Negative experience with henna ?

[Nightshade]

Two things that might have caused this to happen for you.

1. You used lemon juice. I don't know whose bright idea it was to use lemon juice in henna, but it's a bad idea, especially if you are leaving it on for hours and hours. Would you normally put lemon juice, which is highly acidic, in your hair and leave it there for hours? No. And you shouldn't with henna either. I've been hennaing my hair for years and get great color saturation with no lemon juice. In fact, I don't add anything at all except hot water. You can add oils if you like, but my folicles clog and I get major hair loss if oil or conditioner ever touch my scalp. It's annoying, but if you don't have this issue, adding an oil of your choice to your henna mix could really help prevent breakage.

2. You made it too pastey/dry. Once again, people think that your henna needs to be really concentrated to get good color uptake. Not true at all. I apply my henna to damp hair and my henna itself is watered down to a yogurt-like consistency. This makes it really easy to apply, distribute evenly, and wash out. If your henna is too pastey, this makes it coarse and abrasive to your hair which could be why you're getting breakage.

For the record, I did both of these things when I started out with henna because I got bad information. I would say, if you love the color, don't give up on the henna just yet. If you do it right, or if you can get it to work for you, it really can improve the condition of your hair. It protects your hair from sun damage, treats dandruff/dry scalp, and it makes my hair feel thicker.

Good luck!

I would add

3. You didn't rinse it out with conditioner. Generally, the easiest way to get henna out is to buy a cheap bottle of Suave or Vo5 and then plan on using the entire bottle to help work everything else.

[April_May]

This probably isnt what youre referring to, but in my experience, my hair becomes incredibly silky and thin the day after application. It feels and looks very healthy, but is bone straight and thin. At the same time, the individual strands feel coarse.

My hair is wavy, average strand thickness, and very, very thick and dense (I have zero problems with volume). All of these effects calm down and my hair returns to normal after a few washes.

The thinning out of your hair may just be a combination of hair loss AND your hair playing tricks on you.

[Book-Fancy]

Whenever I use henna my head itches like crazy for several days afterwards. I've decided that it's the grittiness irritating my skin. I always wrap my head in Saran wrap to keep it moist and rinse it with a ton of conditioner. Now I follow up with a good shampoo wash right after, then I do a deep conditioning for a couple hours with my tin foil cap on. I'm doing root only touch ups now. Last time I did 65/35, cassia/henna to see if that was better, but I was still itchy. It does go away after a couple of washes. I have read that henna will relax or weigh down curl. That's why I don't do full head applications any more. My hair is a mix of 3a/3b curl and I wouldn't want to go straight. I have done 3 full head applications in total and haven't seen any reduction in my curl with that number. I did use a Zizyphus Spina Christi &Juniper shampoo bar that I got from hennaforhair after each time because I read that Zizyphus will restore curl. I was afraid to add amla to my mix because I wanted copper red without any brown.

[sk89]

Henna is traditionally used a lot for coloring and conditioning in the Indian subcontinent. It is actually very drying, so I am not surprised that all you ladies had this experience with it

The trick to use Henna for conditioning is to keep it on your head for not more than 3 hours and absolutely rinse out of it out of your head once. After that dry your hair (air or blow, doesn't matter) and then OIL YOUR HAIR!! Olive, coconut, sesame, mineral, use whatever you want, massage properly into roots and ends and keep it on your head for as long as you like, 2 hours is good enough. And now shampoo your hair, followed by conditioner.
Once you shampoo your hair after the oiling, the tiny heena particles would be gone, and your hair will definitely be smoother and shinier. This was a tip shared with me by my hairdresser at my local salon, and it does wonders for dry hair.

[Reyesuela]

The only sensible way I've found to wash out henna is to fill up the tub and lie in it and get 90% out that way. No hair loss or breakage at all. Also doesn't dye your skin.

[ArtificiallyRed]

I did a 2 step henna indigo yesterday, for some reason I didn't realise henna was a protein treatment! That explains why my hair felt so tangled and gross after I wash out the henna, and why it no longer needs a shampoo or conditioner with protein in. I still use henna, but I no longer need to use any other protein treatment; which is great really, opens up a lot more shampoo and conditioner options.

To rinse mine out, I usually use a low-poo shampoo (Cowshed Cowlick Gentle shampoo) to get most of the bits that are caked on my scalp off, but the most important part is using a LOT of conditioner or conditioning hair mask or SMT or whatever moisture treatment. Get it right down to your scalp, massage it in gently and throughout your hair, it will whisk away any extra henna/indigo bits that are lurking there and help your hair feel super soft and shiny. I used the Tresemme Perfectly Undone conditioner for that, I found a bottle I had stashed away in my bathroom and forgot how much I liked it.

I hope this helps someone, if it doesn't help OP.

[lapushka]

I used to put a filled up bucket in the tub and stick my head in it, swirl it around and massage my roots while it all came "unglued". I filled up several buckets and soaked; then conditioner and rinsing and shampoo and conditioner again.

[Anje]

I did a 2 step henna indigo yesterday, for some reason I didn't realise henna was a protein treatment! That explains why my hair felt so tangled and gross after I wash out the henna, and why it no longer needs a shampoo or conditioner with protein in. I still use henna, but I no longer need to use any other protein treatment; which is great really, opens up a lot more shampoo and conditioner options.

Technically it's not -- lawsone is a really small molecule, similar size to a single amino acid as I recall. But it bonds to keratin, and it seems like many hennaheads don't do well with protein-containing products afterward.

[Hairkay]

I only do henna glosses so that rinses out easily in the shower. I just have to check to see that my drain is okay use a drain unblock treatment if necessary.

[SplitMends]

I've had the same problem as you OP and next time plan to rinse it out with loads of conditioner and maybe avoid shampoo for a few days if I can. I guess for some of us it's just drying and needs balancing out with other treatments.