Hot Water=Temporary Henna

[SophLove]

Hello! I just found and joined this forum... very exciting.

I ordered Jamila henna and indigo... without realizing that BAQ henna is permanent (dumb, I know). I'm a little worried now that I may end up unhappy with the result if I dye my hair. I want a warm, reddish brown tone (I am medium brown now). I don't know if I can commit my hair to it, though. I worry I will miss my regular color at a certain point (if you can't tell, I've never permanently colored my hair before).

It does seem that some types of henna wear off quickly, though. Why is that? Is it because the directions indicate using hot water and that somehow messes with the process?

I'm just curious if there are ways to mute the bonding process of henna and the hair. Could mixing the henna with conditioner also lessen the strength of the dye?

Thank you for any advice... I must sound so foolish.

[Anje]

You haven't been foolish -- you're asking questions BEFORE you put the stuff on your hair. That's the smart way around!

I believe the usual wisdom is that mixing henna with too-hot water can simply prevent you from getting much dye in the first place, rather than altering its permanency. The permanency of henna seems to vary from person to person more than technique to technique, from the accounts I've read. Assume your hair will stay the color it is about 3 days post-hennaing, if only to prepare for the possibility.

Mixing henna with conditioner, or with other not-coloring substances like cassia (aka neutral henna) basically acts to dilute the stuff that dyes hair. Less concentration of the dye molecule lawsone means less strong coloring of the hair. Small amounts of henna mixed with conditioner (aka henna glosses) seem to be less permanent than full-strength, but it seems like henna often fades slightly and using so little means it can fade out eventually.

If I were you, I'd start with some strand tests and skip the indigo for now. (Indigo complicates things. It darkens the henna, but it also tends to turn green if you ever try to lighten your hair, say to remove the henna.) Mix just a little henna with a lot of conditioner, let it dye release, and keep the strand of hair you're testing in a pocket so it stays warm. Make a note of how it looks both when you first rinse it and let it dry, and after about 3 days, because henna gets less orange after a few days. Only put it on your head if you like the color.

[PixxieStix]

You know, when I re-hennaed my head this weekend I ended up with some leftovers that had already dye released, so I mixed it up 50/50 with conditioner and left it in my fiance's hair for 1.5 hrs to do a deep conditioning gloss on him (he's growing out his hair too!) and he has medium brown hair, but now it is a warm medium brown with a red tinge to it. It certainly is not what I would call red, but if you like the color from a strand test, you could certainly mix some henna up with OJ, lemon juice or water, wait for it to dye release, and then mix with conditioner and do a gloss for an hour or two to just get a warm tinge to your hair. =)

[Anje]

... but if you like the color from a strand test, you could certainly mix some henna up with OJ, lemon juice or water, wait for it to dye release, and then mix with conditioner and do a gloss for an hour or two to just get a warm tinge to your hair. =)
My personal preference is to mix henna with water, FWIW. I used lemon juice the first time or two, and ended up with rather dry hair and an angry, itchy scalp. Lately, I've even mixed oil into my henna -- that's fixed the scalp itchies completely and I still get good color.

[SophLove]

Thank you so very much for the great advice!

[Katze]

I am a henna artist and I mix my paste with near-boiling (about the same temp I'd use for green tea) water.

At the moment I am getting FABULOUS colors with fresh henna, hot water, and essential oils.

We used to mix body art henna with lemon juice until we found it was bleaching the henna, and that in side-by-side tests, paste mixed with water stains better than with lemon.

just my two cents, as I am not a henna-head (that lovely problem of reddish, eczema-prone complexion and a big round head NOT looking good with reddish hair!)

Katze