Question About Using Conditioners Over Henna

[daffodil7]

I have been thinking of using henna and have read that henna coats the hair shaft in order to condition, strengthen and smooth it. I was wondering though, since henna coats the hair shaft, will it block out additional moisturizer and deep conditioners that I use in between henna treatments?

I am planning to do a henna gloss (henna, cheapie conditioner, olive oil) instead of a regular henna treatment in order to make clean up easier and the process simpler, so I know that those oils and moisture will be locked in with the henna gloss treatment, but between that henna gloss and the next one I do, will I be able to cowash and add deep moisture to my hair?

[Littlewing13]

No henna makes your hair more conditioned! As far as I am aware it is colour pigment that coats the hair. Moisture can absolutely get in afterwards. It will close the hair shaft, but that just makes the hair less porous (ie moisture cant escape the hair & wont dry out as easily).

I did my first gloss a couple weeks ago. It will give you a reddish tint though mines faded already (I mixed mine weak).

I did 1 tsp henna, with chamomile tea to make a paste. Let it sit for a while, then add conditioner. Put it all through your hair like a home colour (thin sections make it easier not to miss bits, however as its a gloss it shouldn't matter too much). I left mine on for 30min, but I could've left it longer (I liked the copper shine, it was way too subtle on me). You will need to shampoo well or you will be combing out mud! And voila! Healthy, shiny, glossy hair. I found mine had lots more volume too & just sat perfectly.

Best to try little by little as henna can be permanent. Even glosses can build up.

Hope that helps!

[daffodil7]

bumping in case someone else has had a different experience.

[virgo75]

I'm going to be odd person out and say that henna did inhibit my hair's ability to absorb and maintain moisture.

I hennaed for about 3 years(2008 - 2011 or so). Initially I would henna monthly, then I got lazy and only did it when I felt like it. It was great at first- my hair felt a little thicker and stronger, plus it was super shiny! Then I found no matter what my hair would not stay moisturized. I tried clarifying, using deep treatments, CO washing, oils, butters, health food store products, totally natural product(shikakai & oil), drugstore, high end, etc.

I haven't used henna in over 6 months, maybe closer to a year(not sure but I have about 6 inches of roots). I've been treating my hair like dirt - heat etc. - and it's FINALLY absorbing and retaining moisture again!!! :cheese:

It's also tangling a lot less. I think it was tangling a lot due to buildup that happened because of the henna. No matter what I used I almost always had buildup, but I never had that problem before using henna.

I think the henna helped to close my cuticle or coated my hair so "well" that the moisture didn't penetrate or stick around. It felt strong at first, but then it started to get brittle on the ends no matter what I did. As I said, now that I'm abusing it, it seems to be doing better. lol

All that said, if you're only doing henna glosses once in a while maybe it will be fine for you? Lots of people have nothing but good experiences using henna. I wish I was one of them because there are times I still miss sitting with the glop on my head for hours and feeling like I was doing something good for my hair.... But I know I probably won't go back to it because it doesn't work well for my hair in the long run.

Best of luck in whatever you choose to do. :flower:

[daffodil7]

Thank you, Virgo. I've been reading on how henna is blocking humidity for some people, and I was starting to get scared. I want to use it to cover a few greys and strengthen my relaxed hair but I know that my hair needs moisture since it is relaxed. I don't want to risk blocking moisture outm so I'm still debating the henna thing. I was thinking that semi-permanent hair dyes would probably block moisture out too. I wish that there was something that would give me the strengthening of the henna and the gray coverage.

[virgo75]

Thank you, Virgo. I've been reading on how henna is blocking humidity for some people, and I was starting to get scared. I want to use it to cover a few greys and strengthen my relaxed hair but I know that my hair needs moisture since it is relaxed. I don't want to risk blocking moisture outm so I'm still debating the henna thing. I was thinking that semi-permanent hair dyes would probably block moisture out too. I wish that there was something that would give me the strengthening of the henna and the gray coverage.

I'm not sure what color your hair is, but I know my grays weren't fully covered by henna. My hair is naturally black and my grays would be yellow to dayglo orange until I've used full henna at least 3 times. Even then, sometimes it would be dark orange - not a good mix with black hair. :p

I used to relax my hair and use semi-permanent and permanent hair dyes. I never had the moisture blocking problems with them that I did with henna. I could use treatments and they would work just fine. It wasn't until I used henna that nothing I did would penetrate. :( I've read that henna is different from "permanent" dyes in that it binds permanently to keratin in the hair. While even "permanent" dyes can be removed, henna is much more difficult to remove.

If you're still planning on relaxing then maybe try using strengthening treatments once a week and co-wash or do a moisturizing treatment in between? Just some thoughts.

I don't like to be a "debbie downer" when it comes to henna. But it is very permanent as opposed to most hair dyes or treatments that are actually possible to remove. Often times you can't see the longterm effects of henna until several applications or over a period of time. I didn't realize I had a problem with my hennaed hair until after 6 months to a year. Even then I figured I just needed to find the right products. After going through 2 closets(literally hundreds of dollars worth) of products I realized it was the henna. I never had that problem before even with relaxer, heat, dye, etc. Honestly, I just used Pantene of all things and my hair was past waist length, silky, no breakage, soft, flowy, easy to care for. With henna and NO chemicals or heat my hair was brittle and breaking on the ends. I never had breakage before! So didn't understand why it would happen when I was taking such "good care" of my hair?!?! :confused:

But again, you may have a better experience with it. Many do. I just didn't.

Best of luck in whatever you choose to do. :flower:

[Dorothy]

Henna does cover my greys - well, it makes them red - and improves the condition of my hair. I do roots only applications to cover grey - with a twice yearly all over henna to take care of fading. I have brown hair I used to dye and always wanted red hair, so it's great for me. I haven't experienced a "sealing out" effect, perhaps because I do roots only? And I want orange/light red hair, which blends pretty well with what is still brown in my hair, and increases the natural look, since the brown ones stay brown and the grey ones turn red/orange, it's variagated.

My understanding is that Henna Lawsome molecules actually migrate into your hair shaft, and don't sit just on the surface. This is why it is nigh well impossible to bleach out. My experience is that it does fade over very long periods of time - my hair is waist, and the very bottom portions are lighter and dryer, but when I do the twice yearly all over henna, they get darker and softer.

But it is surely true that everyone's hair is different.

[daffodil7]

Thank you guys all for your responses. They are very helpful. I think henna might not be right for me.

Virgo I know exactly what you mean. I am a 3c-4c African American with black hair. I was natural for about 2 -3 years and recently and discovered that I had splits. Then further up the splits were single strand knots. So I was going to cut the damage out and cut above all of the knots on one side in the front, and became terrified that I would have to cut too much hair, so on the rest of the hair, I cut the splits and maybe an inch into the knots.

I used heat only once per year on my hair, and did styles like twist outs and braid outs. I did have some color and highlights. Highlights fell out eventually so I'm never going near bleach again, and then the color seemed to get somewhat dry. The knots traveled up past the color and most of the color was split ends, so I decided to avoid permanent color too.

Anyway most of my length was natural, so I cut off the splits and color and left many of the knots on most of it, because a lot of naturals say that the knots are harmless. Fast forward about 9 months or so. The part of my hair where I cut up past the knots is full and healthy with no split ends and a few knots. On the rest of my hair, I had knots all the way up to 4 inches from my roots in some places and on up to about 10 or so inches in other places. I was floored. If they did not do damage, then why are they traveling up my hair shaft?

I cut the knots out and my hair felt weak, but realized I missed some, and cut those out. When I did that, my hair felt soft and good, and strong.

I am so thankful that I still have some hair and look like a girl. I now have what is kind of a cute layered haircut that I never would have gotten otherwise, but I am still ready to have length again.

I put up a post asking other naturals what they did about knots, and many said that heat styling prevented them, and I thought to myself, my relaxed hair was just never this much trouble. I never really used direct heat on my relaxed hair though, just roller sets under a dryer, and this time I'm havent' even used the heat under the dryer. I've found heat to be more damaging than relaxers in my experience, so I just went back to the relaxer and am just looking for a way to keep my relaxed hair strong.

I have my own homemade moisturizing treatments that are great, but do not know of a good strengthening treatment. I plan to use mane and tail regularly, but do not know if that qualifies.

People say that eggs are good, but then others say that the cuticle does not absorb the egg molecule, so I'm not sure what direction to go in. I do like things that are less costly or homemeade, but haven't found any ideas but henna and eggs that fall into that category.

The semi permanent hair color I was going to use is from the Clairol Beautiful Collection http://www.clairolpro.com/collections/beautiful-collection-product, and was just a little concerned because people told me that semi permanents like it coat the hair shaft, so I do not want it to block out any strengthening and moisture treatments that I do, because I know those are crucial to relaxed hair health.

I was planning to do one strengthening and one moisture treatment every week before I starting reading about henna because I was worried about treatments penetrating the semi permanent color. I might post for suggestions for strengthening conditioners. The SMT on here is great for moisture.

[virgo75]

Hi daffodil;

I've actually considered going back to straightening my hair for the exact same reasons: single strand knots, breakage, etc. I never had problems with my relaxed hair. I just wanted to see how my hair was without it and was excited about having curly hair after reading so much about "curlygirl method" etc. It was easy for me to switch over because I only used to relax like 2 times per year. So I just skipped a couple and cut off the relaxed hair. lol Of course I've encountered the same issues with my hair that caused me to choose a relaxer in the first place: my hair is mostly "poofy." It only has a little discernable curl pattern and no matter what I put in it, it is too fine and soft to hold it's own curl. Gels, conditioners, styling creams, oils, butters - my hair ends up poofy or stringy and stuck together. And this is after 4 years of experimenting so I'm pretty sure that's just what I've been blessed with. It's like a bad Diana Ross wig except not as big because my hair is fine and not "wig" thick. :lol:

A really good strengthening treatment is Aphogee's 2 Minute Reconstructor followed by a moisturizing conditioner. NOT the Aphogee 2 Step which is for hair that is falling apart and total mush.

I've never used that type of hair dye and think it might be more gentle than what I used to use which was Clairol's Natural Instincts and for permanent I used to use Revlon Colorsilk. I think as long as you only apply all over once, then touch up the roots thereafter you shouldn't have a problem with coating.

Another thing I meant to mention with regards to henna is to do a strand test on shed hair. You could collect a good batch of shed hair and test on that to see how it turns out for you. :)

[Amber_Maiden]

I don't think henna can block out moisture. It coats the hair shaft, yes, but it allows moisture to penetrate. If henna blocked the hair from receiving moisture, then I doubt very many people would use it- since they would all have hair that turned into hay.

[daffodil7]

Virgo, that description of your hair is so funny. :grin:Thank you. I needed to hear that.

The last straw for me was after cutting off all that damage, 2 weeks later, I felt somewhere around 2 to 5 knots in various areas even after heavy moisture and of course natural styles. I just went ahead and relaxed to stop it before it started again.

I had posted the day before to ask other girls what they did because I wanted to try and keep up the natural and ironically, many said they used heat which made me feel even better for just going ahead and relaxing. I am going to try that Aphogee and follow that with my deep moisture. Thank you for that advice and for chiming in multiple times.

LittleWing13, Dorothy and Amber Maiden, thank you for sharing your experiences with henna. The combination of all of you guys' input really helped me to make a decision.

[Littlewing13]

No worries daffodil :)


It's also tangling a lot less. I think it was tangling a lot due to buildup that happened because of the henna. No matter what I used I almost always had buildup, but I never had that problem before using henna.

I think the henna helped to close my cuticle or coated my hair so "well" that the moisture didn't penetrate or stick around. It felt strong at first, but then it started to get brittle on the ends no matter what I did. As I said, now that I'm abusing it, it seems to be doing better. lol


If your hair is tangling more that indicates an open cuticle, rather than a closed one. This means that moisture is entering the hair shaft, but is escaping too quickly to do any good. Did you mix with lemon juice at all? had you used commercial colours previously?