Use henna too much?

[xochitl77]

Hi!
I apologize if this has been asked before. but I could not find a answer under the search option here.
I henna'd my hair for the first time about three weeks ago. I left it on all night basically slept on it. When I washed my hair and it dried it felt really good. It felt smooth and heavy. The color came out like a dark pumpkin orange when I looked outside in the sunlight (my hair is dark brown) which was ok. Well I did another full head henna again about 24 hours ago. This time I also added some amla powder to the mix. Again I left it on all night and now it looks like I have a cool dark burgundy glow to my hair. My scalp did itch a bit after it had dried this time . Also I did not get the same texture feeling as the first time. Am I using the henna too much? The first time I dyed my hair I only added warm water to the henna powder. Maybe the amla affected the henna the second time? How many times are you supposed to use henna dye on your hair exactly?

[rach]

My scalp did itch a bit after it had dried this time - i'm pretty sure your supose to keep it moist to get the benefits out of it (i've been using cling film and a wooly hat to keep it warm and moist). if you don't want it to darken any more try cassia (neutral type henna) or alma with luke warm water to get the conditioning befits out of it and just touch up the roots with it. that my future action plan from now on as i love the colour i have now, i'm new to this as well :p
i hope this helps

[mellie]

Amla does make some people itchy. Also maybe it was itchy because you didn't rinse it out quite well enough and there were particles behind.

It is quite fine to henna every three weeks, that's exactly how often I did mine; although you might want to do roots-only if you don't want the ends to get overly dark.

[tabitie]

My guess on texture would be the amla. Amla gives hair a very strong almost wirey feeling. It super-cleans the scalp and pores.

I love it as a hair treatment and facial exfoliator both. Just wait a while and go back to your normal conditioner, it'll probably be fine.

[Shermie Girl]

Sounds as if the amla is what changed your result. You might want to skip it, next time.

No, you can't henna too often. Henna won't harm your hair. It will however build up like crazy and get darker and more intense with each application. Once you get your overall colour right where you want it, you might want to consider roots only applications, just freshening up the length when you think it might need it. :)

[gunjee]

Since henna color doesn't fade, it's best to do root touch ups when you can see a line of demarcation. If you applied the henna to your whole head each time, then your length which already had been dyed would get darker and more maroon in color while your roots which had not been dyed would get that pumpkin color you talked about before. To get them to match up and be the color you want, it's best to do just the roots with the potent henna mixture and maybe just a henna gloss (potent henna mixture mixed with conditioner), especially if you're going to do overnight treatments. Trust me, once you have the maroon hair, it does not COME OUT! I've been there, believe me. I had no choice but to to cut my beautiful long hair. But I'm growing it out again and am not going to make the same mistake by being overenthusiastic with the hennaing.

-Shilpa

[CopperHead]

My hair feels funny for the first few days after a henna. It is usually henna residue that will wash out with your next washing. I have used amla with no problems and it adds a great shine. I think I will probably use it alone from now on because I forget to add it to my henna mud. :o

I henna the top of my hair about every two weeks and it works fine. No problems at all. :)