Henna Thread, take two

[GRU]

So, my first round of henna I had done by somebody at a salon...

Now that I'm 180 miles away from there, I bought my own henna from the local indian grocer, but I'm really hesitant to do it myself, because I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing...

The instructions that were given to me were, mix henna with strongly brewed green tea, let sit overnight, then apply, everywhere.

How do you get the application even?

Will this stain my tub when I rinse it?

I really really really want to henna again, so any advice would be super helpful!!! TIA!!

Here's my advice to first-timers:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...72#post1107872

It won't stain the tub -- unless your tub is made of keratin.

And the applicator bottle really makes a huge difference for me -- I apply it in "lines" along my scalp and smoosh it around.

[sami]

I asked the following question in another henna thread, but perhaps it might sit better here:
Can you over-henna over time? What I mean is lots of whole head applications. I read a comment on another forum that too much henna build-up can damage the hair??

I have only recently (Nov-Dec) discovered all the benefilts of henna, let alone that it can achieve shades (by mixing with other herbs etc) other than orange on hair! Everything I've read here, hennaforhair, rennaissancehair, etc is always positive about pure BAQ henna. The reason I ask is that I have been using henna primarily for grey/white roots but also applying all over to get coverage on previously chemical dye covered grey dispersed throughout the length (just about shoulder length).

[GRU]

I asked the following question in another henna thread, but perhaps it might sit better here:
Can you over-henna over time? What I mean is lots of whole head applications. I read a comment on another forum that too much henna build-up can damage the hair??

It won't damage the hair, but the color does build up, so you'll end up with a darker burgundy color over time. (using heat styling will also darken the color)

Most of us just apply henna to our roots once we achieve our desired color, to avoid the darkening.

But no, henna won't damage your hair -- just provide you with more and more awesomeness!

[sami]

Thanks GRU! My natural colour before the grey is black anyway so auburn burgundy is awesome! Indigo just isn't taking well on my hair (have tried 3 different sources so far) so I will have to try darkening the roots with other things that people have suggested. The plus point is that the henna I've been using so far has been giving reddish tones

[GRU]

Perfect!

Henna your little heart out!

[Birch]

I mixed my henna with coffee, a little freshly squeezed lemon juice and some balsamic vinegar, than cook it on heat for some time and than let it stay. After that I got an invitation to go out, so I left mixture there to stay. Now it is like that for 6 hours!!! Will still be working when I'll put it on my hair or it's coloring effect is gone... ? I believe it's treatment effect will remain the same but I need some color too...

Thank you for answering in advance.

After one week I finally used my old mixture. In that time it was totally dried out. So I have to put more water, more balsamic vinegar and warmed and mixed it again. I add a little coocnut oil too. I had it on hair for 12 hours. The effect of coloring was not that visible as with my first two hennaing when I put mixture on in half hour after mixing it. But gloss, healthy looking hair and silkiness was the same.

[ancilla]

The indigo they sell on allindiastore on ebay's sift is REALLY COARSE!! It works okay in the end but it is such a pain in the butt to put on. All these clumps and grits and oh its god awful.

I'll know better next time. I usually get my indigo from mehandi, but I didn't have much money and allindiastore was cheap.

[ancilla]

Actually, scratch that, it didn't come out so well on my mom's hair when I did it tonight. It doesn't look horrible, but it didn't come out as good as the fine sifted stuff always does. :/

[longhairkitten]

I dread doing my roots. What I've been doing is using a hair coloring bottle and trying to get at all the roots. But I always miss some.
I bought a tint brush from Sally's, so I'll use it next time. Can anyone offer any tips on how I can get all the roots covered with relative ease?

edited to fix typing error.

MadHatter your hair is beautiful, wow, you must just look at yourself all day!) Gorgeous and breathtaking

[smcm1232]

I noticed in my test henna that I froze and tried another hairball all conitions were the same is it possible that the henna expired even though I froze it? It came out so much lighter