Prevent henna dryness

[U_Carter]

Aye for sure! Selkie has some oils in it, but it's very little (like 1 TB total across a several gallon batch), so it doesn't prevent dye uptake like straight oils do!

Honey is another great hydrating additive, but too much of that can also affect dye uptake (though it takes WAY more honey than oil to start bogging things down).

Generally, in my experience, henna dryness is caused by
- Hair being stripped from the mild abrasive action of rinsing out the mud. Following up with a moisture rich conditioner and favorite leave in fixes this.
- Not rinsing well enough. Even hair that looks rinsed might not be (it's easiest to see on the scalp if it isn't), and those fine particles will suck the moisture straight out of your hair
- too much acid. I never recommend acid unless people are having problems with fading, and a lot of people go way, way overboard with this as they take recommendations from skin art where acids help penetrate the skin (but don't affect hair the same way)

So anything that adds hydration and slip and makes rinsing easier will help!

How does honey affect dye intake? Does it prevent the lawson dye from releasing as effectively or does it lighten the hair and affect the color (I heard that honey lightens hair..?)?

[Nightshade]

How does honey affect dye intake? Does it prevent the lawson dye from releasing as effectively or does it lighten the hair and affect the color (I heard that honey lightens hair..?)?

If you add enough of anything it reduces the moisture level enough that the hair can't suck up the dye water. I did an experiment with it years ago and you could add quite a lot of honey without ill effects, but it did start causing issues eventually. Getting honey to lighten hair takes some really specific parameters and even people trying to purposefully lighten their hair that way can't often get it to work. With henna, honey is far too weak to put much of a dent in it.

[U_Carter]

If you add enough of anything it reduces the moisture level enough that the hair can't suck up the dye water. I did an experiment with it years ago and you could add quite a lot of honey without ill effects, but it did start causing issues eventually. Getting honey to lighten hair takes some really specific parameters and even people trying to purposefully lighten their hair that way can't often get it to work. With henna, honey is far too weak to put much of a dent in it.

Interesting! I guess it would be safer to add aloe vera to the henna then?

[Nightshade]

Not really! They both stifle henna at about the same rate, and it takes quite a lot to do it. like I think I had to get to like half the 'liquid' being honey to impact dye uptake so I'd imagine aloe would be similar, though I didn't test it directly.