Talk to me about henna build-up

[burns_erin]

I noticed drier hair when my mix was too acidic. Some people around here do not add any acid (relying on tap water to be minimally acidic), some people say acid is not neccessary or even inhibit dye release. For my self, I am an anal retentive crazy person and I use a litmus strip to test the liquid. Since I have not found those snazzy specific Ph test strips, I do a comparison sample. I have the liquid I want to use sitting next to ACV (which is what I used to use and knew was too drying). I dip the litmus strips at the same time and as long as the liquid I want to use turns it less red/pink than the ACV I know I know I am fairly close to where I want to be.

[Islandgrrl]

For my self, I am an anal retentive crazy person and I use a litmus strip to test the liquid. Since I have not found those snazzy specific Ph test strips, I do a comparison sample. I have the liquid I want to use sitting next to ACV (which is what I used to use and knew was too drying). I dip the litmus strips at the same time and as long as the liquid I want to use turns it less red/pink than the ACV I know I know I am fairly close to where I want to be.

Okay, I just think that's cool.

When I first started hennaing, I used lemon juice or ACV in my henna mud. My hair turned out too dry and I didn't like the texture. I switched to plain old well water and not only do I get faster dye release and better uptake, but the issue of dryness and texture weirdness is completely gone. In fact I put a big glob of AVG in my henna mud last time and I've gotten awesome results with that, too.

[burns_erin]

I wish I could just use tap water. However, ours is Ph neutral and heavily chlorinated, so dye release is almost nil with it. I have most recently used clove water made with distilled water and ground cloves, which turns out is somewhat acidic. It worked rather well.

[khyricat]

I use tap water.. it works wonderfully and no dryness.. I have gone from i to ii, when combined with the new growth and less shed from my new routin, I expect that to become ii or more when I finally get that new growth into a pony and measure next month.. it just barely reaches finally.. but I want to measure for my 1 year anniversary, so waiting for that...

[vindo]

According to these links, henna actually contains more resin than it does lawsone.

However, most people, from what I have read on the boards, do not henna too often.

Enough of the resin, which would coat the hair, must wash off in between treatments, so the hair does not become brittle.

Henna Constituents
"Dried, powdered leaves of henna contain .... 0.5 to 1.5 percent lawsone .... chief constituent responsible for the dyeing properties of the plant ...."


Henna resin content - Bureau of Plant Industry - Manilla
"They add that the leaves also contain about 2 per cent of a resin."

This is interesting, but for a resin to wash out it would only take a few weeks, and then there is still the question wheather BAQ Henna contains as much resin..
Any thoughts on this?

I am wondering because I have heard of many cases now that made hennaed hair dry and brittle and I never know what to answer those people.. Actually it CANT be bad, but why do some experience breakage and brittle hair? What factors need to be avoided other then the obvious.

[Heidi_234]

Henna has a resin content, which can build up if you don't wash your hair enough in between. That's what causes post-henna dryness I suppose. But it won't build up horribly in any way if you henna once a month or two, even if you do it for years.
Most hair stylists have very little knowledge about henna, and are prejudge mental and don't check out facts. I came across all kind of sites that say how henna builds up like cement on hair, and they couldn't be any wronger.

[HotRag]

Well, I have to say, my hair became very split prone after henna. My hair has never before been as split prone as after henna.
I definitely feel there is henna in my hair, like the hennaed part of my hair feels very unnatural. It didn't feel like that after the 2-3 first times but I did feel it changed over the time. I did almost always full head treatments, so there is much henna in my hair.

I did henna my hair for many years.
I did it with about 10 washes in between (i wash once a week).

I suspect that my hair got dryer from this. Not when newly hennaed, but after 1-2 washes.
I also got many splits, which I suspect is due to the hennaing.
It was brittle.

I did the roots, only, but not very carefully, it dripped and soaked in to all of the hair.

I have stopped hennaing by now, because I want to see the difference in my ends when the henna is gone.

Hair above the henna, is more elastic than the hennaed hair parts.

[Arctic]

This is really interesting subject! I have been trying to think and pinpoint what makes my ends bad in few months of trim, and of all the possible reasons I have thought of, henna is one.

I hennaed for years (about every other months) with non-BAQ henna, first product was very weak 100% henna (Finnish brand Sattva henna), that gave minimal colour and some strength, and always faded. I did full head applications every time. I never noticed any negative effects to the condition of my hair, only positive.

Then I started using ready bought henna mix (Urtekram fiery red) that contained other herbs, like indigo, I can't remember them now but they are in my blog written down. This henna line was discontinued last year. I had used it for less than year, few packages, if I recall correctly. Some applications were full length, some roots only.

I loved the colour it gave, it didn't fade on me. But I have a feeling it made my hair coarser, and more brittle.

When the line was discontinued, I used my existing product while I looked for similar new henna mix for a while. But months went by and finally I decided I would like to see how my real hair is under the henna, how it looks and feels. I have now 7 months worth of virgin hair, though with my slow growth it's too early to say anything about the feel or quality of the hair.

I can't be sure if it's the henna mix that has changed my hair and makes my ends go so bad I have trouble gaining length. I used to have straight and silky, very fine thin and slippery hair and it has changed quite a bit since I found LHC. I got waves, my hair is thicker to the point where I am not sure if it's fine at all anymore. It's coarser and I have many wiry hairs. Are some of these because of the henna mix, I don't know. Perhaps hormones have part in the change, but interestingly it happended soon after I joined here and changed my hair careing ways (so some changes might be hare care related).

I have mentioned in my blog the henna build up, several times. And what comes to coating the hair, I can feel henna does coat the hair. It has made my hairs thicker, even the weak henna that faded made the hair thicker.

I have really no answers but wanted to voice my own experiences and doubts too. We have to remember that not everybody who henna use BAQ henna. In many coutries it's no readily avalable. So when a topic comes up like this one, I think it's wrong to minimize the possible henna problems saying BAQ henna doesn't do that.

[ilovelonghair]

I have been using henna over a year now and have no build up. I henna about once in 3 months and by the time I do it again, most of it has faded. I'm thinking of starting to do it more often to keep the color, but with glosses, just in case. I don't want to end up with the wrong color

[HotRag]

I could never feel any build up from henna, not thicker hairs either.

It was just shinier and conditioned at first, then got dry and more brittle.

To compare with something, could it be like when you put in too much of the hard strength part in something (as too much calcium into bone) the balance is disturbed and the material gets more easy to break (though it is harder)?
This with bone, was just a "metafor", I know it is not about calcium here with the henna.

If it is so that some hair gets to "hard" from henna, other hairs could very well love henna and get some strength.

But this is just hypothetical.
Because there are people that thinks henna is drying and making hairs to break more easily, ther must be something that does this.

The left pic in my sigpic, is hennaed hair that had been hennaed many times. Sometimes the whole hair, sometimes the roots only.
So I got long hair (and it kept on growing in the same rate), but it needed total S&Ds rather often.
Ends got a bit better, slippier, when I started to use cones (I did not know I could use oil then). Then I used cones until I chopped the hair off at shoulder length.