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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!

Go here for Samples
Body Art Quality Henna and other good stuff

The Easiest most Foolproof Henna Mix:

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. 
  • That's it.


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?

I can sell you body art quality henna for hair (Good Stuff too!): http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hairhenna.html

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

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