Real People, Real Henna: "Chrissy"



Chrissy, before and after henna

Nature comes up with the coolest stuff. Put lovely henna among the top on the list!

I am a very hippie-ish girl and had never, in all my twenty-one years, felt the urge to slather my head with toxic chemicals in order to be different. Yes, I lusted after the look of dazzling red hair(had always wanted it!) but knew it could never be. I just couldn't zap my all-natural goodness.

AND THEN...I found henna!!!! And wowie-kazowie! It is fantabulous! This site was so helpful in giving me the courage to do it. All the beautiful pictures of the awesome results turned this sceptic into a believer! Yes, a girl can have truly beautiful and natural looking red hair without marinading her brains in chemical sludge! Hip hip hooray!

So, here is what I did...

Ordered a bunch of Ancient sunrise henna from www.mehandi.com

Mixed 120 grams of henna in a big glass bowl with oodles of lemon juice (not sure how much) until it was thicky mashed potato-ish. I let this sit near the woodstove all night wrapped in a plastic bag and towel.

In the morning I added some more liquid. Letting this sit for another few hours, I contemplated other things to toss in while I drove to get my sister (helper!). I let this sit for just a few more hours... All together about 24 hours of dye release time.

*deep breath*

I went to the mirror, said goodbye to my dark blonde locks, ran to the kitchen before I could chicken out, bent over a trash bag on the floor and had my sister gloop it in, starting at the nape of my neck. My hair is over two feet long, so it took a little while. It smelled kinda like spicy swamp goo. :)

When I was fully sloppified with lovely duck turd colored henna mush, I curled my hair on top of my head, saran wrapped it and threw on a bucket hat to hold in heat. I practiced my henna body art on my sister for nearly three hours while I stewed, but couldn't take it any longer. I was soooo curious!

Rinsing it out was interesting... Use lots of conditioner ladies and gents! It makes all the difference in being able to wash it to henna after life.

I was amazed!!! Very bright coppery orange! Yowza! I liked it lots, but was apprehensive about the tangerine hue. I decided to sleep on it, and see how it was in the morning. I awoke to loveliness! It had deepened a bit, redder than the night before. My sister took these pictures that morning, in the bright sunlight.

Over the next few days it got much redder, I love it so much!!! Going to apply again, go for the gusto! Happy henna-ing girls! It is so much fun, a very personal experience mixing it yourself, and then watching it change over time.

Notes and References
Henna: https://www.mehandi.com/Mehandi-com-Ancient-Sunrise-Henna-for-Hair-s/121.htm
Don’t have fruit juice on hand? Keep some fruit acid powders in your cupboard.
Mildly acidic liquid: https://www.mehandi.com/Fruit-Acid-for-henna-dye-release-s/299.htm
More info on mildly acidic mixes: https://www.tapdancinglizard.com/henna-and-acidic-mixes/
Ancient Sunrise henna for hair kits with everything included: https://www.mehandi.com/Mehandi-com-Ancient-Sunrise-Henna-for-Hair-Kits-s/124.htm
Henna color oxidizing ("rusting"): https://www.tapdancinglizard.com/mixing-and-testing-your-henna-mix/ pp.25-29

Video How-To
Going red with henna: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/739464950