Mix 5g of Ancient Sunrise Citric Acid powder per 100g of Ancient Sunrise henna or Ancient Sunrise® cassia powder, then stir in filtered or distilled water until the paste is the desired consistency. Citric acid henna paste mixtures tend to create bright coppery stains that stay light and bright. Citric acid is more likely to cause some possible sensitivities such as itching or redness of the scalp than the other Ancient Sunrise® fruit acid powders. Henna and cassia will dye your hair most effectively when mixed with a mildly acidic liquid. If you don't use an acidic liquid or powder with your henna or cassia the color will not be as permanent and can fade. The acidic liquid keeps the hydrogen atoms intact on the corners of the quinone molecules so the color (lawsone or crysophanic acid) can bind to the keratin in your hair. If these molecules are bound to your hair, the color will not fade or go peculiar. In fact, the henna and cassia color will gradually deepen and look more natural. The links below connect to chapters of the free e-book Ancient Sunrise© Henna for Hair, a book researched and written by Catherine Cartwright-Jones PhD, a researcher who focused her graduate and doctoral work on henna. Ancient Sunrise® Henna for Hair is meant to help people understand how to dye their hair without chemicals, to protect their own health and the health of the planet they live on, to correct the misconceptions that have lead to chemical hair dye industry replacing henna, and to dispel the abundant misinformation about henna. You can download these selected chapters or download the entire book free of charge at http://www.hennaforhair.com/freebooks/
Ancient Sunrise® Chapter 6 Henna and Acidic Mixes Learn about the necessary chemistry of mixing henna and cassia with a mildly acidic liquid. This chapter discusses several sources of fruit acids, and how each has a different effect on henna.
Ancient Sunrise ® Chapter 7Mixing and Testing your Henna Mix Here is information on the mixing, dye release, formulation, and testing of a wide range of non-chemical permanent colors from henna, indigo, and cassia. This chapter includes step-by-step instructions to produce the color you want for your hair.