Cassia obovata n00b

[amantha]

So tomorrow I'm going to use cassia obovata for the first time on my hair. My hair has been dry lately with lots of split ends/breakage and I'm hoping this well help make it healthier. Since I've never done this before, I was wondering if anyone had any tips? I bought a 500 gram bag....how much powder should I use to coat all of my hair? (my hair goes to the middle of my back...I'm guessing it's around 24" long). I was planning on making sure I shampoo/condition my hair in the morning but I'm not going to apply any styling products (I like to use silicones) and use a sulfate/silicone free shampoo and conditioner to wash it out at the end. Is this ok? Any other advice would be much appreciated. :) Thanks!

[EmiliaF]

Hey :)

My hair is at 38'' right now and I always use 100g cassia with 350 ml (11,8 oz) hot water. Some people say you need much more for hair this length, but for me this is always enough.
I would also not use any product before the cassia treatment. :)

[amantha]

Awesome! Thanks for the advice! :)

[Audrey Horne]

I used 100g and no other products before applying cassia and nothing after, I just washed it off with water. Then applied a little of oil to my ends. Cassia can be drying though. I think you could mix the paste with a conditioner if your hair is very dry. Or use some conditioner on your length after getting rid of cassia. You could also oil your hair before a cassia treatment but then you might lose any golden hue, I think. You could also add a few drops of EVOO to your mix.

[GRU]

Applying the goop with a color applicator bottle (or condiment bottle) with the tip snipped off a little larger is MUCH less messy than globbing it on with your hands. If you can see your mirror from the tub/shower, you might want to stand in the tub to apply the first time (the more you do it, the less mess you'll make... the first time has a huge learning curve!).

Terrycloth sweatbands work great for preventing drips.

Using two shower caps (or disposable treatment caps) will give you better coverage -- the top one can go on "horizontally" and the back one can go on "vertically".

Have a shirt that buttons up the front to put on afterwards -- your head will be too big to fit through a pull-over shirt's neck opening.

Do a mermaid soak afterwards!

I resisted this for a year, thinking it wouldn't make much of a difference, it would make a big mess, etc. Was I ever wrong! I can get my hair cleaner with 2-3 mermaid soaks (10 minutes) than I can with 30-45 minutes (and a whole bottle of conditioner) of CO-washing in the shower. And it rinses right down the drain, no big mess to clean up.

[AlexiaBlue]

Ah, a "mermaid soak". That sounds so lovely. :) I assume that's reclining in the bathtub and letting your hair hang back in the water?

[GRU]

Ah, a "mermaid soak". That sounds so lovely. :) I assume that's reclining in the bathtub and letting your hair hang back in the water?

That's it exactly! I fill the tub so that the water comes up just shy of my eyes when lying on my back, then I just relax and occasionally manipulate my hair to get the grit to rinse off. I'll usually drain that water, then refill and rinse twice more in the same way.

[Ashenputtel]

I tried the mermaid soak on gru's advice and it work great.

I apply it with my hands when I did it and I did a HUGE mess. Maybe you can try the bottle.

I found that mixing it with conditionner was much easier to apply. Applying it on dirty a bit greasy hair worked great and I didn't dry my hair.

I think it's a good idea to not use sulfates to wash it, you might remove too much of it.

[amantha]

I used 100g and no other products before applying cassia and nothing after, I just washed it off with water. Then applied a little of oil to my ends. Cassia can be drying though. I think you could mix the paste with a conditioner if your hair is very dry. Or use some conditioner on your length after getting rid of cassia. You could also oil your hair before a cassia treatment but then you might lose any golden hue, I think. You could also add a few drops of EVOO to your mix.

Oh no! I don't want a golden hue. I picked cassia obovata because I heard it did not color your hair at all (my hair is dark brown and hasn't been dyed at all). Will it leave my hair with a golden tint? :(

As for applying with a bottle, I was going to have my mom apply it for me since it's my first time using it. If I'm doing it myself I'll probably try the bottle in the future. Where can I find one? I've looked for them before when I used to dye my hair and haven't found them in drug stores.

For today, we were going to use disposable gloves to apply it and wrap my head in saran wrap and let it soak for an hour. Then I'll probably wash it out in the sink or something. She used to henna her hair a lot when she was younger and she said that's what she always did. Is this a bad idea?

Also, why would cassia dry out your hair? Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to this board/taking good care of my hair. I'm really appreciative of all the tips! :)

[GRU]

If your hair is already dark, then the color won't show up. It doesn't lighten, only add color, and a light gold on top of brown will still just be brown.

Sally's sells color applicator bottles (http://www.sallybeauty.com/Color-Applicator-Bottle/SBS-265100,default,pd.html) pretty cheaply -- you can also get a ketchup or mustard bottle at Walmart or similar.

Washing it out in the sink sounds like a recipe for visiting a chiropractor. You're going to want to soak in the tub or at least wash in the shower, unless you're a contortionist.

Incomplete rinsing can make your hair feel dry afterward, as can shampooing ten times with a sulfate shampoo.

[amantha]

Is it really hard to wash out? Her kitchen sink is higher up than most kitchen sinks and she has one of those spray hose faucets. So I didn't think washing it in there (bent forward) would be that bad. But if it's something that takes forever to rinse out I'll probably just hop in the shower.

[GRU]

Is it really hard to wash out? Her kitchen sink is higher up than most kitchen sinks and she has one of those spray hose faucets. So I didn't think washing it in there (bent forward) would be that bad. But if it's something that takes forever to rinse out I'll probably just hop in the shower.

If you have super-slippery hair, it might be okay. Mine is curly and coarse, and it would take me a month of Sundays to rinse it out in a sink.

[amantha]

Mine is medium and a little wavy with some frizz. I'll just hop in the shower to make sure. Thanks for all your help! :)

[GRU]

You're welcome!

And if you notice it's hard to come out, just soak in the tub and you'll find it comes out even more easily.

[amantha]

Well I did the cassia treatment last night. You guys were right about the bottle. It was pretty messy having my mom apply it by hand. So I have to remember to get a bottle for next time. And it was pretty hard to rinse out too. It kind of encrusted in my hair after I waited an hour even though I had a cap on my head. I ended having to shampoo my hair twice (with sulfate/silicone free shampoo) to get all the gritty bits out....and that after rinsing it out with water for a good 10-15 mins. And my ends felt dry so I left my conditioner on longer.

I don't know if I can tell if the cassia did much of anything. My hair does feel thicker, but I don't know if that's because the cassia also made my ends dry so now it's poofy or because it filled in whatever damaged areas I had. Is it something you have to do multiple times every week or so to notice a difference in your hair?

I did like how it smelled though. It smelled like fresh hay. :) Reminded me of being out in a field on a fresh spring day.