My husband is from the middle east and had grown up with 5 sisters and numerous aunties who all used henna so he had no qualms about the use of henna as a hair colourant or as a conditioner. So I took the bull by the horns and decided to have a go. My sister in law on a visit brought me a bag of pure natural henna unpretenciously packed in authentic hessian like mesh bags and sealed up by being sewn up with thick cotton thread. The bag was written on the outside in gorgeous script that I couldn't read, it all seemed quite exoctic at the time, after all few people 30 years ago used henna in this pure form.
1kg hennaMy husband duly agreed (actually he was dead keen to get his hands into the sludge) to do the honours of colouring my hair.Henna when its a powder should be green. This is how you know its fresh and it smells all earthy.
Dry Henna Powder
Henna mixed with water
Mixing up a good amount of henna powder into a bowl he added warm water and mixed it until it became yogurt consistency and left it for 20mins, this helps to settle and release the dyes & many people add oil at this point which also aids the release of the dye although I must admit neither he nor I knew this at the time and I have never used anything but water and have never had a problem.
At the point of putting this mud like goo on my hair I did put on old clothes and covered myself, of course over the years it did get better but it can be a messy business, henna, and I did end up with henna on my ears, arms and on the floor, but bless him he did do a good job, parting all my hair methodically and rubbing in henna until I was completely covered , then wrapping my head in a shower cap.
I left this on for about an hour, having quite light brown hair. I then washed it all off ( which took forever!) and then washed in gentle shampoo.
The effect was fantastico ... a gorgeous coppery red colour and I loved it ...
Over the years I have used henna consistently, getting older I added a table spoon of coffee to dampen the red down a bit which was starting to become a little more vibrant and orangy due to the greying of my hair. Coffee always worked for me.
The big bonus for me was that previously whilst growing up my hair was always kind of limp and thin but once I started to use henna over the years my hair transformed to a decent thicker quality and I now find that reaching my 50's the effect has had a truly amazing effect. No thinning hair for me and no dulling, my hair almost seems at its prime, thick, lustrous and shiny.
I am so happy with my hair at the moment and I do believe that it is henna that I need.
henna makeup for eyebrows, eyeline and eyeliner