Amla with Cassia?

[Agasaurus]

I have just started experimenting with herbs in my hair - ultimately I think I'd like to work up enough courage for henna, but for now I'm just doing cassia with few spoons of henna mixed in (no dye release time). I am also interested in adding other herbs to the mix, and I can't seem to find any detailed information about amla. I know it can be used with henna, but -
Could it be mixed with cassia?
If so, in what proportions?
What should I expect from amla that differs from cassia/henna only? Different volume? I know it's used with henna to protect the curl, but would it help wavy hair curl better?:P
Does it affect color at all?
I'm sorry if it was all discussed somewhere else, all I could see wasn't answering my questions, so I started a new thread.
Thanks for understanding

[Agasaurus]

I find it really interesting that no one posted any replies to that one... surely there is some of you who mix cassia with other things....hmmmz?
I'm waiting for my amla right now, it should be here any day now, and I'm probably going to mix it with my cassia.
Any info would be appreciated - I've used cassia before, but that's all I did as far as herbs. I hope mixing those two together won't make me go bald, lol.
If you have any tips on amla/cassia mixes please let me know. Thank you in advance

[Jeni]

I think at some point I mixed some left over alma into some cassia I was using (it might have been cassia/henna). I didn't notice any difference but then I think the main thing alma is for is keeping the waves from being pulled out? As you can see my hair is OMG straight so I'm probably not the best judge....

I noticed no real difference in color when I used it nor did I notice any extra volume.

I see no real reason why it couldn't be added to cassia. If your worried about color change or dryness or whatever I'd suggest mixing up a sample and trying it on either some shed hair of to some hair on the underside of your hair.

If it were me I'd try adding a big tablespoon or 2 to a cup of cassia to begin with. You can always up it the next application.

No, your hair should not fall out

[Agasaurus]

Thank you.
It was a joke with hair falling out
I'll add it to my next cassia treatment and see if there is any difference... does it really require such a small amount of amla?

[Jeni]

not a clue about the amount of alma you should use, like I said my hair is straight no amount is going to help bring out curl I dont have. I just suggested going slow because better safe then sorry IMO (not that I think alma will hurt you).

[caribou55313]

I've frequently mixed amla with henna, or cassia/henna, or cassia alone, or cassia/henna/buxus. I include it because it helps keep my straight, oily hair from being weighed down by henna. It adds some body. It doesn't make my hair wavier.

Amla doesn't affect the color of cassia or buxus, in my opinion, and it has only very minimal browning effect on henna in my testing. When used in a 1 or 2-step henna/indigo process, it darkens the indigo and helps prevent fading of indigo.

The proportion of amla I use is about 1/4 to 1/6 of the total powders. I have also tested 1:1 henna/amla mixes - results are on my flickr page linked below.

[Agasaurus]

Thanks caribou! Wow, that was a lot of testing... Your hair looks really pretty