Covering gray hair with henna+cassia? Will it work?

**curly girl fla** · February 15th, 2020, 10:17 AM

I have been doing full-head henna for years now. I don't have too much gray coming in, but have always had some large streaks for lack of better terms coming in at a few spots on my hairline. I've toyed with the idea of stopping henna altogether, but I do like how healthy it keeps my hair. If I start doing a 50-50 mix henna/cassia will it make any impact on gray or white hair at all, and will it last? I know the permanence of henna, but I don't know what to expect if I mix. I did do just cassia years ago as a deep conditioner of sorts since I heard it was all the goodness of henna without the color, but it seemed drying so I never considered adding it to a color or conditioning mix. I also figured if I tone down the henna now, it may make the eventual transition to gray less impactful...Thoughts? Words of wisdom?

**akurah** · February 15th, 2020, 10:22 AM

YMMV, but if it does cover the greys it will be bright orange unless you do enough henna applications to make it darker. If your goal is grey coverage and if I were you, I can't say I would cut the henna with cassia unless you're looking for the brighter, more orangy shades. I would collect greys and strand test, and if the strand test works (that is, henna sticks), if the color is not what you want on the initial application, I would I would repeat applications until it hits the shade you want, then do that many applications on your greys.

**curly girl fla** · February 18th, 2020, 07:04 PM

thanks for your input. i thought about it and figured i can henna over the grays if it seemed too orange. i did it saturday, probably more like 60/40 henna to cassia, and it worked really well. the grays did take the color (yay), and it's more of a muted copper color. it works well, actually. the rest of my hair just seemed to get a copper boost, not really darker. i think i need to order me some more cassia, lol. i had two people in one day compliment my hair and ask if the curl and color was natural.

**Faraniel** · February 25th, 2020, 03:40 AM

I am a bit late but I have just done a strand test with a few grey hair in it (and by grey I mean competely white) and honestly it came out good. I mixed like 1/3 henna and 2/3 cassia. The question is how it will look like after a few washes.

**akurah** · February 25th, 2020, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by Faraniel

I am a bit late but I have just done a strand test with a few grey hair in it (and by grey I mean competely white) and honestly it came out good. I mixed like 1/3 henna and 2/3 cassia. The question is how it will look like after a few washes.

Washing doesn't affect henna color except in a tiny fraction of people. Time will change the color though. Freshly hennaed hair will oxidize over 2 or 3 days and during that span the color will change until it reaches its final shade

**Faraniel** · February 26th, 2020, 01:53 AM

Originally Posted by akurah

Washing doesn't affect henna color except in a tiny fraction of people. Time will change the color though. Freshly hennaed hair will oxidize over 2 or 3 days and during that span the color will change until it reaches its final shade

Yeah, I am waiting for the colour to oxidize to see how it will look like on my hair.

**czech it out** · February 29th, 2020, 02:57 PM

I have a few grays and do a 100g cassia, 5g henna (yes, only 5 grams!) treatment once a month. My grays look golden - I love it!

**curly girl fla** · February 29th, 2020, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by czech it out

I have a few grays and do a 100g cassia, 5g henna (yes, only 5 grams!) treatment once a month. My grays look golden - I love it!

So good to know! I have to admit, I love the results of 60/40 but will probably go more cassia/less henna next time. I like the lighter, more golden look, and my darker hair will do better with less color layering going forward I think. And slowly phasing out the heavy-handed henna will make it easier if/when I do decide to transition to let the natural gray come out and play.

**Belgrade Beauty** · March 17th, 2020, 10:10 AM

Can I buy cassia tea? I can't find the powder?

**SleepyTangles** · March 18th, 2020, 02:05 AM

Originally Posted by Belgrade Beauty

Can I buy cassia tea? I can't find the powder?

No, pretty sure you need the herbal powder of cassia obovata (also written as Senna italica).
I think the variety called Senna alexandrea is equally good or even better, but I've never seen it locally.
'Cassia' may sometimes refer to more than a single plant. In ancient times even some kind of cinnamon was called Cassia, I think