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Clare's Mix
Clare Before Henna
Clare after henna
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The Encyclopedia of Henna Samples Indigo Science History Health Gray Suppliers Beauticians Links Warnings Allergies PPD Dyes Forum Find It! |
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Clare's Mix
Clare Before Henna
Clare after henna
| I've been reading the pages and
forums on www.hennaforhair.com for a few weeks now and finally decided
to take the plunge and henna my hair for the first time yesterday. My hair is naturally a medium ashy blonde as you can see at the roots in my before pictures. I am 22 and have been colouring my hair since I was about 14, I've been every colour under the sun but never really happy with the result. A few months ago I bleached all of the remaining colour (faded purple) out of my hair and turned it white blonde. I used Jerome Russell B Blonde for this, which was brilliant as it's the only bleach that has turned my hair white... but unfortunately it also burnt my scalp and made it sore for days afterwards. This was when I decided not to use chemicals to dye my hair anymore... I don't want to be prematurely bald or worse! So I came across this site and purchased body art quality henna from Catherine, www.mehandi.com Here is my mix:
First I boiled 1 1/2 pints of water in a saucepan with the blackberry teabags, ground cloves, dried limes and paprika. I put the lid on and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. I then waited for it to cool and squeezed in the lemon juice to make sure it was acidic. I showed my boyfriend the hot burgundy liquid, at which point he took the spoon and tasted it (seriously) and said it needed sugar!! I just walked away in disbelief... Once the liquid had cooled enough so that I could dip my finger without scalding it I spooned it into the henna powder and sugar and mixed it together in a plastic tub until I had the right consistency (like toothpaste). At this point I put the lid on the tub and left on the worktop for 24 hours as it's quite cool here and I wasn't sure on dye release. Yesterday evening I checked the mixture and the top layer had turned dark brown, dye release, yay!! I had just read about using essential oils so I put a few drops of tea tree oil in for good measure, probably not enough but it smelt nice. Now I weighed out 50g of indigo and heated some water until it was nice and warm. I poured enough water into the indigo so that it was a creamy paste and left it on the counter with a lid on while I took a quick shower. I washed my hair with a cheap shampoo and didn't condition it at all... that's pretty scary with hair like mine (very damaged!). When I went back to check the indigo it had already released the dye, the top layer was blue and so shiny it looked like metal! I mixed it into the henna mixture and made what looked like chocolate cake mix... no I didn't taste it hehe. Back in the bathroom and covered myself in towels and sectioned my hair, I spread the chocolate goo all through each section making sure I didn't miss any blonde bits. Once I had covered all of my hair I put some more all over and mooshed it in until I was happy that every strand was covered. There was surprisingly little mess and the only stains I found were on the soles of my feet?! I covered my hair with a shower cap to keep the heat and moisture in and then wrapped my head in a towel and went to bed. I woke up at 6.30am (on Saturday) with a massive headache, I had to get up straight away and wash the henna out!! Thankfully I realised pretty soon that the reason I'd got a headache was purely the weight of the henna on my hair! As soon as the bulk of it washed out I felt sooo much better, I might try a thinner consistency mix next time. Anyway I washed it all out quite easily by massaging conditioner into my hair to get the crumbles out. When I looked in the mirror I was amazed how much darker my hair was! I didn't think the henna and indigo mix would work so well and was actually expecting a neon orange look, but luckily it's a lovely chocolate, autumn brown with reddish highlights and I love it!! I think next time I'll use 25g of indigo as I only wanted the blonde bits darker in the first place but I'll just keep experimenting, maybe go more red next time... whatever happens I will never go back to chemical dyes, I love henna way too much now and my hair feels stronger and thicker already! Clare
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