Help with First-time Henna!

[dolcevita]

So I just received my Punjabi Prime dark brunette bundle from mehandi.com after reading positive reviews on here about the site and the quality of the henna (link to what I bought is here: http://www.mehandi.com/shop/brunette/index.html)

I have very very fine hair, and not a lot of it so I have a lot of wispies, frizz, and my hair looks "dry" because of the frizz (doesn't have that nice gloss). (by the way, my hair looked abnormally nice in my signature... that's really a once-in-a-blue-moon plus the sunlight helped kinda thing!)

A friend told me that if you do henna on hair that is not properly moisturized it just makes it worse? Because then until the henna grows out you can't penetrate to the hair itself to give it moisture... Can someone confirm this?

Also, this is what I have:
Dark Brunette Mehandi Bundle: 100g Punjabi Prime Body Art Quality Henna, 200g indigo, 25g amla, 2 nitrile gloves

So what are your recommendations for mixing and how long to leave it on, etc for volume and shine? I am just intimidated by the different things that I read on this forums that are mixed in... and I want to do it right for my hair type!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOO EXCITED!! :cheese:

[marialena]

So I just received my Punjabi Prime dark brunette bundle from mehandi.com after reading positive reviews on here about the site and the quality of the henna (link to what I bought is here: http://www.mehandi.com/shop/brunette/index.html)

I have very very fine hair, and not a lot of it so I have a lot of wispies, frizz, and my hair looks "dry" because of the frizz (doesn't have that nice gloss). (by the way, my hair looked abnormally nice in my signature... that's really a once-in-a-blue-moon plus the sunlight helped kinda thing!)

A friend told me that if you do henna on hair that is not properly moisturized it just makes it worse? Because then until the henna grows out you can't penetrate to the hair itself to give it moisture... Can someone confirm this?

Also, this is what I have:
Dark Brunette Mehandi Bundle: 100g Punjabi Prime Body Art Quality Henna, 200g indigo, 25g amla, 2 nitrile gloves

So what are your recommendations for mixing and how long to leave it on, etc for volume and shine? I am just intimidated by the different things that I read on this forums that are mixed in... and I want to do it right for my hair type!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOO EXCITED!! :cheese:


Hi!
The thing that your friend told you is just no true. Henna moisturizes by itself hair, so even if your hair are dry they will look better after dye them.

Now.. about the dyes that you have. Everything depends on what color you would like to have.
The package, as I see, has all the ingredients that are needed to make your hair in a shade of dark brown. ( the final color depends of course to you natural hair color.)
If you want to dye your hair in more warm color you must use more henna, if you want to make them darker you must use more indigo.

Whatever is your decision you have to mix well the dyes with warm water in order to make them look like cream ( or yogurt) and then apply them on your hair from the back to the front. ( don't try the reverse it will not work).Perhaps, and by the time that is your first time, it would be good to have some help from a friend because is a little difficult to apply alone your henna mix in your back hair roots.

There are other ways to mix henna too. Some ladies add vinegar to their mix, some other mix henna with water and leave it for many hours until henna releases the color.

I personally don't do that. I use boiled water and as soon as my mix gets coolerr I apply it on my hair.

Now as for the application of the dye. Other women just mix all dyes together and then apply them on their hair. Other, as far as I know, they first apply the henna mixed with amla and then indigo ( two applications with any time those need to be done.)

I have very thin hair too and for getting a reach red color ( have in mind that I use only red henna) I leave henna on my head for an hour perhaps an hour and a half.

Have in mind that the finer is your hair the less time is needed otherwise the color will be very bright.
( but if you prefer it brighter leave the mix longer )
For first time I wouldn't leave it very long in order not to get shocked then from the results. :)

Generally is very easy to use your henna dye but if you have any other queries don't hesitate to ask again.

I wish you to have the results that you want. :cheese:

[dolcevita]

Thanks for your help, Marialena!!

Can anyone else weigh in on whether you can go straight from mixing to application without waiting? The instructions that came with the henna I have say to wait about 12 hours... Just strange that not waiting at all would apparently produce the same results.

Also, leaving it on longer... would it make my hair more BLACK or more RED? Black I suppose right? Because there is more indigo than henna in my mix?

One more question, haha, I keep hearing all this talk about Cassia, and I have Amla instead... Will this make a difference?

I'm excited about this!!!!!! I can't wait to see the results on my hair!!!

[vkb247]

I just did my henna for the first time so I am not an expert but I did plenty of reading up about it before I took the plunge!

I didn't find the henna to be drying at all but I also added much more water than most people do - it was thick but it wasn't a paste. I mixed 210 grams of henna with 700 grams of liquid (I was doing two heads).

I mixed with water and a some ACV - about 4 tbsp per 12 ounces of water.

I suggest leaving it on your hair for at least 4 hours. If you mix all of that together than the longer you leave the browner your hair will get. Just the henna would be redder. The amla makes it darker but in order to get black you have to do the henna first and then the indigo.

HTH

[AuntyClaus]

I've only done cassia/henna a couple times, but wanted to make sure you know that you can't mix indigo in then let it wait 12 hours, right? Indigo has an immediate dye release and very fast demise.

[Sokudo Ningyou]

To my understanding, different henna crops have different release times. Some are longer than others. You can mix up the henna, leave it in a warm place, then scrap a layer off the top to see if it has turned green; when that happens, you can use it. Or do the skin dab test: dab your skin, leave it for a little while, wipe it off, and see if it stains.

Indigo needs to be mixed and used immediately, so if you're using it, let the henna sit, then, right before you dye your hair, mix up the indigo and liquid, then do what you want.

Also, the longer you let it sit on your hair, the darker it gets. And, I believe, after four hours, you've gotten all the colour you're going to get.

It shouldn't dry your hair unless you use an acid liquid to mix the henna up with; warm water should work just fine. If in doubt, get some bottled water from the store. And using gobs of conditioner to get the henna out at the end tends to help your hair as well.