Okay, I finally got my camera back working and got my pics of my first henna experience. Yay!
I had heard lots of good things about Henna from other natural chics but I was a little skeptical since I saw some bloggers speaking of it as if it were THE holy grail product. I'm so not a bandwagon jumper so I always take my time to figure out if something is for me. After checking out all the info I could find, I decided that I had to test it out, even if it was solely for color.
FYI: For those of you that have no clue what I'm talking about. Henna is an ayurvedic powder made from the Henna (Lawsonia Inermis) plant that naturally contains a red-orange dye. When made into a paste and applied to hair, it leaves an auburn or red rinse-like glossy cast and has amazing conditioning qualities that some think actually changes your hair texture. Lots of ladies experience less shrinkage, added strength, blinging shine, faster drying time, heavier/thicker strands and stretched, defined, popping curls. Some ladies also experience curl loss but another ayurvedic powder, Amla can be used to combat that.
So back to my story of how I got boo'd up...I am a color addict so I decided to lighten my hair in order to have the color show up better. I had never rocked red hair before and I was itching to get color so I figured that would be my goal so that I wouldn't be expecting too much when it came to the conditioning part.
A few pics of my bare, lightened hair right before the treatment:
I used two boxes of Body Art Quality Jamila Henna and one box of Amla from Henna for Hair mixed with 2 or 3 extra strong cups of organic green tea, a splash of lemon juice and two tablespoons of honey.
After mixing in just enough tea to get a soupy paste, I let it sit for maybe an hour.
Sidenote: I could have so lived without the unpleasantly smell and the look of baby poo..lol
I sectioned it off and mashed it into my freshly shampood and dried hair, covered with plastic cap and left it in while I slept. Since it looked like poo and is kind of heavy or dense, it was a little weird to manipulate and not very fun to smell while trying to sleep but I got used to it.
The next morning I stuck my head under a faucet to loosen the paste and then rinsed, and deep conditioned. As I was rinsing the henna out, I could feel that my hair was tangle free and literally felt like silk (ugh..I hate cliches but it fits). My hair has never felt so smooth and healthy in my life. After rinsing and seeing the unbelievable shine and simply gorgeous locks, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with hair like this. I'm a true henna head now.
After the first application, the color was a brighter red than I was going for but after the second time, it was PERFECT. I was going for the Velvet Rope Janet Jackson red and I'm pretty close. The below pic is a month post henna so the shine has dulled and the bling thats left doesn't show well in this pic. Next time, I'll take after pics RIGHT after..lol
The only downside to my henna love affair is that some of my heat damaged spots straightened out a little too much which makes my wash-n-go styles take alot more work. Now, I'm giving twist-out syles another chance tho I had just given up on them for my hair type.
Henna is my hair boo though. I feel like I'm cheating on my living, breathing boo. For Christmas, I requested lots of it and I am still waiting for it in the mail. *rolling eyes*
I definitely recommend checking it out whether you are relaxed or natural. Since it stretches, smoothes and strengthens curls, I think that it can replace the creamy crack(relaxers) and make life easier for my naturals that love to wear a press or silk wrap.
Great Henna Resources:
Have you tried henna? Share your henna experience with us.
Smooches babes!
Latest Comments