Xanthan Gum for thickening Henna?

Hi, I'm pretty new here (though I've been reading this site for at least a year). I remember reading about thickening up henna mixture with xanthan gum to prevent drips in one of the threads ages ago, but I can't find it now.

Could anyone with experience or knowledge of this tell me whether it's a good idea, and if so how I should go about it (which stage to add the xanthan gum etc)?

[Background info: I use Jamilla (Summer 2009), so it's very very fine and mixes up smoothly. I use water with a bit of acid (vinegar or lemon juice) and ginger powder for the smell. I leave the henna on overnight because I find it easiest, and I freeze it before use.]

I do not henna but I did use a shampoo a few times with xanthum gum in it and my hair became stiff and tangly and that stuff does not wash out easily. It did wash out eventually but I have avoided that ingredient ever since. This was years ago.

Thanks, that's good to know. I think I will probably try just oiling my (dry) hair with coconut oil first to prevent drips, as suggested in a different thread.

I'm a little confused. Why would you need henna to be any thicker?

I mixed mine to be about the consistency of fudge frosting. It didn't drip anywhere --it couldn't have-- and all I used was chamomile tea.

I'm sure you can use xanthan, but it seems unnecessarily complicated. Just use less liquid when you mix it, and it'll be the thickness you want.

I use Guar gum for that purpose. It makes the mixture gel-like, rather like conventional hair dye and much easier to apply and rinse out for me. One teaspoon of the powder in the mixture is usually more than enough.

In my experience you need less henna when you use a gelling agent. When I first used Guar, I mixed up my usual amount of henna, and when I had to add more water later to get the consistency right, I ended up with a huge amount of henna goop, much more than I needed. The leftovers still worked great after freezing and defreezing the next time.

The only quirky aspect of Guar is that it can be added only once, use too little at first and adding more later will do nothing to thicken the mixture more. That's why I'd rather use too much in the first place and get it right with more water later.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ninika

I use Guar gum for that purpose. It makes the mixture gel-like, rather like conventional hair dye and much easier to apply and rinse out for me. One teaspoon of the powder in the mixture is usually more than enough.

In my experience you need less henna when you use a gelling agent. When I first used Guar, I mixed up my usual amount of henna, and when I had to add more water later to get the consistency right, I ended up with a huge amount of henna goop, much more than I needed. The leftovers still worked great after freezing and defreezing the next time.

The only quirky aspect of Guar is that it can be added only once, use too little at first and adding more later will do nothing to thicken the mixture more. That's why I'd rather use too much in the first place and get it right with more water later.

---

You don't need to thicken real Henna. You'll spoil the batch if you do...You might find a henna recipe of use at: www.hennaforhair.com

Good luck,
Jan Johnson (Keanu's wife (the Karate dude)-- faculty advisor formerly attached to the university of Illinois at chicago (all students/all campuses)--

:confused:

Hermoine, would you care to elaborate on that, please?

I have been using "real" BAQ Henna and I found that adding Guar creates a consistency I find easier to work with. It does not seem to have affected the dye uptake in any way, nor did my hair react in any strange way, so I am not sure what you mean by "spoiling the batch".

My henna mix dyed my hair red, which is just what I wished.

I am temporarily closing this thread while the moderators look into something. I expect this thread will be reopened soon.