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Maggie S's Mix
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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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Maggie S's Mix
| My hair story is a bit
convoluted, and the shades of color I now have in my hair are a result
of that. People with either brown hair or LOTS of white-grey
could benefit from this. My hair is down to below my shoulder
blades, but is layered, so doesn't have the volume you might assume,
given that length. It is relatively thick hair. - I am about 85-90% white-grey, more or less, depending on the part of my head. - I've been dyeing my own hair with commercial dyes for years. It's been pretty much a jet black for the last 3 years or so. As my hair grew increasingly white, however, I had to dye more and more frequently. When my roots grew in it would actually look like I was balding wherever there was a part because the white hair was almost transparent! - Late this spring, I decided to get my hair color stripped. I started using Natural Instincts to make my hair an auburn brown. (I learned that the color you get with this brand is often quite a bit darker than the photos on the box would lead you to believe. It also does NOT wash out.) I was quite happy with this for a while. After a couple of months I started to think that I'd exposed myself to weird chemicals for long enough. I decided to look into REALLY natural options... I found this website. Henna seemed like the best natural option, and creating my own mix meant that I could have more control and ability to experiment. I perused so many of the mix photos and stories! I decided that it would be better to start out with a lighter shade and then go from there. THE FIRST MIX: I figured that I should use the most basic mix - something like Catherine and Cathy C's, but with a little variation: The first few months I hennaed, I used the following mix: - 300 grams of Mehandi's Body art quality Henna - 6 tablespoons of olive oil - 45 drops of tea tree oil - Lemon juice - to make the mix the consistency of yogurt. Quite a bit!! I used a big Ziploc freezer bag. Gooshed the mix up and let it sit for 24 hours. When it was time to henna, I vaseline-d around the hairline and also on my hands, forearms, shoulders and neck. Latex gloves on the hands. Ick - but necessary! I wrapped up in an old towel secured with a clip, and wrapped another one around my shoulders and neck, securing that with a couple of clips as well. I've found that I do best by applying the henna to the base of the back of my head first, and then mushing the length of the hair in that area into the gloop, then moving up to behind the ears, mooshing in the length of the hair there, then the middle back of the head, then the top, then the crown. Then going back around my head with my fingers, kneading and working the henna in towards the scalp, and through the layers. Pile on more until it was a solid mooshy cake. Once the henna mix was all caked on, I've clip the glop/hair up and put on two shower caps, then a sweatband around the edge of the shower caps, then a towel. I'd sleep on it for at least 6 hours and then rinse, shampoo and condition. See the photos under Mix 2, below… and see the note below them. The result was very orange-y. The roots were especially bright at first. After a few days it would tone down a tad, but where the henna had covered un-dyed grey roots was still very light. I decided I would just deal with it during a transition period, and so continued to use this mix for a few months. I actually liked the way that I had a number of different shades in my hair. The stripping process had definitely been a bit uneven, so it wasn't just a contrast between my greys and the dyed parts. I had dark auburn to light red-orange and even some dark, almost black parts. The color did mellow as the weeks went by. The orange-ness would become tinged with a softer red and darken. There were even hints of purple over the old dyed parts. I liked my hair the most when it reached this point – but by then it would always be time to henna again. My hair felt healthier than it had felt with dyes. I felt that the henna was better for the hair that had gone through so much processing. I was henna-ing every 3-4 weeks. Eventually, as the roots that had never been dyed brown lengthened, I felt that the henna mix was too light to continue to use on those parts of the hair. I needed a darker shade with more brown. I came back to this site to poke around. I decided to buy some black walnut and indigo from Mehandi.com. I also decided that I needed to stop using the lemon juice in the mix. Even though the henna was better for my hair than a dye, the mix was still very acidic. When it was actually time to henna, I decided that I wasn't ready to use indigo in the mix quite yet. I would try the black walnut - increase the amount I would use in each mix if it wasn't as dark as I wanted. And if it seemed I needed to move on to indigo, I would do that then. THE SECOND MIX: PART 1 200 grams of Mehandi's henna (I had learned that I didn't need 300 grams - sometimes I didn't even need 200, but I could freeze anything I didn't use) 30 drops tea tree oil 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons of black walnut powder 1 cup of coffee made with 6 tablespoons of coffee Let it sit for a day I actually lay down a tarp in the bathroom, as I felt I was upping the stain-potential ante by adding black walnut to the mix! I prepared myself in the same way as before and applied in the same way as well. The first time I used this mix, I only left it in for two hours, having read a couple of other people's accounts that they felt any longer was not necessary. Oops!! It seems it is VERY necessary to leave it in longer when your hair is as light as mine is in parts, due to the white-grey!  THE SECOND MIX: PART 2 Because the last application had not really darkened my grey roots at all, I had to henna again after only 12 days. I used Mix 2 again - thinking it was worth it to give the mixture a few more tries, with longer setting times. This time I kept it in overnight - for at least 6 or 7 hours.  Here are photos I took right after I finished rinsing - complete with towel lint in the still-damp hair. You can see that my scalp was colored as well. I am pretty happy with the results. They were less orange-y right after the application. Still orange-y, of course! But not as neon and pale. You can see that the bottom part of my hair has red and even purple-brown highlights. I think that I can take this level of lightness at the top of my hair a bit more. I think as it grows longer, I will start to up the amount of black walnut I put in the mix, though.  Here I am 12 days after that last henna, so that you can see how the color changed/mellowed. The walnut powder has given me more brown-tones where the hair was once dyed. It is a bit more natural-looking than it was before. Still a range of colors, though! I like them for now, but am also looking forward to easing into more natural and darker shades. I think I will move up to 2.5 tablespoons of walnut in the next mix, and will definitely always let the henna set for at least 4 hours. I'll probably stick to 6 or 7 hours to be safe! Thanks!!
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