Hi ladies. How's your week going? I'm really excited as I write this post because Henna has been on my to-do list for a while now.
During the #washdayexperience in May, one of the themes was Hair color and care. I'd always wanted to dye my hair red but I was afraid my hair will break and caring for it will be overwhelming so I stayed away. But during the theme a lot of bloggers used Henna and I was interested in coloring my hair again. Luckily 2 weeks later, I had a meet up with a Hair blogger who I discovered lives in my town and Henna was one of the gifts she gave me. Thanks again Oyinkan!! She blogs over at Hairgineering and also has an online store here.
I'd been waiting for the perfect time to use my Henna and when I decided to texlax, I knew there would be no perfect time than that. One important thing I made sure to do was RESEARCH!!! I cannot stress how important it is to always research before trying out a new product or method so you can avoid the mistakes of the other persons.
Enough talk - here's how I mixed and applied my first Henna;
Things You Will Need
- 1 pack of Henna (depending on the volume of your hair and what colour you prefer) I used Jamila Henna for red hair.
- A pair of gloves (check my mini haul).
- A bowl for mixing
- A spoon or spatula
- Hot water
- Green tea & Coconut milk (optional).
Mixing
- I did a lot of research on this and I finally went with Jen's method.
- Her method includes coconut milk but since my decision to use Henna wasn't planned, I used only green tea.
- I steeped 2 sachets of Wegmans green tea in hot water.
- Poured one-quarter of the Jamila Henna in a bowl.
- Using my spoon to mix I gradually poured in the hot green tea and stirred. I realised later that I poured in too much tea because my paste was still watery after the dye release.
- I then covered with a cling film and left it for 8 hours for the dye release.
Side note: your Henna paste should be like a pancake mix not too thick and not to watery either.
Application
- Once 8 hours was up I applied the Henna on my hair. I'd read countless times on several blogs that it's easier to apply Henna to damp hair so that's exactly what I did.
- I dampened my hair, bent over my bathtub and applied the Henna all over my hair. I should have applied in sections but my excitement got the best of me.
- After application I still had a lot of Henna left but I had to rinse it away instead of storing it. The Henna left a mess in my bathtub but thankfully it didn't leave a stain *phew*.
- Since I know Henna can be messy, I made sure to wrap my hair well to avoid any stains on my pillowcase. I wore a plastic cap, an old satin bonnet, wrapped with an old scarf, a shower cap and lastly a hand towel round my nape. Better safe than sorry yh?!
Rinsing
- The next morning which was 8 hours later I rinsed out the Henna with warm water which didn't take forever probably because my mixture wasn't thick.
- Deep conditioned with Ors Replenishing Conditioner for 30 minutes with heat.
- Rinsed with cold water and air dried.
- Moisturised and sealed with Mega Profective Leave-in Strengthener and Coconut oil.
Results
If you look closely you can see a strip of red already down the middle of my hair. I can't wait to see what my hair would look like after my 3rd or 4th application...I'm so excited!!!
If you follow me on snapchat (@missyaila) which you should, you'd have seen my snaps of the whole process. The application was 2 weeks ago so I'm looking forward to my next one this weekend *whoop whoop*.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to be as detailed as possible especially for those who want to try Henna too. You can also read another method by Klp of Saving Our Strands.
What's your experience trying Henna?
Enjoy the rest of your week...
