Monday, August 8, 2011

DIY - Dyer's Remorse? & Henna

A Day In The Life....Love






My Tangles Update

Nope....don't have dyer's remorse yet! I'm enjoying my new color. Actually, I'm loving it! One thing I'm enjoying about my new natural hair/DIY hair lifestyle is that I can't mess it up. So, I henna'd over the weekend. My mom was in town last week, giving me a bit of a break, and after henna'ing her gray, I jacked her for her leftover henna. Well, she gave it to me. :-) So, I went ahead and henna'd right away. My hubs said it changed my dark blonde to copper. Oh, well. I still lovethe color! A much needed, SPICY change!


Hair in wet state.
The henna really accentuated my curl pattern!
I still plan to henna more frequently, but only in the back of my head where the curl is tiiiiiiigggghhhhhtttt! This henna treatment, I didn't use any conditioner (nor did I take pictures of the mix...shame shame, I know).

My Henna Mix & Process:
Start with 50g of henna (bc I used the majority of it on the back half of my head)
Stir in 3/4 cup of green tea (cooled)
Stir in 1/4 cup of lemon juice (to speed up the color dye uptake)
~Let the mix sit for 2-3 hrs until the top 'hardened'/thickened
Add and stir in 1 tbsp of honey
For henna gloss - add a 1/2 cup of conditioner (your favorite cheap one)

I let this henna mix sit on my hair, under a shower cap for about 4 hours and caught up on Single Ladies while the Hubs took the boys out......somewhere. I texted the friend that introduced me to henna, CurlyNikki and natural hair 4 years ago and she said dye release takes 4-6 hours. I think that time is shortened when heat is applied, but who really has time for that? I mean seriously, the time commitment henna requires is why I never really stuck with it after I did my henna gloss last year, after my BC. Anywho, after rinsing out the henna, I deep condition overnight. Deep conditioning post henna is tres importante!

The differences of henna vs. henna gloss are conditioning based.....I think. Plain henna is as strong as say an ApHogee 2-Step Protein Treatment (which also means it is a tad drying), but henna is an all natural treatment and unlike ApHogee it actually accentuates your curl pattern. Too many henna applications too frequently can actually alter your hair's natural curl pattern, making the kinks looser and even straight. Yikes! Don't wanna do that!

11 comments:

  1. the henna dye looks fab! i love your hair in general though!

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  2. your hair looks so good! i'm digging the hair color!

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  3. i love henna and your results look awesome!!! it will be even prettier as the color oxidizes. oh and i love single ladies, its cheesy but i love it especially the style.

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  4. Cute color girl! I'm thinking of doing my Kool-Aid mix for dying my hair a deep red color. Where did you get the henna? Do you feel like it made your curls more defined?

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  5. @Ms. Pancakes: Awe, thanks!!!

    @Keya, Faith: Thanks ladies!

    @Alice: its definitely cheesy but its refreshing to see some nice black shows that aren't drama-filled.

    @TiAnna: I purchase my henna at www.mehndiskinart.com. I plan to do it again next week and I'll have pictures of the mix. It definitely made my curls more defined....especially as a gloss. If you go to my "Labels" section and click on 'henna' you'll see the picture of what it did to my curls. I rec' doing a gloss for your first app. of it.

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  6. Hey, if you add a little extra honey it may not be as drying for you. My hair is like cotton when I rinse out my Henna. I use Henna for African Hair. The sift is amazing.

    I started doing henna few months ago once a week! I know overkill but it made my hair strong and that was more important to me. yes my hair has loosened but now i'm doing it once every three weeks and in between the curl patter tends to revert back a little. I guess it's different for everybody. My hair is very wavy but according to my mom it was always that way LOL. I wouldn't have known since I had a relaxer so long up until 6 years ago :-)

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  7. love the color - that's so what I need - a color change. I'm natural too, never tried henna but since you did it and you have kids - i can do it too! LOL

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