Henna

Hey, Did you know?

Posted on July 12, 2012 Updated on July 28, 2012

Plant-based hair color, such as Henna, Cassina and Indigo, can color textured, relaxed and natural hair, safely with no chemicals whatsoever. Plant based colors also have been found, in some cases, to cause a loosening of textured curl patterns in natural hair over time. Because plant-based colors smooth wayward ruffled cuticles and encourages them to lie flatter, the hair is better able to reflect light from its surface. Enhanced light reflection from the hair fiber surface contributes to a nice, healthy shine.

When I did my “big chop” a month ago, I inspired my mother to wear her natural hair. My mother wasn’t comfortable wearing her hair in its natural state. So she would hide her hair in braids, weaves and wigs. She watched me as I transitioned and decided that she also wanted to wear her hair natural but, first she needed to color her hair. While growing up I have seen my mother change her hair color to any color you could imagine. My mother has medium brown and gray hair so I suggested to her that maybe she would want to try a healthy hair coloring method which is henna.

Generally henna will color your hair a shade of red it all depends on what your natural hair color is.

Gray – fiery red (but only with good quality henna)
Blonde – red
Light brown – red to light auburn
Medium brown – auburn
Dark brown -reddish brown, more pronounced in the sun
Very dark brown to black – no color change but red highlights in the sun

I am applying a henna treatment to my mother’s hair tomorrow. When you are preparing to apply any plant-based hair color you have to prepare the product a day before hand. Your most important purchase is the henna. Use body art quality henna, the fresher the better. If you don’t get body art quality henna, you have no guarantee of what’s in the package other than henna.

When mixing henna there is a few things i had to consider. To release the red pigment in henna I needed to mix the henna with something acidic, I chose lemon juice. I need to cover my mother’s gray hairs so I had to find something to tone down the henna. I didn’t want her hair to be auburn and with fiery red strands. So I decided to apply ground coffee beans before adding the lemon juice. The ground coffee bean adds a slight browner result to the henna. After I was done mixing the henna treatment, it had the consistency of peanut butter and was dark green in color. I folded a paper towel and place it on top of the henna, cover the henna with plastic and place it in a cool dark area.

Tomorrow when the paper towel has turned red I will know it’s ready to be applied. I will apply the henna to my mother roots and work my way to her ends. Then, I will apply plastic wrap around her head, a plastic cap and then a scarf. She will sleep with a towel on her pillow and the next morning she will rinse her hair, deep condition and style her hair.

I know what you’re thinking wouldn’t it be simpler to buy a box dye kit? Yes it would be simpler but why not try something different? Especially if the product is all natural and can is beneficial to your healthy hair journey.