Lost in the world of henna info

[steph in tx]

I'm new here and am, as you can imagine, overwhelmed with the amount of info. Right now I'm trying to figure out the whole henna/cassia thing.

My hair is dark brown/black right now. My mother is originally from Guatemala, and I have her dark hair, but my dad was American and his hair was lighter when he was a kid so my hair is a little lighter than my mother's. Gee, a pic would go a long way here, wouldn't it? I'll have to work on that.

I have an acquaintance locally who uses henna on her hair and I absolutely love the shine that it has. However, with my skin tone, red is not really something that will work for me. I've never dyed my hair before. Well, I had some red highlights many years ago, but that's it. I'm actually ok with the color of my hair, but I really want that shine that my friend's hennaed hair has. Will Cassia do the same thing for me? I wouldn't mind if my hair was a bit lighter, but I couldn't do a true red.

I'm just wondering if there is a way to give me that shine without totally changing my hair color. Any help would be appreciated.

Stephanie

[dearladydisdain]

If your hair is very dark then henna will give it a red tint, at most, and maybe a red glow in the sun. At http://www.hennaforhair.com (click on 'Mixes') you can see what happened when other people with dark hair used straight henna.

Cassia is not technically henna, but a different plant. It does not color your hair. I myself have never used it but I know lots of people say it has similar conditioning qualities to henna :)

[Bene]

i have black hair. i haven't had any problems with lack of shine, but have battled frizzy hair that doesn't reflect any light. but i've recently tried cassia because i didn't want to alter my color in any way. i should take a post-cassia pic to show off my results, but it definitely feels smoother and slightly more sleek than normal. i think the smoother the hair, the more light it reflects.


there are other things i've tried before cassia that have helped. i've given up on shampoos that contain SLS, and i only shampoo my scalp, so as to not strip my hair of the oils it needs. apple cider vinegar rinses have helped immensely.

chagrin valley has a shampoo bar called cafe moreno (http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/shambar.htm) that i've fallen in love with. their description for their product does mention the benefits it has on dark hair:


Moreno is the Spanish word for brunette. Brunettes have been pouring fresh brewed coffee on their hair for centuries to help transform flat brown tones to into shiny, rich color and maybe even do away with some of those pesky gray strands. Made with cloves, to enhance warm tones, and quadruple strength fresh brewed coffee, which enriches brown hues and provides astringent benefits to your scalp, this shampoo is natural way of brightening dull brown hair. Olive oil, rich in oleic acid, promotes full-bodied hair and a healthy scalp. Rice bran contains proteins that may help strengthen the hair shaft and prevent split ends. It adds sheen and manageability while moisturizing and conditioning. Emollient rich, nourishing babassu oil moisturizes and restores hair strength and elasticity, for shiny, healthy-looking hair.


i think their description is pretty accurate. once i finish off my samples of their shampoo bars, i'm going to buy the full sized bar.


one thing to consider: i have a different texture/type than you, so i think someone with hair more similar to yours may be able to give you better advice.




edit:

here's a pic of post-cassia treatment hair (no flash) in fluorescent light. didn't take time to brush or comb, but you get the idea.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/bene25/hair/th_IMAGE_725.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/bene25/hair/IMAGE_725.jpg)

clickable

[mellie]

Up until recently when I decided to let my grays grow out, I used a mix of henna and indigo to cover grays in my hair, and it made my hair super shiny, thick and strong. I used Rainbow Dark Brown henna. I had used it for about a year and half, re-doing it every three weeks on the roots. I was very happy with the nice chocolatey dark brown color (it matched my natural color very well) and the shine.

[wh!terose]

hi there am aslo new here ..but am from middle east we are familiar with Henna

i think as ur hair is black if you put henna it will give you little shine and by time might turn to dark red ..
you better mix it with dark water like (tea,cassia,hibiscus) and then you can add honey or wutever you like ...by time it will get dark

[Nightshade]

Hey! In addition to the other resources that have been posted, there's a pretty encompassing henna article in my siggy that covers most the basics.

If you want shine and no red, I'd vote for cassia, though :)

[steph in tx]

Thank you all so much! I'm going to read the article in Nightshade's siggy, plus the ebook from H4H. My daughter and I spent hours looking in the henna thread yesterday and I'm just in awe of the pics. While I don't think my skin tone can carry a red, my daughter's definitely can, and she is just chomping at the bit to henna her hair now. I just need to figure out a recipe, I guess. And to figure out what brand of henna to order. I'll probably start with just cassia on mine, but maybe a small amount of henna?? Oh, decisions, decisions... It's so exciting, though.

Oh, and Nightshade, my daughter and both about fell over with the pics of your hair. Absolutely stunning!

[Nightshade]

Thank you all so much! I'm going to read the article in Nightshade's siggy, plus the ebook from H4H. My daughter and I spent hours looking in the henna thread yesterday and I'm just in awe of the pics. While I don't think my skin tone can carry a red, my daughter's definitely can, and she is just chomping at the bit to henna her hair now. I just need to figure out a recipe, I guess. And to figure out what brand of henna to order. I'll probably start with just cassia on mine, but maybe a small amount of henna?? Oh, decisions, decisions... It's so exciting, though.

Oh, and Nightshade, my daughter and both about fell over with the pics of your hair. Absolutely stunning!

Good for you for doing your homework first!

And thank you so much for the compliments :flowers: