I want to henna my hair. I’ve never done anything like it before (I dyed it myself, once, but it was very short, and now it is pretty long) so I really have no idea where to start.
What do I buy? Where do I buy it?
Once I’ve bought it, what do I do with it?
What else do I need to know?
Thanks!
Rats. I could have told you everything about using henna for mehndi–dyeing the skin. I would buy the powder at my local Asian grocer. I know nothing about using it for hair, though.
I think WhyNot recently said that she hennaes her hair. I bet she’ll be in here.
I used to.
I used to be able to buy it at a hippie grocer - try a coop. Follow the directions on the package - I use coffee instead of hot water under the belief it gave better color and shine. It will wear out in six weeks or so.
Its messy and gritty compared to a chemical color. Be prepared to have a mess in the shower. Not a bad mess - rinses down the drain.
It also had a tendancy to be brassy - at the time I liked it but every stylist I went to would give me “the disgusted look” and say “we have GOT to get rid of the henna.”
I have gotten mine from the Body Shop, but only in the UK (there’s some regulation that keeps them from selling in the States); from a sort of holistic health/beauty place; from Lush. These days I get it from Lush; I believe they’ll do online ordering if you don’t have one near you. There are different formulations that depend on your base hair colour and your desired end result; pick something appropriate from whatever is listed. (I do 2/3 and 1/3 splits on Lush’s red-brown and red bars. May try doing all the bright red when I run out of red-brown.)
The packages for most commercial things will have instructions. (Lush’s are online, though.) Those instructions will tend to be something like (after the standard ‘do a strand test’): mix with boiling water until a smooth consistency; let cool enough that you won’t burn your scalp; apply Vaseline or something to your hairline so you don’t turn your forehead orange; put on plastic gloves (some package sets include them) and start applying the goo to your hair in locks according to some sensible procedure; put the resulting mass under a showercap or wrap your head in plastic wrap; put a towel around that; let sit for Appropriate Length Of Time; wash out in the shower.
When I do my hair, which I’m trying to do every three months, I strip to the waist and sit on a bathtowel so I don’t get goo over everything. I don’t bother with the vaseline thing – the colour washes off my skin in a couple of days. I also don’t use gloves – the baggy plastic gloves that came in the boxes I got reduced my dexterity way too much for me to use them (sometimes I did one on one hand, not on the other). I pile the locks I do on top of my head in a sort of broad coil; I’ve found that it doesn’t tangle much that way. Having a mirror or a <boy|girl>friend handy to say ‘you missed the patch on the side of your head again’ is useful – the spots I tend to have a hard time with are the hair between my temples and my ears. I have dark hair as a base; I put the stuff on in the early evening and rinse it out sometime between midnight and 3am. Putting the towel around it keeps the heat in, which makes the colour set better and more strongly. I tend, when I’m showering it out, to stand under the hot water for a bit with the plastic still holding the hair in, partly for last setting, partly so the humidity works in under it where it’s dried and loosens things up again.
If you get the stuff that has ‘add N cups of water’ or whatever you should get stuff that’s a good starting texture. Lush’s stuff is ‘mix to this texture’ and that can take some trial and error to sort out – not enough water means it gets dry and chunky and goes on patchy, even if it looks like a creamy texture. Err on the side of more water if you’re in doubt; it may dribble out from under your protective layers a bit that way, but it’ll at least coat all your hair. (The ‘the surface hairs are red over the dark brown beneath’ effect was kind of neat, but not what I was looking for.)
I intermittently use a colour-maintaining shampoo. I’ve got some maintaining conditioner from Lush that I haven’t actually tried yet.
I find that if I henna about every three months my hair goes from insane, cranky maintenance to wash-and-wear, no-maintenance. I can even go without combing it and it doesn’t tangle for days. I used to schedule it so that I’d use the ‘it’s starting to tangle like usual’ as my way of judging when to redo (the colour is very subtle on my head) but I’m trying to get into the habit of being regular about it.
Note that you should not use traditional hair dyes over henna’d hair, which can be an issue if you like to change things around a lot.
I’ve already got naturally red hair, but was reading in some thread recently (probably posted by WhyNot, actually) that henna can really help with the unfortunate texture/weight of my hair. I’ve got hair that wants to be curly, but ends up just … expanding … if I don’t blow-dry it into submission. I don’t want to cut my hair, and I don’t want to have to do it every morning.
So, in short, I’m no help whatsoever, but I’m listening for the answers. 
Henna is usually not recommended for dry hair, because it makes it much dryer. I used to try it, thinking “natural” was better, but found no matter what colour/shade I used, it made my hair red and brassy. Plus the colour isn’t reliable, because of the nature of the henna dye.
My recommendation would be to use a semi-permanent haircolour from the drugstore, or even one of those new colour “glosses”. More reliable results and better for your hair!
I bought Henna at Vita Health. I don’t know if they still carry it.
I know it has been mentioned, but I say it again -
Very, very messy and gritty.
Made it pretty shiny though.
Now I just use a clear gloss for shine. Not as messy.
And if you’re really into doing some research, here’s a 101 page thread about henna from a longhair board I frequent.
Basically, it’s recommended you use body quality henna, the same stuff folks use for mehndi. You mix it with water and an acid, like lemon juice, let it sit awhile until the dye releases, then glop it on. I haven’t done henna; I’m trying to get my hair back to its natural color, and red ain’t it. You should also probably clarify before you apply it, and do some deep moisture afterwards.
Good luck!
This is one thing I came in to say - if your hair has already been chemically treated or if you henna it and decide to dye it before it all grows out, be careful. You can turn your hair green!
I used to have my hair henna’ed years ago, but I had a stylist do it (it was much less expensive than a dye job for some reason, and way less messy than if I had done it myself). I really liked it, but it doesn’t last long. Clairol’s Natural Instincts (lasts through 28 shampoos) or Colorflirt (lasts through 8-12 shampoos) might be easier alternatives if you are going to do it yourself.
Warning: Long post ahead! I’m going to second Lilairen and recommend the Lush henna, which they call “Les Cacas”. I’ve only used it once, but I really liked it. I’ll tell you about my lone experience.
Okay, I’m going to sound a bit like an advertisement now, but I love almost everything Lush and I recommend them very highly. (I’m a member of their forums, too!)
Their henna, unlike any other henna I’ve ever seen, is a big bar of henna and other ingredients and butters. Admittedly I’m not an expert but all other henna I’ve seen was in a powder form. Lush’s has an extra step because of this - it needs to be soaked in hot water to make it into a paste. Alternately, you can grate it with a grater - this is the recommended way.
Lush henna comes in four colours: Caca Noir (blue-black-dark brown), Caca Brun (brown), Caca Marron (kind of a reddish chestnut colour) and Caca Rouge (bright, bright red).
For my hair, about shoulder-length at the time, I used half of a bar of Lush Caca Noir. I’m a bit adventurous with my hair and wouldn’t be alarmed if I had to cut it off, so even though you’re not supposed to henna over dyed hair, I did it anyway. I’m one of those “It’s just hair, it’s on my head for me to play with!” people. Anyway, it worked, though it had a slight green tinge due to reacting with the metallic dye on my head for maybe a week. Otherwise and afterwards, it was a deep blue-black-brown. I know that doesn’t sound like a possible colour, but it is. Wish I had a pic, but I don’t have a picture of me with my plain hennaed (?) hair, just one after I decided to bleach streaks into it and dye them blue.
I didn’t add any special ingredients - just followed the package directions. (At the store where I bought it, they handed me an instruction sheet, but as Lilairen said, Lush has the instructions online.) I grated it, added the hot water and let it sit in a bowl which was resting in a pot of hot water. You have to let it sit and keep it heated, because that brings out the colour. Apparently, the longer it sits, the more dye it releases. Some people put it in an oven-safe dish and leave it in a warm oven. Don’t microwave it, though. You don’t want to cook it.
Do not touch henna with any metallic utensils. Use plastic or glass only. Metal and henna react with each other.
I should have added more water. I tried to make it look like cake batter, but it still needed to be a little thinner. As a result, my hair sort of strained out the water which ran down my face, and the henna itself stayed on top of my head. I was constantly wiping dribbles. I left mine out to dry in the open air as that gives Caca Noir its bluish tone… if I had wrapped it, it would have turned out more reddish/brownish. If you’re using one of the reddish colours, wrapping is a good idea. I always use a plastic bag whenever I wrap my hair, but you could also use a cheap showercap as suggested above.
It smelled a lot like grass while it was in, but left a nice scent on my hair afterwards. Kind of a hippy-ish scent, though.
Lush refers to black henna, but “black henna” is really indigo. Indigo over henna gives black hair, so Lush’s Caca Noir bar contains indigo and red henna.
Some links:
http://www.lushcanada.com (I saw your location, hehe. This is where you can see pictures of the bars, and reviews, and even buy it if you feel like making the leap!)
http://forum.lush.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19511 (Caca FAQ, and if you have any questions, you can register there and ask!)
http://forum.lush.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19438 (Before and after pictures of Lush henna users)
And a couple more things. The others in this thread are posting that their henna wore off? Wow, mine sure as heck did not. I like to change my hair colour frequently. I have now bleached it three times and dyed over it at least six times, and my henna is well over a year old… and it’s STILL there. That’s the reason I will not henna again until I am sure that I’m finished dyeing my hair forever. It just does NOT come out. Again, I know you’re not supposed to try to bleach or dye over henna, but I’m a daredevil. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone else do this, unless you’re a daredevil with your hair too.
Also, again unlike others in this thread, my hair was really shiny and felt very healthy afterwards! If it weren’t so danged permanent, I’d use the rest of my bar one of these days.
My boyfriend likes the perfume Lush puts in the henna. He tends to bury his head in the back of my neck when I’ve done it recently. (His sense of smell isn’t so strong, but I still get lots of “Mmm, henna” comments.)
I do put a green streak in mine over the henna, though. That needs touched up fairly often – I think the henna discourages it from sticking a bit. Just a streak, though, and I don’t bleach. (Tried bleaching my hair once. Never again – massive increase in maintenance effort.)