First time Henna Recipe.

[feralena]

Hello ladies! I just wanted to share that I've been researching this henna thing for a couple months now and finally have decided to take the plunge. I have been coloring my hair chemically with Clairol's "flame" and I hate how often I have to do it and how badly my hair feels when it starts to fade.

So, henna it is. I decided to go with Henna Sooq's Red Raj. Vanessa their help lady has been an incredible wealth of knowledge.

Here's the recipe I used (I'm still waiting for the dye-release!):

100 g Red Raj Henna powder
chamomile steeped in rose water (the chamomile for moisturizing)
1 tablespoon of paprika (stimulates the fiery aspects of henna)
1 teaspoon of ginger (for pleasant scent)
1 teaspoon olive oil (to help it not dry my poor dry hair more)
1 teaspoon ACV (some ladies like it more than lemon juice)

I was going to use cardamom for added scent but apparently it has lightening properties, like cinnamon and honey, so decided to skip that wild card.

I'm letting it dye-release for 3-4 hours, then after application I will check it every half hour. Since Red Raj has such a high lawsone content, it might infuse my hair much quicker and I'm really hoping for a nice fiery rich red. For Burgundy shades, Vanessa recommends 4+hours on the head, whereas I probably won't go more than 3.

Next time I hopefully will have some lovely essential oils to perfume it with, but until then I'm definitely not offended by the earthy hay-like smell of the henna itself. I love that I'm putting a plant on my head that will get me to such a beautiful red!

I will try to provide pictures when all is said and done but I am new at this!

So here goes nothin'-

[CopperHead]

Welcome to the henna heads! I use the Raj Twilight from mehandi.com and I am pretty sure it is the same crop as the Raj Red. I absolutely love it! I go for the burgundy tones so I leave it on for six hours. Raj is such a nice dependable henna and it is the one I started with and will probably stay with. I just bought 2,000 grams of it when it was discounted. I know you will love it too. :)

Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

[swearnsue]

How did your hair turn out?

[GlennaGirl]

Pics! Pics! Pics!

[PurplePenguin]

oh I can't wait to see the results, maybe I'll use your recipe next time. I just did my first henna last weekend but I was afraid of going too orangey (I was completely bleach blonde) so I used a henna and cassia mix. DH assures me its a red tint but to me it looks honey brown. Ce la vie! I really hope you like your newly henna'd hair! And on a side note, don't you just love the fact that henna won't fade badly like regular hair dies?

[feralena]

Here's a link to a small picture of my hair. I feel the photo turned out a little dull compared to the actual vibrant orange I feel like my hair actually is! I will definitely be doing another application here, probably next weekend. It's a good thing I had some mixture left over! I froze it and will likely be ordering more henna here in a minute.

http://followgram.me/i/134709558907652461_10955657

It oxidized in about 3.5 hours, as expected. I applied- it's definitely NOT like hair dye but I managed to avoid a big mess somehow anyway! I used gloved fingers for application and made a small bun on top of my head which I continued wrapping tendrils around as I saturated them. I kept it on for almost 3 hours, after that.

I'm not sure what would've happened without the paprika but there is definitely some fiery aspects to this color. I think the only ingredient I will add next time is some essential oil drops for more fragrance. If I'm going to pamper myself I'm going all the way.

Also I'm ordering some rhassoul clay which I know can be used for hair And skin. My purpose is for a facial cleanser to help soothe my rosacea, but I am curious if any henna-head has any experience with using rhassoul for their hair as well?

[syrahna]

Thanks for posting this - I've been contemplating doing the Red Raj to my light ash brown hair, and the more photos I see of it, the more I want to do it! (I've never been red!)

I use the rhassoul all over. I haven't used a detergent/conventional shampoo on my hair in months. I started with the baking soda and ACV thing, and quickly learned that it just KILLED my scalp. So I've since relied on clays and Henna Sooq's shampoo bars. Sometimes when I mix up rhassoul for my face I just make a bit more and then pour the slurry onto parts in my (short) hair. I squish it around a bit and let it sit. Sitting in the tub like that works well. Then I just rinse it out - really well, works best to dunk my head in the tub - and finish with an acidic rinse on my ends. Sometimes I use essential oils, sometimes not.

But I like the rhassoul best on my face.

[Shatam1]

Here's a link to a small picture of my hair. I feel the photo turned out a little dull compared to the actual vibrant orange I feel like my hair actually is! I will definitely be doing another application here, probably next weekend. It's a good thing I had some mixture left over! I froze it and will likely be ordering more henna here in a minute.

http://followgram.me/i/134709558907652461_10955657

It oxidized in about 3.5 hours, as expected. I applied- it's definitely NOT like hair dye but I managed to avoid a big mess somehow anyway! I used gloved fingers for application and made a small bun on top of my head which I continued wrapping tendrils around as I saturated them. I kept it on for almost 3 hours, after that.

I'm not sure what would've happened without the paprika but there is definitely some fiery aspects to this color. I think the only ingredient I will add next time is some essential oil drops for more fragrance. If I'm going to pamper myself I'm going all the way.

Also I'm ordering some rhassoul clay which I know can be used for hair And skin. My purpose is for a facial cleanser to help soothe my rosacea, but I am curious if any henna-head has any experience with using rhassoul for their hair as well?
Beautiful color:)

[CopperHead]

It can take a few days for the color to get darker so hang in there. The more you henna, the less orangey it will be. :)

[syrahna]

How has it settled down? I think it's fascinating how hennaed hair evolves over a few days. I wish I had the requisite number of posts - I can't see a lot of photos on this board, so I am missing a lot of before and afters.

Did you try the rhassoul?

[feralena]

I didn't actually post a picture, I just posted a link to it elsewhere so you can surely see it, Syrahna! It did settle in and became this rich flame color, kind of dark in the shade and coppery in the sunlight. I love it. I'm unsure if I'll use the henna for everything again, or if I'll do just my roots or what. I'm not sure. I don't want it to get much darker, but I feel like I definitely will want to deposit more red into it.

Should I cut the henna with Cassia Obovata next time?


I was only able to get a small amount of rhassoul from my local healthy grocery and it's expensive if you don't buy it in bulk. So I've just been using it for my skin and let me tell you, it sure has been wonderful and I believe has helped my rosacea, along with the oil-cleansing method, incredibly.
When I wash my face with it I use a couple drops pure organic almond oil, one drop doTerra melaleuca oil (medicinal grade tea tree oil) and a fiftycent piece amount of clay. Mix it up with rose water. Slather it on. Wait only a minute then gently hot water steam/wipe it off with my nonabrasive washcloth. AWESOME. follow up with a couple drops almond oil moisturizer and I'm good to go.