Henna bad for my hair :(

[Flossiebell]

Hi
i have been using henna for a few years now and have just been mooching on the net and have seen that people have been saying that henna is bad for hair because it dries it out and makes it prone to breakage. I think they may be onto something (in my case anyway) as my hair is dull, dry, brittle, prone to snapping and generally not very happy. It has been like this for about the time I have been using henna and I must say that when I grew out 3 inches of my natural colour that part of my hair was much shinier, softer and resilient than the hennaed bit.
has this happened to anyone else? Maybe my hair doesn't like henna but it's fine for everyone else? Wish I had twigged earlier this year so I wouldn't have to start growing out from scratch again...sigh...back to salt and pepper for me :(

[Flor]

Maybe it's just too many henna applications for you? Have you considered just doing the roots? Otherwise perhaps your hair could benefit from clarifying shampoo, followed by deep conditioning? Dry brittle ends are not necessarily henna's fault, could be just product/hard water build up.

My natural hair is also softer than hennaed btw. But that's part of the reason why I henna. Mine's just TOO soft on it's own.

[Magalo]

Henna acts ike a protein treatment, it makes hair stronger but also more prone to breakage if you don't balance with moisture. I think you need a few SMT and your hair will be back to normal in no time. :)

[kganihanova]

I think you're onto something here. Do some SMTs and clarify but also go with your gut feeling. Henna doesn't work for everyone unfortunately.

[Anje]

I agree with the above posters. Nothing works for absolutely everyone, but it's worth clarifying and doing a few no-protein moisture treatments before you decide that it's absolutely no good for you. Henna is mildly drying for many people, but that's really easy to recover from, and most people feel that if it affects their hair negatively, that effect is a lot less than conventional hair dyes.

But I don't keep my hair in a glass case under an inert gas -- I live with it, handle it, and accept that doing anything with it increases the likelihood of damage, so I choose what I can live with and what I can't.

[Flossiebell]

Hmmm I think henna just isn't for me. I've tried smt, oils, various leave in conditioners and still it's dry and unhappy. Going to give up for now. Would cassia have the same effect does anyone know?

[spidermom]

It's been a decade or more, so I can't say for sure, but I do remember thinking that my hair seemed a lot more brittle and dull-looking after henna (and it WAS henna, not a questionable blend). It did recover weeks to months after henna; I only applied it once, then grew it out as it faded. It DID fade.

[Pierre]

What henna are you using, and how do you apply it?

[tbonita]

As Magalo said, maybe it's that your hair does accept the henna like a protein treatment and it's just too much. I for one am very protein sensitive and if I use protein products my hair gets brittle and breaks off. I did a ton of SMTs, ect to get my hair back into shape after over-proteining it. That being said, henna does NOT work like protein in my hair; my hair gets stronger like id like a conventional protein product, but all heads of hair are so different this really may be what's going on. HTH... Just one theory :)

[bunnylake]

If I use products with significant protein, my hennaed hair feels horrible. Is there protein in your shampoo/conditioner?

[Scarlet_Heart]

Henna isn't for everyone unfortunately. It caused me a lot of hair loss. Just unlucky. But the hair I managed to keep was very shiny and healthy. There are a few things I would suggest before giving up.

-Are you oiling? For what it's worth, you can turn henna treatments into oil treatments. Just add a healthy amount of your oil of choice to your henna mixture.

-Are you putting anything acidic in your henna mix? Because despite popular opinion, you don't need it. See the pic in my signature? It's an old pic but, no lemon juice, no vinegar. That color is the result of just henna, hot water, and oil.

That's all I can think of for now. But good luck!

[Vampyria]

My hair doesn't seem to like it very much either (well I used henna-cassia mix twice). I've been trimming really often - every 2 months, and I'm finding more split ends/strands than usually. I use coconut oil regularly and avoid protein since my hair doesn't like it anyway. It has a nice shine, but it got frizzier and tangles a lot more after recent application.

[Lyv]

My hair looked sort of dull and felt rough after I used henna mixed with lemon juice but when I stopped doing that the henna made my hair look really shiny, almost too shiny outside lol. Maybe try roots only or not using anything acidic in your mix and then deep treatments right after.

[Flossiebell]

I have used water, tea, lemon juice and acv. Either one makes my hair feel fried afterwards and if I only use water it washes out over a week or so. I have tried water and oil and that also washes out within a week. I think my hair is just very bizarre - I guess life would be boring if we were all the same tho :/