The henna/cassia thread

**Liz_H** · December 29th, 2021, 01:30 PM

This was the first time I applied to wet hair, which also made it easier to apply.

Originally Posted by shelomit

When we spend holidays with my grandmother, usually all the aunties and cousins and everybody are applying henna at once.

What a nice family time!

**shelomit** · December 29th, 2021, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by Liz_H

What a nice family time!

It's a traditional holiday thing--we're North African. And for some holidays like Purim, it's typical to color your hands and feet as well, so that means mixing up even more henna paste!

**alewyn** · June 23rd, 2022, 12:29 PM

Hi henna/cassia users! My natural hair color is around a level 6, I think (honestly not sure) and I'm contemplating switching to a henna/cassia mix on my roots to get a lighter color near my face than the deep auburn full strength henna I'm working with now (which I love, but is a somewhat intense contrast with my skin tone). Below is a pic of my virgin hair in full sunlight. I'm curious if anyone has hair close to this color that they have henna/cassiaed and would care to share pics of.

Here's one in overcast lighting.

And for reference, this is what it looks like with henna (I've only done one full-head application, the rest has been roots-only):

Overcast lighting w/ henna pic here.

My ultimate goal is to kind of let my natural level 6 shine through a bit more. I'm keeping the auburn lengths for sure, though--if I do switch my mix up, I'll do a gradual transition. Any and all thoughts or pics welcome!

**Cyclamen** · June 29th, 2022, 01:22 PM

Alewyn, I don't have pictures handy right now, but when I was using 50:50 mix it came out more coppery looking, less red

**Liz_H** · August 2nd, 2022, 04:45 PM

Silly question here. I just mixed up some cassia/henna. Once it was smooth, I mixed in a bit of sugar. This is the way I've always prepared it, but I don't remember why I added the sugar! Probably smoother mixing or easier application. Any sugar users here?

**Shorty89** · August 2nd, 2022, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by Liz_H

Silly question here. I just mixed up some cassia/henna. Once it was smooth, I mixed in a bit of sugar. This is the way I've always prepared it, but I don't remember why I added the sugar! Probably smoother mixing or easier application. Any sugar users here?

I've only ever heard of adding sugar for mehndi not for hair use. It might make the mixture smoother though.

**Nightshade** · August 3rd, 2022, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by Liz_H

Silly question here. I just mixed up some cassia/henna. Once it was smooth, I mixed in a bit of sugar. This is the way I've always prepared it, but I don't remember why I added the sugar! Probably smoother mixing or easier application. Any sugar users here?

This is a holdover from skin art

It makes the paste smoother and stringier, enabling for finer designs. So it might make application an little easier and won't hurt anything so long as you're not using so much it affects dye uptake.

**shelomit** · August 3rd, 2022, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Liz_H

Silly question here. I just mixed up some cassia/henna. Once it was smooth, I mixed in a bit of sugar. This is the way I've always prepared it, but I don't remember why I added the sugar! Probably smoother mixing or easier application. Any sugar users here?

We put sugar syrup or honey in when we're painting our hands/feet. It helps smooth the paste out so you get fewer chunky bits messing up the designs. For hair it shouldn't be necessary, but neither should it hurt anything.