuff. If
you want to cover your grey and love your liver, bladder, or unborn
children, try henna.
Many people who use synthetic hair dye become sensitized. You may
be reading this page because you get blisters, itching, wheezing or far
worse from synthetic hair dye. If so, go to a doctor and also
read this:
http://www.truetest.com/templates/20.html
Henna won't hurt you.
Read the medical journal
reports on death, cancer and severe illness caused by commercial
hair dye, and more:
Synthetic
hair dye can mess you over! Here's why!
Txilar's Rant (below)
Perri Jackson's
Story
More
web resources on synthetic hair dye allergies:
Allergy
to Para-phenylenediamine
Symptoms
of a Severe Reaction to Hair Dye
Beauty
goes Bad
Or, stay heathy
and use henna!
A very small percentage of people are allergic to pure henna. If
you put a bit of henna paste on the inside of your elbow and leave
it. If you have intense itching, chills, hives, and a tight chest
within three hours, you are allergic to henna.
If you're fine at three hours, you are not allergic to henna and are
free to use it on your hair.
Want more info on Henna for Hair?
Go to the website and forum devoted to Henna for Hair !
You can ask Catherine questions about henna and hair: info@mehandi.com
Mehandi.com
Shop has plastic gloves to keep your hands from turning orange
and carrot bags to apply the henna to your hair.
Mehandi.com
also has indigo to dye your hair black!
Mehandi.com
Shop
for useful henna gear that's hard to find
...and might help me break even on the server bill and
research expenses!
Logo by Alex Morgan:
Spellstone © 2005
All material
unless otherwise noted
by Catherine Cartwright-Jones © 2002, 2004, 2005
info@mehandi.com
return to
mehandi.com
entrance
|
