I finally, finally got around to doing a Henna treatment on my hair. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the formula and process that I use for henna so I wanted to take a minute and share that and give any tips I could think of. As usual, I started the process by looking to some of my favorite YouTubers to see what they do. I found a video from Spinta24 and I decided to try her mix. I haven’t looked back since. I use the Godrej Nupur Henna, avocado oil, rosewater and tea. Where I differ from her is that I mix my ingredients while the tea is hot. I think the liquid being hot helps you get a less lumpy mixture to start.
If you are looking for the color benefits of henna, you really do need to let this sit for at least 3 hours for the color to be fully released. Most times, I mix the night before and let it sit covered with plastic on the kitchen counter. I do stir it every few hours to help get more of the lumps out. So by the time I am ready to apply, the mixture is nice and smooth. I keep my henna mixture on the thick side so it is easier and less messy to apply. And application is very important to keep you from making a big mess. I promise you this can be done without getting henna all over your bathroom. I did last week’s treatment in my living room standing in front of the mirror while I watched tv. I did keep a towel on the floor where I stood to catch any drips but there is no need to have splatters all over your wall when all is said and done. YouTuber TheTruthIsHair has the best application technique that I have seen and I use it each time.
Start in the middle of your head and keep going around. It really is easy. I use a plastic grocery bag (or two) to cover my head when I’m done and I let it sit for as long as I can. I aim for about 3 to 4 hours. I wash out in the shower and condition wash to make sure all is out. You will still get some color transfer for a day or two so make sure you cover your pillow with a towel. I don’t tie my hair down at night so this is especially important for me. It is very important to deep condition or use a very good leave-in conditioner after this treatment. I made the mistake of not doing a deep condition after this past week’s treatment and my hair was not happy at all. After I realized my mistake, I coated my hair with shea butter and used a heat cap for a modified conditioning treatment. This helped some but not enough. After 3 days, I gave up and did a deep conditioning treatment. My hair is much, much better and gave me a very perfect chunky braid-out.
I should have gotten a close up of the gray hairs that line the front of my head but they now have a copper tone to them that looks much better than the harsh contrast that I get with the gray. Until I am brave enough to have my natural hair professionally colored, I will continue to henna my hair. There are other benefits to henna that other naturals swear by, but for me it’s all about the color. Outside of that, there is no benefit for going through such a long process.
But I do love the results.
