Gunky buildup after henna

[ReptilianFeline]

If it happens once, you think you just didn't rinse properly. The second time it happened I thought it was because I used rice flour as a cream instead of my usual guar gum flour.
Third time??? What the F????

I prepared my henna mix in advance. Last time the PPD henna didn't make my hair black and we figured it was because I didn't let it dye release properly. This time I decided to use two satchels of 10 gram each, instead of one. The first satchel I opened had the same green powder as last time. The second however was almost black and smelled of chemicals. *SIGH* it seems as if the manufacturor of the PPD henna has mixed up their non PPD henna with their PPD henna. It isn't the first time I have been a bit uncertain if all satchels have been with PPD, but this time, because of the poor result before, I know now that it's a bit hit and miss, and if I use this brand again, I will have to open enough satchels to at least get one with PPD. Oh well... I did set it to dye release mixed with some of my old henna and water. Next day is was nice and black and I mixed some new indigo with guar gum and water to make a cream, then mixed that with the PPD henna mix. Applied it as usual, and wished this time I had made a bit more because it didn't fully cover the whole lenght of hair. With the black mix I could see how much of my hair wasn't black anymore.

I left it in as I always do, most of the day, letting it dry on my head.

When I rinsed it out, I thought that it was amazing how much easier it is to rinse now that I am no-pooing and have gotten used to herbal mixes with grit in them. I tried to work some into my scalp once it was wet again, but it wasn't easy. It did seem to rinse out though, all the way. The hair felt as if it was a bit like straw, but that wasn't surprising... I've had that feel from henna alone as well. I figured my coffee rinse and then my tea rinse would be enough to make my hair soft and shiny afterwards.

After towel drying it turban style, it felt a little as if there was buildup on my hair, but I usually feel something like that after a normal no-poo session as well, so I figured it would feel better once it was dry. I let it dry as much as possible during the night, having it loose.
This morning when I was going to bun it, it still felt coated, looked a bit dull, and the colour isn't completely black either. Looks OK though.... kind of really dark brown and a bit natural with not every strand the same colour.
I gently used my comb to smooth out my head hair so I could bun without really detangling. The tips of the tines are now black. My hands had a black coating and the coating feels a bit non-slip. If I take a piece of paper and run it over my hair, it comes away with black residue on it.
*ARRGH*!

I don't want to wash my hair with regular shampoo because I hate how it makes my scalp feel and I hate the flaking. I need something else. What I need is something I can use as a last rinse after a henna session that removes the gunk. It's the same as last time, except the gunk is now black instead for green.

The only thing I can think of to fix it this time, is to apply coconut oil to my hair, and then rinse in very hot water so most of it melts away. Would that work?
Is there anything else I can do? I won't stop dying my hair, so I need to find a method for this. Should I wash my hair in my chickpea flour 'poo after rinsing out the henna? I know washing with regular shampoo is a no-no, but what about no-poo like that?
Please help me!

[Nightshade]

Personally, I'd advise against anything like coconut oil. It isn't cleansing and is likely just to add to your problems. Same goes for chickpea flour, I think it's just going to compound your problem.

Have you perhaps tried soapnuts? They're pH balanced to hair and scalp and are unlikely to irritate your scalp.

[ReptilianFeline]

I've tried areetha and shikakai as a tea and with the grit, none worked as well as when I use chickpea flour. And I didn't use any of it as a final rinse after the henna. I just wanted to know if it would affect the oxidation process of henna to actually use it to ge the extra gunk out of my hair after henna.

If coconut oil isn't cleansing, then what oil should I use? Almond? I use that to remove makeup from my face and that works fairly well without making my skin oily. I also have lanolin oil, sesame seed oil and rapeseed oil at home.

BTW... I have hard water and no way to soften it, and I won't go out and buy expensive bottled water just to see it go down the drain. I would need a lot to rinse my hair and wash it in it. I can however buy cheap beer for the fizz. I've used that once and it felt good, but I don't really know if it actually made a differense. I had this idea that the fizz would lift dirt and buildup from my hair.

When I started on using herbal washes, I mixed areetha, shikakai and amla with water. After each wash there was more and more gunky coating to my hair. I think amla was the problem in combination with hard water. I have to check if the henna satchels contained amla as well as PPD.

But... the problem remains... how do I get the gunk out? I think I'll have a look at oil washing... maybe that might work. Same cleans same, right?

[Nightshade]

OCM works on your face because you can steam warm cloths and use multiples of them to wipe away the oil, I just don't see how that's possible with your hair and scalp.

The main problem I'm seeing is that you keep adding and adding rather than using something with some type of surficant that will actually lift the gunk off your hair and scalp.

You could ask the Water Only thread how they manage to move oil down their hair?

[lapushka]

I would say no on oil cleansing for the hair too. And I would use what Nightshade suggested, the soapnuts. If you want to really cleanse (which sometimes has to happen, we all need to clarify once in a while) - it's going to probably be great for you.

[ReptilianFeline]

I appologies if I sound(ed) a bit harsh and ungrateful. Yesterday was a bad hair day for me, until the evening when I had a closer look at my hair, and had a bit of a think. I did some research this morning and think I know what is wrong.

First off... if amla reacts to make wax from hard water, I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I checked the ingredients on the box of PPD henna and it didn't mention amla. I then opened the outer packing of one of the satchels, and pulled out the instructions. The English version had no amla listed but the Danish version (should be Swedish but it isn't) did list amla, so, who knows.

The wax is as water resistant as the stuff water fowl coat their feathers with. It sticks to my hands and my comb and my brush... and my hair.

Last night I decided to brush my hair. It was all ropey from the waxy coating and felt blargh. I thought about applying coconut oil to help detangle, but settled for my Vatica amla oil instead. The base of that oil is mineral oil. I put it in my hair little at a time, and then I started on the lenght with my denman brush. Because the denman brush has the tines in rubber, it gets very statically, so I put my brush under running water. It's an old trick of mine, but I'm sure others do that too. With the brush a bit damp, the static isn't there until the brush is dry again, so about 10 strokes or so before I need to wet it again.
Brushing was hard and I removed some shed hair (not much though, I'm happy to say). When I pulled the loose hair from the brush, clumps of wax was removed as well and my left hand was pretty soon covered in the stuff. It's a bit sticky, so as I was working through my hair, removing stuff from the brush got trickier and trickier. Finally my hair was thoroughly brushed and felt a bit more desent and looks OK. There is still wax black from the henna, but not as much. The oil helped bring abit of shine too.

Cleaning my denman brush was a hassle. I tried my sls-free shampoo... no go. Just moved aorund the waxy stuff. Then I tried an alcaline liquide soap... no go either. Finally I used my cheapo hand soap, and that worked.

I've been reading about the waxy stuff for no-pooers, and it seems to come from hard water. There are a few things to try. Baking soda is one, but I think I'll avoid that one, since it might also make the problem worse. Apple sause has been mentioned, but I think apple juice might work better. I once mixed a treat for my land snails and used apple juice and then added calcium and my goodness the froth! Lactic acid in fermented rye flour or yoghurt might also work. I can also try adding more areetha to my 'poo mix and see if that works. And I'm running out of juniper water, so I need to make some more.

I wish it was our own house so I could install a water softener. It would help with the washing mashine, the coffee maker, my hair, the kitchen sink... but we rent, so no dice.

[Nightshade]

For hard water, you might want to try Miracle Water. It's Vitamin C and Citric Acid. I have super hard water (I'm surrounded by limestone bluffs) and it works great for me.

[ReptilianFeline]

Thanks Nightshade! I'll try the Miracle water.

I put some white vinegar on my gunky comb, and the waxy stuff came right off.

I was curious about lactic acid when I found that it was the ingredient in a de-calcifying treatment for coffee makers. My thought was that white vinegar or citric acid was better. After a bit of googling, it seems that maybe the lactic acid is better to not just remove calcium buildup, but also the oil from coffee.

I have my rye flour mix fermenting (turning into very very runny sour dough) with the thought that it will be natural lactic acid in it. I will also pick up the ingredients for miracle water and some lactic acid, if I can get the stuff from the pharmacy or similar. Somethings are available becaus of cooking, and some for cleaning and so on... hobbyists and the likes.
Then I'll try miracle water and then lactic acid... or the other way around, depending on what I get hold of first. It will be interesting to see what works best.

[Nightshade]

Sounds great! I'm keen on hearing your results

[ReptilianFeline]

I've just done a bit of reading about pH levels and coffee, tea and so on.
If it's alkaline, above 7 pH it will help the calcium in the water bond with your hair. I did tea rinses to keep the pH down, but it turns out, I picked the wrong tea! Green tea is somewhere around 9 pH and most herbal teas are alkaline too. The lemon grean tea I've been using doesn't have enough lemon in it to make it acidic, and adding lavender or nettle or linden has certainly not helped.

No wonder the best result came from coffee, since that is actually acidic!