Sunday, March 1, 2015

Wash Day Chroniciles: The Henna Experiment

This was no ordinary wash day for me. I finally did it! After a year of procrastinating. I finally henna'd my hair and I am so happy I did. I love how my hair turned out.

1. On Friday night, I mixed my the henna with boiling hot water in a class bowl. Then I mixed in the conditioner until I had the cake batter consistency I wanted. I let it sit overnight and added the oil the next morning. The oil and the conditioner made the smell of the henna slightly more bearable. It smells very earthy. lol

2. I sectioned my hair into fours and began applying the henna, wearing gloves of course. It wasn't as messy a process as I thought it would be. Then I covered my hair with a plastic cap and let the henna sit for about 3 hours.

3. Next, I  rinsed until the water ran clear. Which didn't take long at all. My hair felt extremely strong afterwards. My curls were popping and the shrinkage was absolutely real. It definitely reminded me why I have not cut my hair yet. I'm not ready to deal with shrinkage.
4. Although my hair was feeling strong, a moisturizing conditioner was definitely in order. I used up the rest of the Naturelle Grow Mango and Coconut Water Infused Deep Conditioner. My hair instantly softened when the conditioner hit my hair. I steamed for 30 minutes and then rinsed out the conditioner. Now as for as the color payoff that I would have had, it was washed away when I rinsed out the conditioner. I should have sat under the dryer instead of the steamer. But I'm not heart broken because I can tell that my highlights benefited. They seem to be a bit more noticeable to me.

Henna has officially become part of my regimen now. I want to use it over a period of time to see how it helps out my hair during the rest of these transitioning months. I was so nervous about doing this at first but it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I will henna my hair again towards the end of the month. I will do the best I can to take pics of my hair.

What has been your experience with henna?

3 comments:

  1. A non-messy henna treatment?

    SHOOTTT---sign me up chica! I've read that henna can interfere with regular hair dyes. Do you think that you will just keep using henna to color your hair or will you still dye it at the salon?

    Thanks for sharing your #washdayexperience!

    KLP @ SavingOurStrands

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    Replies
    1. If it's natural henna like the nupur brand it should be fine. If you get henna that has chemicals in it like a brand from the beauty supply, then it will react to the chemicals in the dye. You can dye your hair with the henna but it will take awhile to get the color.

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    2. If it's natural henna like the nupur brand it should be fine. If you get henna that has chemicals in it like a brand from the beauty supply, then it will react to the chemicals in the dye. You can dye your hair with the henna but it will take awhile to get the color.

      Delete