Can I skip the gloves if I don't wait for dye release?

[Stelmaria]

I am so clumsy with even the thinnest latex gloves on. I'm not able to mush the henna into my hair because I can't feel it, and I think I could get better coverage if I could feel what I was doing. Here's my thought: if I mix the henna and immediately put it in my hair, would I get stained hands and nails if I was done within 20-30 minutes? I plan to sleep in the henna so the dye could release overnight.

[SimplyLonghair]

You could use a syringe to put it on and that would help keep it off of your hands. I have done a henna with no gloves, I just painted my nails and coated my hands with vasoline. Not the best I know but it did work. I haven't tried putting it on before dye release, but it might work, but then it might not get release either. I did have that happen once, but I don't remember why it didn't.

[Aer]

Hi, I'm new. I'm not sure on this, but I heard from a few sources that putting henna in your hair before dye release can do a spotty job, but I have not seen this for my self. My husband said the same thing, and skipped the gloves (the dye had already released), when we hennaed my hair his hands were orange for a week! You can go to Henna For Hair, a site about henna, and jump to their forum page, and post a new topic as a guest, which most people use to ask henna questions, and usually people get pretty correct answers from those who frequent that site. Good Luck!:panda:

[Nevermore]

Have you tried nitrile gloves? They're grippier and thinner than latex, so they might work better for you. They tend to be black or purple and you can buy them with the other gloves in the pharmacy section of most stores. I wouldn't risk orange hands or weird dye release in my hair personally.

[Stelmaria]

Thanks for the replies! I wondered whether vaseline would work, but I'm afraid it would rub off as I worked the henna through the hair. A syringe would work well if I were just doing roots but I want to do full length applications each time. I'm not even sure the gloves I have are latex, but I find donning gloves is the most annoying part of the henna application process. I just hate gloves! I figured there must be others like me who don't like gloves and have tried to omit them.

[SimplyLonghair]

Thanks for the replies! I wondered whether vaseline would work, but I'm afraid it would rub off as I worked the henna through the hair. A syringe would work well if I were just doing roots but I want to do full length applications each time. I'm not even sure the gloves I have are latex, but I find donning gloves is the most annoying part of the henna application process. I just hate gloves! I figured there must be others like me who don't like gloves and have tried to omit them.
There used to be something that you could buy that was "gloves in a jar" or something like that, it was for painters and that might work, but I don't even know if they make it any more. It was a "cone" of some kind.

[Aisha25]

I dont use gloves but I dont mind the orange stain for a couple of days:D Gloves for me just get in the way and I do a 100 times better job without them;)

[Anje]

Sometimes dye releases pretty fast. You could still end up with orange hands if you try to apply the mix right away.

My suggestion -- if your henna is a noticeably different temperature from your skin, and a little runny, it's pretty easy to smush it down to your roots, and you can feel by the temperature change on your scalp that the area's pretty well coated. Getting length is a bit more tricky, but again, if you have it a bit on the drippy side, it's pretty easy to get the hair well-coated.

[Isilme]

henna will not get spotty if you don't wait for dye release. If you want the dye release to happen quick, mix it with warm/lukewarm water.
But if you do roots only you can put the henna in an old bottle and make lots of small parts as you go. Then get someone who can wear gloves to do the back of your head for you :D