little_cherry
December 12th, 2010, 10:17 PM
Yes...Indeed. Around this time last year, I joined LHC. It has been a very interesting experience trying to find out what's best for my hair. About a year prior to joining LHC, I decided to try henna. With my limited knowledge but massive enthusiasm, I hopped off to the health food store and picked up a box (gasp) of 'henne' henna in Mahogany. Little did I know that this particular brand of henna was loaded with Sodium Picramate! Here's a picture of my hair after that metallic salt laden henna, taken December 25th 2008...(pw for photobucket is longhair1)
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/25thdecember2008compoundhenna.jpg
Scary, huh? Even though my hair had been cut with layers only a week prior, that compound henna turned my hair into something only farm animals would love. :eyebrows:
At this point, I switched to sulfate free shampooing, but still used a coney conditioner.
Enter Lush henna.
One day I was happily strolling through the shopping center when a smell captivated my senses. Little did I know, I was actually about 3 stores away from the source! When I finally reached the store, the smell almost knocked me over. In the far corner, I noticed a little 5 letter word: Henna. I rushed over and checked out the ingredients; NO METALLIC SALTS!! NO PPD! I was sold and purchased a bar of rouge as well as a few other yummies like some reincarnate shampoo bar and jungle conditioner.
Here's my hair after an application of the rouge (11 January, 2009).
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/11jan2009lushhenna.jpg
As you can see, my hair is in much better condition in the second photo. I ended up using lush hennas for a while. I loved the condition it left my hair in, but I was greedy-- I wanted a much more saturated colour.
This is where my love of BAQ henna and making my own products started. I moved away from the lush products because of the unnecessary ingredients that were irritating my scalp.
At this point, my hair was cut into an assymmetric cut. In February, I evened out the cut and was around collarbone-shoulder length. My laptops died and I never got around to getting a caddy for the hard drives, so these pictures aren't available.
I purchased some Jamila henna from Henna Sooq around the same time I joined LHC...I studied the henna Sooq webpage, among other henna pages and settled on Jamila because of my silvers. I fell in love with it straight away. The powder was so smooth and easy to mix. I also hennaed my nails, too. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my nails and the henna has since grown out. At the time, I was also washing my hair with diluted baking soda and a dilute ACV rinse. My hair loved these, but I was so curious to give CO a try...off to the store I went. Suave was my friend for many months!
After reading the Henna Sooq website again, I fell in love with another henna...Yemeni. Let me just say, I really love Yemeni. It gives me a fantastic cherry colour. I have been using Yemeni for quite a few months now...
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/yemeni.jpg
I did experiment using different 'cones and sulfates, but in the end my hair was just not happy with them.
About a month ago, I went crazy and thought "Why not try more types of henna?" So I did :cheese:. So far, I've tried Moroccan, Yemeni, Jamila and Rajasthani. All are wonderful. I recently did a blend of all these hennas.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/IMG_6878.jpg?t=1292216565
As you can see, it is slightly darker, which I don't mind. I've been toying with trying honey lightening..
Recently, I switched to Indian herb washing and I think I've found something that my budget, the environment and my hair love. I love to make my own deep treatments, conditioners and hair oil blends. At the moment, I'm working on a pumpkin conditioner and a choco-banana conditioner using only natural ingredients. My current routine is in my profile.
I'm am pretty pleased with my growth and condition. I do have quarrels with my hair, but that is due to the water being loaded with calcium and magnesium. I rectify that by doing a club soda soak once a month (thanks, Ktani! and rinsing my hair with ACV. ).
Here's my growth timeline:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/hairgrowthMarch-December2010.jpg
A recent length shot.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/IMG_7023.jpg
To that day, I have lost over 50lbs, too.
My photobucket link (http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16).
I'd like to thank LHC and Henna Sooq! :)
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/25thdecember2008compoundhenna.jpg
Scary, huh? Even though my hair had been cut with layers only a week prior, that compound henna turned my hair into something only farm animals would love. :eyebrows:
At this point, I switched to sulfate free shampooing, but still used a coney conditioner.
Enter Lush henna.
One day I was happily strolling through the shopping center when a smell captivated my senses. Little did I know, I was actually about 3 stores away from the source! When I finally reached the store, the smell almost knocked me over. In the far corner, I noticed a little 5 letter word: Henna. I rushed over and checked out the ingredients; NO METALLIC SALTS!! NO PPD! I was sold and purchased a bar of rouge as well as a few other yummies like some reincarnate shampoo bar and jungle conditioner.
Here's my hair after an application of the rouge (11 January, 2009).
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/11jan2009lushhenna.jpg
As you can see, my hair is in much better condition in the second photo. I ended up using lush hennas for a while. I loved the condition it left my hair in, but I was greedy-- I wanted a much more saturated colour.
This is where my love of BAQ henna and making my own products started. I moved away from the lush products because of the unnecessary ingredients that were irritating my scalp.
At this point, my hair was cut into an assymmetric cut. In February, I evened out the cut and was around collarbone-shoulder length. My laptops died and I never got around to getting a caddy for the hard drives, so these pictures aren't available.
I purchased some Jamila henna from Henna Sooq around the same time I joined LHC...I studied the henna Sooq webpage, among other henna pages and settled on Jamila because of my silvers. I fell in love with it straight away. The powder was so smooth and easy to mix. I also hennaed my nails, too. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my nails and the henna has since grown out. At the time, I was also washing my hair with diluted baking soda and a dilute ACV rinse. My hair loved these, but I was so curious to give CO a try...off to the store I went. Suave was my friend for many months!
After reading the Henna Sooq website again, I fell in love with another henna...Yemeni. Let me just say, I really love Yemeni. It gives me a fantastic cherry colour. I have been using Yemeni for quite a few months now...
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/yemeni.jpg
I did experiment using different 'cones and sulfates, but in the end my hair was just not happy with them.
About a month ago, I went crazy and thought "Why not try more types of henna?" So I did :cheese:. So far, I've tried Moroccan, Yemeni, Jamila and Rajasthani. All are wonderful. I recently did a blend of all these hennas.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/IMG_6878.jpg?t=1292216565
As you can see, it is slightly darker, which I don't mind. I've been toying with trying honey lightening..
Recently, I switched to Indian herb washing and I think I've found something that my budget, the environment and my hair love. I love to make my own deep treatments, conditioners and hair oil blends. At the moment, I'm working on a pumpkin conditioner and a choco-banana conditioner using only natural ingredients. My current routine is in my profile.
I'm am pretty pleased with my growth and condition. I do have quarrels with my hair, but that is due to the water being loaded with calcium and magnesium. I rectify that by doing a club soda soak once a month (thanks, Ktani! and rinsing my hair with ACV. ).
Here's my growth timeline:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/hairgrowthMarch-December2010.jpg
A recent length shot.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/IMG_7023.jpg
To that day, I have lost over 50lbs, too.
My photobucket link (http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/nessie1982/The%20long%20hair%20journey/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16).
I'd like to thank LHC and Henna Sooq! :)