Putting henna in shampoo

[Gothic Lolita]

Has anyone tried putting a little amount of henna into shampoo? Guhl has a series which contains henna, and I've heard that it gives nice reddish highlights.
I wonder if anyone experienced this from henna in shampoo. If yes, does it build up with time? Does it dry out the hair and scalp?

It would be a nice way to give a soft color fresh up between henna glossing.

[Riot Crrl]

I tried to look up the ingredients but sadly I can't speak Dutch or German.

Products like shampoo and conditioner that I have seen which contain henna, it's an extract, so that the product isn't all sludgy.

It sounds kind of impractical to me to use actual henna in this way. Shampoo's not on very long, and the dust is still probably about as hard to rinse out as it ever was.

[shellblue1]

I have some Henna and Placenta by Hask, of course it isn't a shampoo. It's a treatment and it uses henna extract. You might try that? I know of Shakai and Nature's Gate shampoos with henna in them (it is probably the extract too and might not contain very much.) Like Riot Crrl said, mixing real henna into shampoo would very hard to rinse out of your hair.

[lilalong]

I had a look at the ingredients list. It only gave Lawsonia Inermis as an ingredient. There is another Henna shampoo from Sante, there the ingredient list says: Henna extract, I believe.

I wonder what would happen if you somehow only put the "henna water" ( I don't know how to express this correctly) into the shampoo. Like, put Henna in a tea bag, tea bag in a cup of warm water, wait (several hours?), take out tea bag, squeeze it a bit. The result should be red water, no? Put this into shampoo or, even better idea, conditioner.
Would it stain?
Is it worth a try?

Would it keep for a while? Maybe you could put the conditioner in the fridge? Does it harm the other ingredients to be frozen?

Guesses, anyone?

[DotDotDot]

I have some Henna and Placenta by Hask, of course it isn't a shampoo. It's a treatment and it uses henna extract. You might try that? I know of Shakai and Nature's Gate shampoos with henna in them (it is probably the extract too and might not contain very much.) Like Riot Crrl said, mixing real henna into shampoo would very hard to rinse out of your hair.

I don't know about the other two, but henna 'n' placenta doesn't change hair color.

[Nat242]

You're right, Dot Dot Dot, I'm pretty sure the "henna" in henna 'n' placenta is cassia, or "neutral henna".

-- Natalie

[Riot Crrl]

I had a look at the ingredients list. It only gave Lawsonia Inermis as an ingredient. There is another Henna shampoo from Sante, there the ingredient list says: Henna extract, I believe.

I wonder what would happen if you somehow only put the "henna water" ( I don't know how to express this correctly) into the shampoo. Like, put Henna in a tea bag, tea bag in a cup of warm water, wait (several hours?), take out tea bag, squeeze it a bit. The result should be red water, no? Put this into shampoo or, even better idea, conditioner.
Would it stain?
Is it worth a try?

Would it keep for a while? Maybe you could put the conditioner in the fridge? Does it harm the other ingredients to be frozen?

Guesses, anyone?

You can get the henna water by using part of the directions in the second recipe here (http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/annsophie/). However, I'm sure it doesn't keep well at room temperature for very long. Even if it keeps the same as regular moistened henna (which I'm not sure it would) that's only days in the fridge and any longer would have to be frozen.

Another factor is that shampoo is just not on the hair long, and when I used to use it I barely ever even shampooed my whole hair, just the roots. I did shampoo all my hair only rarely, and I always hated to. I suspect many with long hair may be similar.

It could be added to conditioner, but this seems a lot more trouble to me than just making a normal conditioner henna gloss.

[Finoriel]

If you add henna into regular brand shampoo (or add it to other treatments) just remember: if it is strong enough to colour your hair, it will colour your skin-hands-fingernails as well and you will need to develop a special way to use it :wink: or live with orange skin and nails.
It also should be a very very gentle and/or diluted shampoo, as it will dry out your hair when left on for a more extended time frame than you normally would do for just shampooing. But would be needed to give you a noticeable colour change.
I´m not sure about how the henna will oxidise while it is in the shampoo, to be sure it still colours it would be safest to only make one batch for using soon (or freeze it) and not let it oxidise for a longer time in the bottle in a warm bathroom. Could go off, too.

[Gothic Lolita]

I think I won't be trying this experiment. Thanks, Finoriel, for reminding me that my hands and face would also be colored. And I be feeling really stupid if I was standing in the shower with a pair of gloves on.

[Finoriel]

:wink: well there is nothing wrong with looking a bit stupid from time to time, at least when the result is worth the effort. Just wanted to mention this side effect, so you can be prepared. I think the stain would fade on the skin within some days, nails could take longer though.

Actually you can really colour your nails with henna :p but depending on henna, nail thickness and how often you redid your nails it can become any colour from plague-pale orange to deep and dark red after several applications. There has been a whole thread for this on the old boards :)

[Fireweed]

I think Lush had a shampoo bar that contained henna. I am not sure if they still make it or not.

[Kirin]

Considering henna's quick demise when left out, this wouldn't be practical. At least, not from a coloring standpoint.

[Elettaria]

I believe that henna's a fairly commono ingredient in shampoos and conditioners, and it doesn't change the colour when it's in that form, just adds conditioning benefits. My conditioner (Mistry's Ginseng Herbal) contains henna (yes, lawsonia inermis, as opposed to cassia) and it makes no difference to my hair colour, though it does fabulous things as a conditioner.

[Riot Crrl]

I believe that henna's a fairly commono ingredient in shampoos and conditioners, and it doesn't change the colour when it's in that form, just adds conditioning benefits. My conditioner (Mistry's Ginseng Herbal) contains henna (yes, lawsonia inermis, as opposed to cassia) and it makes no difference to my hair colour, though it does fabulous things as a conditioner.

The ingredients says that's an extract too, like Henna and Placenta says. I don't know what the extraction process is, but it seems to remove both the grit and the dying power.

It's too bad we don't know how to make that extract at home out of henna, I bet a lot of people would want to use it straight up.

[Alley Cat]

I don't henna anymore but I don't see how that would work as when you shampoo your hair you are just putting it on and washing it straight off , henna takes some time to dye your hair. :shrug: