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Raven2448
March 29th, 2008, 09:13 PM
Is there such a thing as hennaing too often? I do full head apps every month to month and a half.

A few months ago I ran into an indian woman at the gym who commented on the redcast to my hair. She had GORGEOUS jet black hair with red henna highlights where the greys were. I did not see a red cast to the rest of her hair.

When I mentioned how often I hennaed - she gave me this look like I was nuts and it just made me wonder.

Elfling
March 29th, 2008, 09:16 PM
I imagine if she gave you any look at all it's just because of the time and effort involved. Henna is a royal pain to do sometimes!!

I don't see why every six weeks is too much. That's standard for chemical dyes too.

iris
March 29th, 2008, 09:17 PM
Well, if you have no problems there's no problem ;-). But I've often thought that there is some truth to the 'traditional' advice to henna only 3-4 times a year.

I hennaed all the time when I first started, but at some point the crazy mad henna shine stopped happening for me. I think there's something in henna that can build up. Probably depends on the henna, and on your hair. Henna has all sorts of things in it, resins and whatnot. Those could build up.

I wouldn't worry about it if your hair feels fine, though.

Iris

ChloeDharma
March 29th, 2008, 10:51 PM
For ages i hennad at least every 4 weeks, sometimes as frequently as every fortnight.....i only got intense colour, stronger hair and lovely shine.....so no, every 6 weeks sounds fine to me.

SimplyLonghair
March 30th, 2008, 01:18 AM
I henna quite often, but I only do the roots most of the time. I only do a full head treatment about 3 times a year. For me if I do it more often I get a more burgundy color than I prefer. But part of that is the fact that the water around where I live has a Huge amount of iron in it and will turn hair pink and showers rusty:rolleyes:, so not too much on the full head treatments here. I think that each of us have to find what works best for us given the differences in hair and water, as well as the other products that we use on a regular basis.:)

khyricat
March 30th, 2008, 02:05 PM
I do full head hennas every 3-4 weeks, did the same years ago as well.. and this time I've been doing 8 hour applications that way since June, so thats 9 months already.

Isilme
March 30th, 2008, 03:10 PM
well, as long as you like the colour and the effect it has on your hair, why not?

squiggyflop
March 30th, 2008, 03:45 PM
i used to do full head applications every month but i dont want to go burgundy so now i only do the roots... i think the woman was thinking about what a pain hennaing is... i dont mind it as much now that i can get cheap henna and do only the roots for an hour... but i think i can get away with only having it on my head for an hour because my natural color is a reddish brown

Raven2448
March 30th, 2008, 09:05 PM
Thanks all for the replys ... I'm glad to hear I can continue to henna as often as I like. It may be messy and a pain but the great thing is that it's worth it.

I love the color and strengthening benefits!

Delilah
March 31st, 2008, 12:17 AM
I henna every 3 weeks. I find it's around that time that I start to lose some of the super-slippy coated henna strength in my hair.
I double process with henna then indigo 3 days later, so color buildup is not an issue (actually a benefit) for me. I henna for the strength, not the color, I could acheive my color easily with indigo alone.

birdiefu
March 31st, 2008, 03:12 PM
I used to alternate a full henna with a henna gloss every week. So that would make a full henna every 2 weeks. I did this for about a year and no problems with my hair at all!

EvilPigeon
April 3rd, 2008, 03:29 PM
How often is too often?

Riot Crrl
April 3rd, 2008, 03:37 PM
I've hennaed 5 times since February 22 or so. I think it's pretty much never too often as long as you still want to deposit more color, and your hair isn't getting too harshed out from all the rinsing and whatnot.

There was a woman who used to post on h4h who was Indian, living in India for all her life, who had been hennaing each Friday since she was six years old or something. That is what she was taught and grew up with.

CopperHead
April 6th, 2008, 01:38 PM
When I first started to henna, I was doing it every week to every two weeks. I wanted to get an intense base built up. I had no problems at all. I am going back to henna do to an allergy I have developed to PPD, so I will be building the color again. Luckily, the chemical color I have now is perfect to add henna to. It has a lot of red in it. You hair will get more intense in color if you do whole head applications, but just roots will keep everything nice and even. If I need more color on the bottom, I do a henna gloss.

Riot Crrl
April 6th, 2008, 01:51 PM
When I first started to henna, I was doing it every week to every two weeks. I wanted to get an intense base built up. I had no problems at all.

That has been exactly me the past few weeks. :)

I might be good for one more full-head or so, and after that I will probably just do the roots, which usually don't start bugging me for at least a month.

The exception is that I may end up hendigoing, if I decide the demarcation between henna-over-chemical and henna-over-virgin is looking too strange, as the latter starts to become longer. My ultimate goal is of course completely henna-over-virgin, but I only have an inch of that now, and the rest will take two or three years to grow out.

CopperHead
April 6th, 2008, 03:18 PM
I do my roots just about every 3 weeks, or sooner if I am going somewhere special. I always have a demarcation line between my chemical dyed hair and my mostly white natural color. But, with enough intense applications, those white roots can get nice and dark. I can't tolerate indigo, but I might be able to put some dark "highlights" in if it looks too bizarre. A few indigo streaks would be okay, just not my whole head. One good thing about henna is, you can experiment without ruining your hair. I really do love the red. :)

Riot Crrl
April 6th, 2008, 03:32 PM
I'm only about 10-15% grey at this time. When that reverses to be only 10-15% pigmented, you'll be reading my questions here about how to best transition the henna out and get the silver fox look! :)

My hair is mostly chemical blonde box. It was the only thing that would stay in my hair before I found out about henna. THEN, it stopped adhering to the greys. No point in that, then.

Henna adhered to my greys immediately, just as well as they did to the blonded hair. At first they were all orange, and after these five applications both blonde dyed and greys are a nice vibrant auburn. Over the (ashy light brown) virgin roots that are pigmented, it's a little more of a muted color. But the color of henna over greys and henna over blonde dye are exactly the same. It may simply end up looking like I am growing out highlights or something, which is fine with me.

tiny_teesha
April 7th, 2008, 01:32 AM
at first my hair seemed to improve with monthly hennas, but now it seems to not like them at all. I'm stopping with the henna, ive done it a good 5 times now. I'm just going to grow it out ( i only applied it on my damaged dyed ends) I did put a henna streak in my hair though.

beledigrrl
April 16th, 2008, 05:08 PM
I henna every two weeks and alternate it with a deep conditioning treatment. I live in New Mexico where it's extremely dry and my temperamental hair definitely suffers if I don't spoil it with conditioners on a regular basis

SHELIAANN1969
April 16th, 2008, 09:09 PM
How does one do ONLY the roots??? I cant even do my OWN hair, let alone just roots.

Do you make the henna mix really watery?

I could use some tips, thanks!

Riot Crrl
April 16th, 2008, 09:30 PM
What I did was use an applicator bottle like comes in a drugstore dye box. But I got a plain empty one at Sally's for like a buck.

I had to make it fairly watery and mix it really smooth, or else the applicator tip gets clogged. Another option might be to cut off some of the tapered tip so that the hole is bigger, but I was afraid of scalp scratches or cutting hairs, and I didn't feel like sanding it down, so I just dealt with wateriness.

Then I used the tip to part hair in very narrow sections while squeezing it out, like I used to do with the drugstore dye.

Nat242
April 16th, 2008, 09:32 PM
How does one do ONLY the roots??? I cant even do my OWN hair, let alone just roots.

Do you make the henna mix really watery?

I could use some tips, thanks!

Section your hair, and put as many braids as you can in. For my ii/iii MBL hair, I do about 8 braids.

Using a brush, paint the henna onto your roots...because the hair is sectioned and in braids it's much easier to get the henna close to your scalp, and you avoid tangles!

When I do a full head henna, I still braid first, get at the roots, and then I undo the braids one by one and paint them with henna mud. I find it helps me get even coverage, good root coverage, and fewer tangles than just smooshing the mud in.


-- Natalie

lookingglass
April 16th, 2008, 09:35 PM
I love the braiding idea. I am so going to do that next time!

I henna a few times a year. I wish I could do my roots more often, but I'm just too busy to sit that long! My hair is really dark, so I don't think it matters too much...it shines red in the sun! I do my whole head about every other time (every few months). If I do it too much it is not as shiny....seems like build up.