The henna/cassia thread

[Liz_H]

I never thought of powdered sugar! Mine gets used once a year for a birthday cake. I think powdered sugar also contains cornstarch. I've read of people using thickened cornstarch, but I guess the tiny bit in the sugar wouldn't make any difference. Pardon my meandering thoughts. It's time to mix my henna!

I don’t measure the sugar... I probably put in about a tablespoon of powdered sugar for about 50g of powder at the beginning and let it all dye release together. Maybe a little more. I can not believe how much it helps with drips!! And as a bonus, the powdered sugar I bought for christmas cookies 4 years ago is finally getting used up!

[Liz_H]

How long can henna/cassia sit in the fridge before the dye degrades? I don't think I can freeze it with the added conditioner. It's been mixed maybe 30 minutes, but I can't do it right now.

[stardust lady]

How long can henna/cassia sit in the fridge before the dye degrades? I don't think I can freeze it with the added conditioner. It's been mixed maybe 30 minutes, but I can't do it right now.

Henna can be stored in the fridge for a few days. I don't think cassia's storage properties matters much in this case, since it's just diluting the henna. But I'm no expert by any means.

[Liz_H]

Thanks. I won't worry about it then. I'm hoping to get some blond from the cassia. Even at 10% , the henna will still put some color down.

[stardust lady]

Thanks. I won't worry about it then. I'm hoping to get some blond from the cassia. Even at 10% , the henna will still put some color down.

Yeah the cassia will be okay for a day or two also, if your looking for yellow tones. Even at 40 percent, I still get decent amount of yellow tones in my auburn, so you should be golden (literally and figuratively) at 10%.

[Liz_H]

How do you like the results?

... So I'm marching on with my stronger mix! Got a batch of 40/60 dye releasing as we speak.
...

[stardust lady]

How do you like the results?

Thanks for asking! I'm a fan - it's definitely an improvement. The initial color was brassy and weird and took a full week to oxidize, but now it looks super pretty and natural, a medium auburn. It's the same color as my freckles, which is a nice touch.

I'm beginning to see a tiny bit of fade, two weeks later. That may be a result of having fine-ish strands, but I'm also still working on perfecting dye release, so can't really make conclusions on that right now.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the color. Before it oxidized I did buy some hibiscus, so I may add some to my next henna. If I do, I'll probably start with 35% henna and 3TBSP hibiscus, and see what kind of effects it has. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably move up to a 50/50 mix. The current color still has a decent amount of yellow in it (but so does my natural color, so I guess that's to be expected), and I'm still planning on deepening more. So far so good!

[Liz_H]

Thanks for asking! I'm a fan - it's definitely an improvement.

Glad to hear it! Does the hibiscus make for cooler shades?

[Liz_H]

How many times can I freeze and thaw my mix without losing much color? I have quite a bit in the freezer, but I need to up the henna percentage.

Also, I froze some with conditioner in the mix. Will the conditioner survive the freezer?

[Jane99]

I will freeze, thaw, refreeze and it works fine after the second thaw. I would think you could refreeze multiple times just fine but I don’t know. That’s a good question.
Also, I’ve frozen the conditioner and thawed it out and it was also fine. Same with yogurt and coconut milk.