Henna Question...

[faithsdaisy421]

So, my DH proved to me today that he actually does listen to me when I talk :joy:... lol. I have been considering using henna on my hair, knowing that to do this I will need to research and think about what I am doing. At the moment henna feels like a big, long term commitment. Anyway, he was at a store today (one of those places that sells a bit of everything from ti-dyed shirts to candles to jewelry. Anyway, he picked me up this huge bag of henna labeled "henna for hair". I have no idea what all is in that bag, or if it is safe to use or anything. Also, I thought henna came in a range of colors and this bag does not have any color information on it at all. Aside from taking a bit of hair and doing a strand test (I have heard of doing that on shed hair... is that okay?), and reading up on the henna thread, what else should I think about with this unknown henna?

He really surprised me with this little bag of hair stuff :). And, it was only $7.50 so it is not like he broke that bank. I just don't know what to do next...

Thanks all!

[emelnd]

Henna does not come in a range of colors... It is orangish red. It should be kind of a green /brown powder that smells a bit like hay.

If it claims to be any other color, there is stuff mixed in it. Which is what you should be careful about.

A strand test is a very good idea...

Is your hair not dyed at all? If so, you can do a test. After the strands you get from the hairbrush are dyed with henna, you can test by putting it in an ammonia + peroxide solution I read. If anything strange happens there might be harmful metals mixed in it. I don't know the details about this, maybe someone else can help you. I did this once, myself.

Edit: After that, a skin test is not a bad idea either.

[Auburn_locks]

emelnd is right - henna ONLY comes in red (orangey-red like she said). You can mix it with other things such as cassia to make it more orange (basically diluting the henna to make the stain less intensely red) or indigo to make it from brown to black. SOME boxed henna is 'safe' and has varying amounts of these or other indian herbs but some have chemicals and even metals added to them. These can really damage your hair and make bleaching or even colouring afterwards impossible as you may get a greenish result.

I think strand testing on shed haid is a very good idea and if you're at all not sure then don't use it! Henna is perminent so if you don't like it, there's very little you can do about it. Even less if it has metallic nasties in it.

It's great to hear that DH listens to you though - that is surely worth the $7.50 by itself! :p

P.s. henna smells kind of like wet-hay so open it and give it a sniff. If it smells like that (especially when mixed with water or tea) then it is probably good henna. It MAY have a lower dye content than BAQ (body are quality) henna so may give you less of a stain but should still work.

Have fun experimenting :cheer:

[swearnsue]

If there is anything else on the bag like name of the company, distributor, item or stock number or country of origin that you can google? You could sneak back to the store and ask the manager about where it came from. But the previous suggestions are the best.

[Mesmerise]

I'm also wondering if there's a brand name on the bag. If not, I'd give the shop it was bought from a call to see if they could give me more information.

It's possibly 100% pure henna and perfectly okay for your hair, but it's good to find out for sure!

Also, the others are right, henna only has one colour, although some brands/strains seem to have slightly different colouring properties (some make hair darker red quicker etc.) My hair has totally lost the orangish look it had when I first hennaed (which is a pity cause I liked it :P).

[faithsdaisy421]

Thanks guys... I'll look at the bag a bit more closely when I get home and fill you in on what it says!

[julierockhead]

http://www.hennaforhair.com/

Read all of this before you henna!