Henna for seborrhoeic eczema/dermatitis/dandruff

[Jenny.Wren]

When you said that was knocked on the head, what did you mean? Is there a sentence missing? Are you still using the chemical dyes? They would be the most obvious source for irritation, after all. Have you tried anti-histamines?

yes I meant that I put an end to the chemical dyes. Last one was about 7 weeks ago. But I cant believe that I still have itching 7 weeks on......unless it takes a long time for the scalp to return back to normal.

yes I take the odd anti-hisamine too

[Elettaria]

I think you're meant to take anti-histamines every day. They never work for skin irritation for me, so it's hard for me to judge. (I've taken them for sleep and do get effects there, but not really the ones I want.) 7 weeks does sound like a long time to be adjusting from stopping chemical dyes, but then I don't really know much about how the scalp behaves. What have you been using on your hair in the meantime in the way of shampoo (bars), conditioner and so on? I think the options are either a) it does in fact take this long for irritation to settle after using hair dyes; b) you have a fussy scalp and are (now) reacting to something in your shampoo, or c) it's not contact dermatitis, your scalp is itchy for other reasons unrelated to what you put on it. Or d) any combination of the above, of course.

[2luvmycurls]

Hey guys - I just came across this promising website - www.moogoo.com.au They are in Australia, but it does say that they ship to most countries. It would be interesting to see if their products work, as the huge amount of testimonials sound very promising!

[Jenny.Wren]

Hey guys - I just came across this promising website - www.moogoo.com.au They are in Australia, but it does say that they ship to most countries. It would be interesting to see if their products work, as the huge amount of testimonials sound very promising!

the link doesn't work for me

[2luvmycurls]

the link doesn't work for me

Oops! Thanks. I fixed it!

[Elettaria]

I won't be using them myself, as I'm vegan. But there's a lot of very good information on that website about product ingredients and labelling (although I'm really not impressed by the vagueness of "fragrant oil" as in ingredient), and I note with interest that they use a lot of coconut-derived ingredients.

I'm thinking of attempting to wash my hair every day with my neem 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner for a bit, perhaps a week, to see if it shifts the scalp problem at all. (It's not effective when used twice a week that I've noticed, it's fairly mild as I get irritated from stronger dilutions of neem, but it's the most likely candidate that I know I can tolerate.) I just need it to do that temporarily, so that I've got a better base for treating my scalp with henna, since I'm reasoning that the happier my scalp to begin with, the less time I'll need to leave the henna on for. Or is that pointless, will there be a minimum base level I need to leave the henna on for in order to get the fungicidal properties working thoroughly, no matter what state my scalp is in to start with?

Back to the henna.

1. Has anyone used the henna from Baldwins (a herbal supplier) or the Spice Works? If so, what was the quality of the henna like, and did it produce any particular shade of red?

2. Let's say that hypothetically I henna my hair for four hours total. Would there be a difference between doing all four hours at once, and hennaing twice for two hours at a time? Would the colour be stronger one way, or the effects on the scalp?

3. I've just ordered 160g of Ganesha henna, which I've used in the past and which is the henna I used for the henna gloss which is currently colouring my ends a bit. However, it's been discontinued so I'll be using Baldwins or the Spice Works henna after that. Would I be better off ordering from Baldwins/Spice Works now and using that for my strand tests, so that I get consistent results, and saving the Ganesha henna for henna glosses or what have you?

4. I saved the clippings when I had 4" off my hair the other week, to the horror of various people who thought I was practising voodoo, and attempted to tie them into locks. I ended up with five locks, tied together with a bit of thread, plus a wodge of hair that was too muddled to form into locks. Is it worth keeping them as locks, or are they going to get utterly messed up when I put henna on them anyway?

5. How much hair do you reckon is needed for each strand test?

6. Should I keep back an unhennaed lock for comparison, or will it be enough to compare them to the ends of my hair?

7. Since the locks to be used for strand testing are slightly hennaed from that gloss 8 months ago, how do I extrapolate the results for hennaing my virgin roots? Go for the longest period of time that appears to show minimal colour change? Go for the next one down from that (or subtract 30 min or so), on the assumption that the colour change will appear stronger when it's on my head? The plan is to match my roots to my ends, see how that works, and if my scalp is still unhappy, do a whole head application.

7. To anyone who's used henna to treat seborrhoeic eczema/dermatitis or dandruff, did it work right from the first application, how long did you leave it on for, and how often did you need to reapply?

8. Are there any permanent ways of toning down the redness (preferably to golden tones) without inhibiting the conditioning properties? I looked into katam, but apparently it's not permanent, nor are the usual yellows such as rhubarb root. Chamomile tea?

[2luvmycurls]

Elettaria --- Like I said before, when I did my first henna treatment, it worked wonders,..miracles really, as my dermatitis was really bad (as it is again ) I had it on for about 4 hours, and the scalp effects lasted a few months. I don't know at what length of time the properties of henna kick in (for the scalp)...I wish I knew, but I only know it worked good for me at 4 hours.

Have you tried cassia for the scalp yet? I have some, and I *think* I'm going to try that today. I got my cassia, Punamji Prime henna, and alma yesterday...but I think I'm going to start with the cassia, since that won't change the root color...just in case I change my mind (if the cassia works) about keeping up the red.

[Elettaria]

Yep, I think I mentioned the cassia in one of my messages to you. It doesn't do anything for my scalp, and it makes my hair dry. I wouldn't be put off by that, though, since people do react very differently to cassia.

Thanks for repeating your results. It makes it easier to have it all in one place. I'm hoping I won't have to go as far as four hours, as I don't want to end up that red! I'll see what the strand tests show up, but I'll probably do 1-2 hours for the root treatments and then another 1-2 hours full head if that's needed.

[2luvmycurls]

Well, thought I'd update on my cassia. I rinsed it out a little it ago, and I'm so happy to say, it looks like it pretty much completely got rid of the eczema/dermatitis!!!! Just about as good as the henan did. I mixed up 100 g of cassia oblavata (sp?) with a mug full of hot camomile & honey tea (Celestial Seasonings), let it sit for 30-45 min. or so, then applied it to my dry straightened hair as best I could, focusing on the scalp, but I used all of it so all of my hair got a good coating. I wrapped it up in saran wrap and a towel, then let it sit for 2.5 hours. I notice my scalp looks virtually flake free and it looks oily (that's a good thing I think, as I'm so dry normally).

It did seem to dry my hair a bit, but I just rinsed it and used more shampoo and tons of conditioner until that dry tangly feeling went away. I still need to do more conditioner rinses because I didn't get all of it out on parts of my scalp, but I have to wait til I get more conditioner since I used up the last that I had. I wonder if maybe you didn't condition/shampoo enough after doing the cassia, Elettaria? (Or maybe just some people don't do well with it, I don't know). But my hair feels soooooo good right now - shiny, silky, and soft

[Elettaria]

I didn't have any trouble getting the cassia out, that's one thing I will say for it. It was only a root treatment, after all. I left it on for 3 1/2 hours, and didn't really notice any difference at all. When I cassia my whole head, that's when my hair ends up dry. It improves after a bit, especially with oiling, but it still ends up in slightly worse condition than when I started.

Since you too are doing well with cassia, I've ordered a bit to go with the henna, and I'll try making the mix 1/3 or 1/4 cassia. I doubt it'll do any harm, the henna will probably be enough to stop the cassia from drying out my hair too much, and it dilutes the henna down. I'm very glad to hear it worked for you! Let us know how it does longer-term. I'm planning to use chamomile tea as well.

ETA: On looking at the colour samples on H4H, I might even go as far as 1:1 henna:cassia. Does anyone know how the colour changes with that sort of mix? Will the golden cassia component remain, or will the colour turn redder with time, as I hear it does when you add indigo or katam/buxus? I think my first strand test will be 100% henna, 2:1 henna: cassia, 1:1 henna:cassia, and leave them in overnight to see what the extreme version of the colours would be. Then I'll pick a mix and do more strand tests for 1 hour, 2 hours and so on. If nothing else, I'd guess that a 1:1 mix left on for four hours would do more for my scalp than pure henna left on for 2 hours, and would probably produce about the same colour.