Has anyone gotten bad results from henna or cassia?

[Crazy Lady]

Good evening everyone :)
I have been battling severe bleach and dye damage fairly successfully for two years. I have been able to keep the quality of the damaged hair the same while cutting off less than 1 inch, but I find myself longing for stronger, healthier ends. To achieve them I am thinking of trying a henna or cassia treatment.
Most displeased henna users I hear about have problems with the color, but I also remember hearing about people who have had their hair quality worsen because of henna or cassia. This is what keeps me from trying one.
Does anyone know how likely it is for my hair to react badly to henna, or if those bad results were from a mistake in the henna-ing process? Thank you for the help :D

[arabidbutterfly]

Everything I have read says that you should do a skin allergy test and a hair strand test to see what the effect will be on your particular hair. There is an article on henna that is very informative on LHC that says the best way to strand test is with hair from your hairbrush. Hope this helps!

[physicschick]

Cassia made my hair texture really nasty and tangled. The effect was temporary (through a couple washes at most), and I don't have that problem with henna. Definitely strand test! If the hairball tests turn out well, you can test on a single lock of hair on your head. That's how I did a lot of my henna tests.

[HairColoredHair]

My hair was not a cassia fan. Dry and tangly at first and no benefit later.

Henna, on the other hand, seems to give me just a touch of dry feeling and then that washes off.

[SimplyLonghair]

I know of problems with henna, some are due to the hair not liking henna, others are because of the other things with the henna. As the others have said strand test. Do enough that you can get the feel of what is going on with the hair. I did many strand tests before using henna and I love what it makes my hair feel like. I already had red hair so the color was less of an issue. Although I had been dyeing it blonde for a while and it was damaged on the ends. That was why I was so careful. I didn't want frog butt green. Henna made my hair stronger, but if color is an issue I would mix cassia into it so the red might not be so strong. But again others say that they have more issues with cassia. But strand tests are the key to finding what you want, and what your hair likes.:D

[LutraLutra]

My hair was not a cassia fan. Dry and tangly at first and no benefit later.
Whereas my hair loves cassia - it makes it extra silky, but gives it 'weight' (not sure how else to describe it). It's really confusing, isn't it? What works wonderfully for someone is horrible for someone else. If I was you I'd try cassia before you try henna, because with henna you'll be stuck with the colour whether you like it or not. :)

[ktani]

It depends on how you define bad results. Someone here reported scalp and hair problems from cassia senna aka cassia obovata (sensitized scalp, tangly, dry hair that did not respond to conditioning, or oils for quite a while, post use of cassia), and then there is this thread, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=13332.

[Debra83]

Everybody's hair is different. I had lots of dye on my hair before I Henna'd, and I had every intention ofdoing a strand test, but didn't. I was fortunate though, because my hair now is much less frizzy, and the gray is covered. I love henna. I've done 3 or 4 henna apps now, and I've used cassia twice. I put honey in the last henna too, and I had no drying out at all.
but everyone recommends doing a STRAND TEST!

[BlackfootHair]

For me, henna would leave my hair dry and crunchy for a few days. It also started to kill my curls. Some see this as a benefit, but I like my curls so I stopped using it. Now I use a demi-permanent color...although not in red. :)

[ktani]

Everybody's hair is different. I had lots of dye on my hair before I Henna'd, and I had every intention ofdoing a strand test, but didn't. I was fortunate though, because my hair now is much less frizzy, and the gray is covered. I love henna. I've done 3 or 4 henna apps now, and I've used cassia twice. I put honey in the last henna too, and I had no drying out at all.
but everyone recommends doing a STRAND TEST!

Excellent advice, IMO and patch test too, just in case, for allergies.

I think that testing on hairballs is a great option as well, for colour.

[Culdayne]

I can't speak speak about Cassia, because I have never used it. I have used henna in the past, and now use a henna/Indigo mix.

When I wanted red hair, my first experience with henna was pretty bad. I put that down to being a noobie, and not reading enough about henna to know what to expect. My hair is naturally a med. dark brown, which at that time was lightened by previous chemical dye to a light brown. So...I used a ton of lemon juice and my mix wasn't moist enough. Gah! The color was horrible, erm....like this bright rust carpet my parents had in the 70'S. I couldn't look at my hair without envisioning that rug! :taz:

So, I was greatly displeased. I can't remember what happened to make me try henna again, but I did. The next go 'round went completely different. Both times same henna, body art quality. :shrug: However, I learned quickly and from reading that lemon juice in the mix was not for me. (or very little is Ok) Sometimes these processes can be trial and error, for sure.

I use henna and Indigo now because I don't really want red in my hair and I want to be as close to my natural color as possible. When I go mostly grey, I plan on embracing that. For now, until I reach my goal length, I find henna (altough I am not using much in my mix) makes my fine hair stronger and reduces my waves (just a tiny bit) which I like.

I understand that henna is not for everyone and to anyone considering I would strand test like crazy!

[MeMyselfandI]

The two times I used cassia I got really bad headaches. (The first time I thougt it was a just a coincidence, the second time made me realize it was the cassia. The henna I used before and after with no effects. ) do not trust myself to use it again, if I am alone in case I get very sick.

[Crazy Lady]

Thank you for the input, everyone!
My hair is pretty dark, but porous from all of the bleaching, so I'm not sure what color I would get. I don't mind a change, though, since I intend to slowly trim it off. I'm not up for the upkeep involved with full henna applications or the permanent death of my waves.
Speaking of which, I completely forgot about the wave-killing effect of henna! :( It's fine, though, because the henna will be all trimmed off in at most 6 months. I am all up for tougher, less wavy ends for a while.

It seems that people have had better results with henna than with cassia. I was concerned with how often cassia must be redone to keep it's effects, as well; my incredible laziness would not allow me to pursue such a commitment.
I will start collecting shed hair for a hair ball test while I look around for the color of henna I want. :D
I am also looking at this as another possible way to satisfy my dye addiction. Every once in a while i have the urge to bob it and dye it bright blue again. Hennaing the ends at such times would help.
Thank you all for your valuable information!

[MeMyselfandI]

It seems that people have had better results with henna than with cassia.

I would not say that. It all depends on what you want.

Henna is a comittment and should be considered there to stay. Some people are posting that hydrogen peroxide may take it off.

Good Luck with what ever you decide to do.

Have you looked at the Cassia thread, you may post your questions/concerns in there:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=406

There is also a Henna Thread, take two:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=45

[Autumnberry]

My hair was not a cassia fan. Dry and tangly at first and no benefit later.

Henna, on the other hand, seems to give me just a touch of dry feeling and then that washes off.

This is exactly my experience! Henna is a dream for me, but cassia was more difficult to wash out and it made my hair stick up in different directions. Okay, it could use some body, but geez, my bangs were out of hand, and I'm trying to stay away from hair gels and such. Henna takes away my frizzies, and I love the color :cheese:.

[Anje]

I find henna a bit drying, and it makes the skin around my scalp a bit dry and bumpy and itchy (no, it's not an allergic reaction -- my skin gets that way when it's really dry). But it goes away pretty quickly, and doesn't deter me from using henna.

Making the henna with water instead of an acid like lemon juice will definitely reduce this effect. I got it worst the first time I hennaed, using lemon juice as the only liquid in my mix.

[vampodrama]

henna dries my hair a bit, but I don't take it as a negative effect - my hair is on the greasy side naturally, so a little bit of dryness is actually welcome for me every once in a while :D

using herbal teas instead of lemon juice and adding honey to the mix is less drying.

[A'eorryn]

I have never tried cassia other than it being an extract in natural conditioners that I never used for very long because I could always make something better myself. I AM however a devoted hennahead, and have done a TON of research on it - though I would certainly not deign to challenge miss Nightshade on HER knowledge ;). So if you don't mind I'll throw a couple bits of info out there:
I've only ever used lemon juice in my mix and that is indeed drying - but I like that because I have an oily scalp and since I started henna at a very short length and only do root-applications now that it is longer and at 'terminal-saturation' on the color in the length I don't have to worry about it.
I personally have never strand tested a dye in my life (and I've used a LOT of it!), but wouldn't recommend forgoing it because you can definitely be allergic to it. I think it's important to note that off-colors and other serious issues that are NOT due to an allergic reaction (and where most negative henna-myths come from) stem from the fact that in the past henna wasn't truly henna but instead a mixture of henna and chemical salts and/or other herbal ingredients that could be rather dangerous and give horrible results. PURE henna should NOT do anything like this barring an allergy, so be sure of what exactly it is you're getting.
As for it being a red dye - actually (to the best of my knowledge, which I would never claim as complete) if you let your henna mix sit for a few days then the dye molecules will break down and lose their efficacy. You would still gain the conditioning/strengthening benefits, but not have to worry about imparting any color :D Since I like the red I can't vouch for this from personal experience (though perhaps someone else could), but it if you're interested in henna anyway it won't hurt for you to give it a go, just mix it up and give it a few days for the dye to, well, die :p and of course your strand test will tell you one way or the other :)

~A'eorryn

[Isilme]

the henna stain gets weaker over time but I wouldn't count on it disappearing totally. We have members here wo have tried to kill henna with letting it sit a very long time and mixing it with boiling water. They still got stain.

[A'eorryn]

the henna stain gets weaker over time but I wouldn't count on it disappearing totally. We have members here wo have tried to kill henna with letting it sit a very long time and mixing it with boiling water. They still got stain.


ah, good to know, glad someone could say one way or the other! I'll file that in my personal knowledge-bank :)

[Nightshade]

the henna stain gets weaker over time but I wouldn't count on it disappearing totally. We have members here wo have tried to kill henna with letting it sit a very long time and mixing it with boiling water. They still got stain.

I did that in this experiment with 100% henna and a half henna half cassia blend. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=48729&postcount=23)Both stained for over 3 days afterwards.



I AM however a devoted hennahead, and have done a TON of research on it - though I would certainly not deign to challenge miss Nightshade on HER knowledge ;).

:lol: I'm deeply flattered, but still learning myself :flowers:

[Goddessey]

Cassia made my hair feel really hard. A few days later I applied hair serum to it and that helped it greatly. I haven't used cassia since. My hair loves henna...which I now use regularly.

[chickpea]

Cassia mixed with plain water made my hair feel dry and tangly. Using it as a treatment with catnip tea & honey worked much better for me. This mixture made my hair feel silky but stronger.

Henna and indigo are drying for me even when I leave out lemon juice in my henna mix. I have to condition my hair really well after a henndigo treatment.

[Exodus]

Henna made my hair kind of stiff, killed it's movement. AND made it very prone to splits. When I henndigoed I had a nice colour for a week or two, but I didn't get any health benefits at all. My hair was much happier without henna. The reason why I'm growing it out. I have been growing out my natural colour now for about 16 months and the diffrence between my virgin hair and the hennaed hair is very big. The hennaed parts have always also tangled easier. If I ever want to dye my hair again: box dye for me.