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 Henna For Hair is devoted to the art and science of henna and other natural hair dyes. |
| My natural hair is honey-colored
with warm tones in summer but fades to something between "mousy brown"
and "dishwater blonde" in fall & winter. I decided to use henna to
try and regain my summery color. I really didn't want to end up with
color that would look like a dye job growing out, though, so I decided
to use Fia's glossing method. On Friday, I mixed a heaping tsp (yes, that's TEAspoon, I figured it would always be easy to use more henna later but hard to go back if it was too red) with 1 tsp cassia obovata I had on hand (because why not?) and 1 tsp pulverized, sifted chamomile. Then I mixed it to a paste like brownie batter with a combination of chamomile tea & lemon juice. It made more paste than I expected and had almost a gel texture. I covered it loosely with plastic wrap & left it on the back of the stove, amongst the gently simmering pots. This was at 2 p.m. By 3, I was getting impatient, so I moved it to the counter on a heating pad. When my husband came home at 5, I told him I was worried I'd done something wrong, because there was no dye release -- but when I went to show him, there was! Exciting. I don't think I really believed it would happen :oP I did a harvested hair test, mixing a tiny dab of the paste with about 3 times as much homemade, nonfat yogurt and leaving it for 45 minutes. It definitely looked different from the hair on my head, warmer, but not like it had been dyed, so I stashed the henna paste in the fridge to use on my head the next day. (While I was performing the strand test, I dripped on the counter, and by the time I wiped it up there was a delicate marigold stain on the white countertop. Exciting, again.) Saturday morning I mixed the paste with yogurt in the same ratio as the strand test, washed & towel-dried my hair & applied the henna gloss. It was a little drippier than I would've liked -- nonfat yogurt is runnier than I'd realized. I wound my hair into a big bun, wrapped a long rag around my hairline & covered the whole mess with several layers of plastic wrap & a towel. I rinsed off a little over an hour later, using plenty of diluted, moisturizing conditioner to help slick any little bits out. My hair felt very strong & smooth. When I went to comb it, it detangled easily. It feels smooth and strong and it looks shiny. And I have my summer hair back! There are red glints through it, almost unnoticeable in shadow but sparking out when light hits it. It looks subtly brighter and more alive. I'm very happy with it and in fact, next time I think I might use more henna. If anybody's worried about being too bright red, here's proof that henna can be subtle even on lighter hair! Kris
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