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Spitfire
October 31st, 2020, 12:05 PM
Hi guys,
It's the Incredible Vanishing Spitfire again, I have metered internet here and I'm only on so often now... you may remember me as the enthusiastic grower that had a disaster with a henna product that lead to me going from APL to mid-ear.
Nightshade was able to help out a lot... she prescribed a chelating rinse "Alluvial" and I must say, it worked... this stuff got rid of almost all the black, crunchy awfulness that I had to cut most of the way out. I'm impressed beyond belief.
I'm now well below chin already (I grow fast I guess!) just a couple inches (if that) from shoulder. I'll say I'll be on the short side of shoulder by February... at least my hair feels and moves like hair again.
So... the story..........
There is a LOT of iron in the water here. I was bypassing the salt to water my garden, and un-bypassing it to shower/etc but all the bypassing let too much iron into my water supply. This, I believe, reacted with a batch of Henna Color Lab "ginger blonde" mix that I applied to my hair. I always used their stuff and it always worked, but what was different was the water.

My hair turned black and crunchy (it was roughly light auburn before). I could not get it out. I even thought the henna/cassia mix product was laced with indigo... which it was not. I had to cut to mid-ear and deal with it. It was kind of nice because I got to "start fresh" so there's that positive perspective.

The remaining black on the ends came out with chelating. So if this ever happens to you, chelate!! It worked for me.

The (literal) bottom line is,
I guess iron and other water minerals can make henna/herbal dyes do weird things. Chelating helps a lot. I wonder if like a malibu swimmers treatment would help some cases too. Alluvial was awesome though and it worked wonders for me (thanks again, Nightshade!). So yeah, give some consideration as to what's in your water before considering herbal mixes... maybe even consider clarifying and/or chelating before henna-ing.

Have a great day and stay warm..
SF

Mariekeeee14
October 31st, 2020, 12:13 PM
I’m glad you’ve overcome this!

lapis_lazuli
October 31st, 2020, 12:30 PM
Great news! :cheer:

DropStitches
October 31st, 2020, 01:17 PM
You’ve got such a great attitude - it’s very inspirational! I’m glad to hear you’re feeling good about your fresh start, and that’s interesting to hear about the minerals in water - I hadn’t realised they had such a dramatic effect on henna!

Jane99
October 31st, 2020, 01:40 PM
Geez. Thank you for sharing your experience! I have hard water and it’s full of iron and I henna so thank you!! I hope you are happy with your healthy hair!

TatsuOni
November 1st, 2020, 03:05 AM
I remember your thread about it! I'm very happy to hear that you've been able to "solve it" :cheer:

sipnsun
November 1st, 2020, 04:42 AM
Sometimes a 'fresh start' is the best thing and I'm glad you were able to do it with such a positive attitude! It's also great that you are a fast grower, you will be back to where you were in no time. I look forward to seeing your progress!

Cybercat
November 1st, 2020, 06:57 AM
Wow that is some troubling times there. So glad your growing again. So many have no clue how water can effect there hair and reaction to products.

illicitlizard
November 1st, 2020, 07:42 AM
I'm so glad to hear you managed to find a fix! Now you have the opportunity to start again with all your new knowledge, shame it had to happen like that! Black and crunchy is not what you'd expect from henna. Thanks for coming back and sharing what worked, chelating filed away for future reference.


Have a great day and stay warm..

No problem here, was 31 degrees (88°F) today :P

lapushka
November 1st, 2020, 08:30 AM
Your hair looks great! :D

Spitfire
November 2nd, 2020, 06:59 AM
Thanks everyone!! I'm happy to be back on the journey. If my hair and I can get through this, we can get through anything. :p
I'll post more pics later, the color is fabulous. :D





No problem here, was 31 degrees (88°F) today :P

I am so jealous... I'm freezing up here... :( :D haha!