New, excited to learn about henna and growing long healthy hair

**Agnieszka108** · January 7th, 2020, 03:57 PM

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and very excited to be here. On a mission to grow my hair and keep it long and healthy.

Currently at 29 and 3/4 inches and haven't dyed my hair for 2.5 years. Chopped it all off from near this length to NL in June 2017 and recently had a 1.5 inch trim Oct. 2019. I've intermittently trimmed my own split ends when I see them and was happy that the October trim evened out the hemline.

Now is around the longest I've ever had my hair, excited to get it to waist length and beyond.
Enjoying the support, tips and hairstyles I've seen in this forum so far.

I've also never tried henna before and am very curious about its strengthening properties. I love the bright fiery red look and actually had my hair bright poppy red 3.5 years ago, which I loved. My natural colour however, is very dark brown so I'm not sure red would show up much except in the light. I also am beginning to have a few grey hairs which I would love to cover with henna. I have also heard that fermented rice washes can help with that, and just made a post about it on the Fermented Rice Wash thread.

Excited to be here, to learn and to grow!

**Sarahlabyrinth** · January 8th, 2020, 01:18 AM

Welcome to the forum, and happy growing to you!

**TatsuOni** · January 8th, 2020, 09:18 AM

Welcome!

**aslpro57** · January 8th, 2020, 01:40 PM

I also want to do the henna and want the auburn or red color. I have heard good things about Light Mountain Natural Hair Color. I checked the ingredients and it is pure henna. Always make sure the ingredients are ONLY LAWSONIA INERMIS and nothing else. I am also looking for the instructions how to TYPE your hair. I know how to do the porosity test but not the 4 category type test. Can anyone share the link or instructions. Thanks

Originally Posted by Agnieszka108

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and very excited to be here. On a mission to grow my hair and keep it long and healthy.

Currently at 29 and 3/4 inches and haven't dyed my hair for 2.5 years. Chopped it all off from near this length to NL in June 2017 and recently had a 1.5 inch trim Oct. 2019. I've intermittently trimmed my own split ends when I see them and was happy that the October trim evened out the hemline.

Now is around the longest I've ever had my hair, excited to get it to waist length and beyond.
Enjoying the support, tips and hairstyles I've seen in this forum so far.

I've also never tried henna before and am very curious about its strengthening properties. I love the bright fiery red look and actually had my hair bright poppy red 3.5 years ago, which I loved. My natural colour however, is very dark brown so I'm not sure red would show up much except in the light. I also am beginning to have a few grey hairs which I would love to cover with henna. I have also heard that fermented rice washes can help with that, and just made a post about it on the Fermented Rice Wash thread.

Excited to be here, to learn and to grow!

**lapushka** · January 13th, 2020, 09:18 AM

Welcome!

**SatrianiRules** · January 14th, 2020, 12:17 PM

I'm a newbie too! I'm also interested in henna. However, apart from the fact it probably wouldn't show up (my hair is also dark brown), if it did I dont think it would suit me at all. I'm currently growing out blue/green on the ends and everyone thought it suited me really well. I guess I'm just not a warm coloured sort of person. Shame there isn't a henna of cold colours lol

**FrayedFire** · January 15th, 2020, 06:14 PM

If you want to know more about henna, I suggest Nightblooming. She's on etsy and on here quite a bit so you'll probably see her posts in the henna forum.

**akurah** · January 15th, 2020, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Agnieszka108

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and very excited to be here. On a mission to grow my hair and keep it long and healthy.

Currently at 29 and 3/4 inches and haven't dyed my hair for 2.5 years. Chopped it all off from near this length to NL in June 2017 and recently had a 1.5 inch trim Oct. 2019. I've intermittently trimmed my own split ends when I see them and was happy that the October trim evened out the hemline.

Now is around the longest I've ever had my hair, excited to get it to waist length and beyond.
Enjoying the support, tips and hairstyles I've seen in this forum so far.

I've also never tried henna before and am very curious about its strengthening properties. I love the bright fiery red look and actually had my hair bright poppy red 3.5 years ago, which I loved. My natural colour however, is very dark brown so I'm not sure red would show up much except in the light. I also am beginning to have a few grey hairs which I would love to cover with henna. I have also heard that fermented rice washes can help with that, and just made a post about it on the Fermented Rice Wash thread.

Excited to be here, to learn and to grow!

My hair is a darker than medium brown, but just shy of dark brown, depending on PoV.

Natural color pictures:

Hair on henna:

I get very concerned when I see newbies go on about henna by the by. Henna is permanent. On par with getting a tattoo permanent. You're cutting your hair to get it out permanent. Which kind of completely negates the strengthening benefits if you dislike the color at all and want to go back. It took me years to grow the henna out and it was miserable. The first natural color pic is the pic that i took after cutting out most of the last. The discoloration at the bottom is still leftovers (I went cherry cola after the example pictures above).

As for why I stopped henna after doing it for years and years and years, and having been a redhead (from either dye or henna) much of my life? Because my hair is ashy. Henna is orange. My regrowth looked grey. The upkeep sucked bad due to the greyness.

**shelomit** · January 20th, 2020, 08:52 PM

Howdy! My family is North African, so I have a kind of different perspective on henna than most folks on here--I was introduced to hennaing hair as a kid simply because it is a cultural practice for us, done for holidays, etc. I would be happy to share about my family's henna traditions if that's of interest to you. I'm not the best person to advise about "aiming" for a specific color, but the one thing that I can offer is that you definitely need to strand-test first if you want such and such a color. I have almost exactly the same natural hair color as one of my aunts (dark brown, rather darker than akura's above). For her, a straight henna treatment is fiery red, just like you want. For me, it's sort of "mahogany"--a touch darker than my natural hair color, with red highlights in the sun. Personally, I don't much care about the specific color but find that the strengthening/faux-protein aspect is very helpful for my hair type. *shrug*

**repunzelwannabe** · January 21st, 2020, 06:38 AM

Following this! I've never done henna either so please post your fabulous results please? I also just read a book about it at the library called Natural hair coloring : how to use henna and other pure herbal pigments for chemical-free beauty by Christine Shahin. She recommends using other natural colorants besides henna like indigo, alma and cassia to get to the shade you like. I haven't been brave enough to try it yet, and honestly I've worked so hard to grow my hair out that personally I think I'll try to find a professional to help me dial in the ratios of the powders, application and related sorcery for at least the first time.