to all henna heads...henna overnight?

[cleanbug]

Just wondering if any of you henna & if so, do you henna overnight? I have heard of this but wondered about drips & saran wrap noises in the night that might disrupt sleep. Anyone care to comment?
Thanks
Tami
http://ilovehenna.tripod.com/

[amaiaisabella]

I have never hennaed overnight, but only because my pillowcases are of a nice material and I don't want to risk staining :) It doesn't hurt the hair, though I think color release is achieved after a few hours and anything after that is just extra conditioing.

[MAO]

I have hennaed overnight 2x. First time was a bit drippy and caused a bit of a mess on my pillowcase cuz I had really thinned it out. Last time was thicker and only had a small spot. I think I wrapped with saran wrap and put one of those clear plastic caps over THAT, and then put a towel over my pillow. Of course the towel moved, par for the course, but only left a small spot on my pillowcase and it washed out alright. I did it on a Saturday night in case it bothered me or woke me up somehow. Of course it is not the most comfortable thing to sleep with, a tightly wrapped heavy head but it didn't bother my sleep too much. Nooooo problemo!

[wackyredtangles]

Last time I hennaed I did an overnight. I liked it much better. Its hard to walk around with all that mud on your head, it gets heavy!

Anyways, I wrapped my hair in seran wrap. Then I had two separate ties. I had one piece of cloth (just a scrap left over from sewing, linen) positioned at the back and tied near my forehead, and another put on my forehead and tied at the back. When I went to sleep I put an old towel over my pillows, and made sure I used old pillowcases. (I believe in having not only a plan B, but plans C - E.) I did get a few spots the pillowcases, as well as the back of my pajamas, but it was well worth it.

A good rule of thumb for hennaing is to try to avoid going near anything that you don't want to get stained. You would be amazed where the stuff can get to.

[Sokudo Ningyou]

I used to do it overnight all the time, mostly because it's a lot easier than sitting for hours with a heavy head. However, you're going to end up with a pretty dark stain, so if you want a bright red, you'll want to wash in a few hours. Overnight will darken it a lot, especially when you have dark hair to begin with.

[StarShine]

I can't make it through the whole night, but I often henna with the intent of leaving it on for 4 hours and taking a 3am sleepy shower to get it out. It isn't comfortable. I only leave it on 4 or 5 hours, 8 would be too much. I sleep on a towel and there is usually a little stain around the neck area. You have to be pretty sleepy though, I've tried to skip the shower and sleep through the night but I always end up getting up because I can't fall back asleep.

HTH

[RavennaNight]

I would love to try an overnight henna and then do my indigo when I wake up. But I have concerns for the pillows and the DH. I don't know how he'd feel about me hennaing him.

[CrystalStar]

I henna'd overnight last night! For me, I have trouble sleeping through a whole night, and did find it an extra disturbance, but it's worth it! :D

[GlassEyes]

I have before. I have a hair dye pillowcase reserved for it.

However, making the henna thick is a must. Usually I woke up to dripping on my face, and I wasn't too pleased. There were times when I made it thick enough, however, to wear comfortably.

Edit: Also, I wear a wool cap on top of the saran wrap, so that may help a bit.

[Eden Iris]

Nope. Can't imagine it, partly because I'm usually up at least once per night to deal with my kids and I'd worry about stuff slipping, but also because even in my sleep-deprived state, I can't imagine falling asleep with mud on my head.

I leave it on for four or five hours during the day, under a plastic bag and (stained) wool hat, and that gives me great color and condition.

[Henna Sooq]

I sometimes have to wake up in the night to nurse and soothe my daughter, but I usually about 90% of the time henna overnight. I am literally way too busy to henna at any other time, just about, and the mud is very heavy for me too. If a person has lots of hair and if it's thick, it's really hard nd it moves around more too.

I have no problems henna'ing overnight. It's not the drippy's that ever get to us or happen for us, but it's the crumbles that sometimes come in the bed. We use a Burt's Bee shower cap. I found it a good, tight quality. I throw a towel on the pillow case just in case and both me and hubby do it this way, and he has it in his beard too. Mind you, he makes more of a mess then I ever do, but it all depends on each person, and if it bothers them at night or not.

But overall the results are really nice. It gives it a lot of time to sit, and you don't even have to think about it. Wake up, wash and go :) Easiest way for me.

[Pierre]

I always henna overnight. I mix enough to cover my roots (30 g IIRR, half of which is henna). I had stray drips the first few times, but I was using too much then.

[RedStripe]

I sometimes find that if I leave my henna on for more than a few couple of hours, my scalp starts to itch, so personally I would not want to henna overnight. I thought it might be due to the lemon juice, but after seeing many people here say they don't add any acidic ingredient at all, I mixed mine with just water last time (worked fine, by the way), and I did get some itching.

[Henna Sooq]

Redstripe, I was just about to ask you about your lemon juice addition. Seems like henna just itchs for you. Maybe too drying...ever add any hair oil or conditioner to your mix?

[cleanbug]

Thanks for all your replies. I am sitting here with henna...put it on at 2pm & will wash out at 6pm. I was going to henna overnight but finished up work just early enough to get the henna on by 2. I figured if I can wash it out by 6, then I can still go out with the kids in the evening w/o my wool cap!
Next month, I think I will try overnight. I have so much grey that I have an oppertunity about every 3.5 weeks!
Thanks
Tami

[Henna Sooq]

Tami, you're hair has always been so gorgeous. As long as I have known you! Hope you and the kids and fam have a good evening

welcome!

[khyricat]

I have hennaed overnight once.. did NOT sleep well.. so never did it again.. I henna in a polarfleece cap, similar to teh ones I sleep in when its cold out, with sarana dn a shower cap underneath. I put a towel betwen me and the pillow.. but I got the chills and couldn't get rid of them all night somehow.. I don't get drips at all though.. paste is thick enough, and add the small amount..

[chickpea]

I tried keeping henna on overnight, but slept very poorly so I would not do this again. I'm a restless sleeper as it is, and having 10 lbs of henna mud on my head does not make for a good night's sleep.

I prefer to apply henna early in the morning and leave it on anywhere from 6-8 hours. This means not leaving the house (unless I want the odd stares) but sometimes staying home all day and relaxing is just what I need. ;)

[fishwich]

I only ever leave my henna on for an hour, so overnight has never entered into the equation. The stain I get from an hour is plenty strong--is it really common to leave it on for 6-8 at a time?

[MadHatter]

I hennaed overnight once, and even though I took measures to prevent leaking and staining the pillow, it still happened.
But since I want to keep my color light, I only leave henna on for an hour.

[Aisha25]

I would never be able to sleep with henna on, I wouldnt get a single wink of sleep. I do it in the early morning and leave it from 6 to 10 hours,so its like being on overnight but I can sit walk and eat and relax and stuff.

[mugglemomof3]

Both times I've henndigoed, I've done it overnight. The first time was great because it was really thick, but this weekend's one was too runny and I got it all over the place. I wrap my head in saran wrap and then a t-shirt turban and then a heating cap, and then when I lay down, I cover the top of my head with a pillow. Both times I've slept pretty well, but I woke up after about 4 or 6 hours to wash, and then it's kinda hard going back to sleep with wet hair.

I still don't know how I'd ever henna during the day. I think I would get more drips standing the whole time.

[Henna Sooq]

madhatter, your hair so just go gorgeous!!!!!

[chrissy-b]

I'm way too much of a violent sleeper to try this. I can barely sleep with a cap on without pulling it off and throwing it across the room in the middle of the night. I'd end up with the bag stuck to the ceiling and henna on my walls.

[Henna Sooq]

"violent" love it!! :)

[lambhair]

Unless I'm doing a gloss/conditioning mix, I always put the henna on and go to bed. I remove my good pillowcase and cover the pillow with an old black tee shirt. I wind my hair into a big bun on the top of my head, wrap in plastic wrap, cover that with a shower cap and wrap a headscarf around the whole thing. I always rub oil on the hairline and cover that with papertowels (I roll off a length that fits around my head and fold it over until its narrow, then place it on the hairline-if you can get a cotton roll like they use in salons that would be great) before I put the shower cap on. This holds the henna in and I hardly ever get drips. Sure, it looks bizarre but it works! I have tried using henna in the daytime, but my head gets too heavy with all the hair and henna mud on it and I end up with a headache.

[cleanbug]

Okay, I'm the OP & finally tried the overnight henna.

I must say, I think I'll be doing the overnight thing again! I did wake up after about 5 hrs & washed it out but went back to bed & slept a little more.
I didn't have the greatest sleep but, the color was absolutely gorgeous! I think the extra time on my head helped (5 hrs ).

For some reason, it seems that the color is oxidizing faster too....maybe just because I have a head start time-wise.

I'll definitly try this again.

[Sasha_S]

I always henna overnight - I wrap my head in cling film (several layers!) then I plonk on a thick wolly hat and go to sleep :)
Rinse off in the morning and I'm done! :D
x

[tooqute2nv]

I've only ever henna(henndigo)-ed over night. It just gets so heavy on my head otherwise, and I don't even have anywhere NEAR the length that most of these ladies have! I will say though, with my head wrapped in saran wrap, covered with a shower cap, and a towel over my pillow, I never get great sleep, but, I love the darker color I get from leaving it on longer.:D.... I also don't have the worry about "accidentally" dyeing a hubby yet! Nor worry about him running away scared seeing henna-poop on my head. :p

[Nypsy]

I henna overnight. I put a turbie twist over the saran wrap then put two towels on my bed, one on top of my pillow and one beneath it. It's a little uncomfortable to sleep, but not too much. The towels are pretty stained in the morning, but I'm a pretty restless sleeper.

[eaglefeather71]

I'm an overnighter and an all dayer. Both work ok for me and when i do it depends on what I need to get done over the weekend. If I am going to be busy but need to henna, it goes on overnight, or if I henna during the work week. If I want to sit around the house and chill all day, I henna and chill all day saturday or sunday.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

Im going to revive this super old thread because I hennaed over night last night... 13 hours... i over slept
the color is VIBRANT though... I two step, and this saves a little time, I think once I decided to quit the indigo and start henna only, this will be what i do.
it was really hard to sleep and it was super heavy and its not something to do when its cold and raining outside -- which it is right now -- so learned a lesson lol

[littlestarface]

Im going to revive this super old thread because I hennaed over night last night... 13 hours... i over slept
the color is VIBRANT though... I two step, and this saves a little time, I think once I decided to quit the indigo and start henna only, this will be what i do.
it was really hard to sleep and it was super heavy and its not something to do when its cold and raining outside -- which it is right now -- so learned a lesson lol

Lol yea it's better to do in summer time.

[lapushka]

I always used boxed henna and left it in for 30 min. after leaving it on for longer (a few hours) and not noticing a difference in color uptake. Maybe do a strand test next time, to see if it is actually worth it leaving it on for longer, hopefully saves you a sleepless night. ;)

[Obsidian]

Glad I never have to do this 1 hour is usually enough for me, maybe 1.5 on the stubborn roots in back.

[gracenotes]

I used to henna overnight (roots only). I didn't have much trouble with dripping, but I put the henna on dry hair and was only doing my roots, so maybe that decreased the drippiness factor. I usually wrapped two plastic bags and a towel over my head, and put a towel on my pillow. The color saturation was AWESOME and I liked that most of the waiting for the henna to soak in happened when I was sleeping. I will say, though, that it was not a super comfortable way to sleep, and not especially convenient if you share a bed with anyone. Now I henna on my day off and just leave it on for 6-8 hours.

[samanthaa]

^ my routine was the same as yours, gracenotes. I only overnight'ed a couple of times (my henna quickly got too dark and now I dislike it--learned my lesson the hard way), but I loved that I could just go to bed, wake up, and be done with it. But, yeah, I didn't get the most sound sleep on those nights. I'd normally wrap my cling-wrapped/plastic-bag-wrapped head in a tee shirt (thinner than a towel, so more comfortable for sleeping) and put a towel over the pillow.

[ephemeri]

Oh my goodness, I can hardly tolerate keeping henna on for 4 hours, sometimes I only make it to 3! I get really uncomfortable and anxious after awhile with my head all wrapped up, plus my ears start to hurt. And then the drips....oh the drips. I have tried overnight henna before, a few months ago, and I barely slept. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. But kudos to those who can do it! :o

[WineMom13]

I'm normally an overnighter. I saran wrap, then use a plastic grocery bag, sometimes a scarf, and put a thick towel over my pillow. I normally also keep my mix fairly thick to help with drips and do either a whole head application or my roots and ends. Tonight however I am strongly considering washing it out early, 3 hours in and it is driving me crazy.

[Priska]

This video from hennaguys seems to show that overnight hennaing gives deeper dye results: https://youtube.com/shorts/olV8uaayoGs?si=B0ApaO5v3ZZol3xV

(I didn't find any new thread about this topic where to add this link...)