The Cassia Thread (see first post for link to FAQs)

[marajade]

Hi All!

I was thinking about using clear henna/cassia and I was wondering where everyone gets their supplies from? I don't want to spend a lot of money but I want quality product-- who does everyone buy from?

Does anyone have before and after of cassia?

Thanks in advance!!

[FrannyG]

Hi All!

I was thinking about using clear henna/cassia and I was wondering where everyone gets their supplies from? I don't want to spend a lot of money but I want quality product-- who does everyone buy from?

Does anyone have before and after of cassia?

Thanks in advance!!

Well, I purchase my cassia from hennasooq.com and I'm extremely happy with the product, the shipping time, and the customer service. I buy in bulk, so a cassia treatment for me is about $7.00 per treatment on my BSL length hair. There are a lot of vendors on hennaforhair.com who also sell cassia.

Make sure you buy pure cassia obovata. The drugstore brands of neutral henna are not pure cassia and may have metallic salts in them.

I do not have before and after photos. I can only tell you that cassia gives my hair a little bit of extra thickness, a smooth feeling and lots of shine. Whenever I'm feeling cranky about my hair feeling damaged, especially in the canopy area and at the ends, a cassia treatment fixes me right up.

I hope that helps.

[marajade]

Well, I purchase my cassia from hennasooq.com and I'm extremely happy with the product, the shipping time, and the customer service. I buy in bulk, so a cassia treatment for me is about $7.00 per treatment on my BSL length hair. There are a lot of vendors on hennaforhair.com who also sell cassia.

Make sure you buy pure cassia obovata. The drugstore brands of neutral henna are not pure cassia and may have metallic salts in them.

I do not have before and after photos. I can only tell you that cassia gives my hair a little bit of extra thickness, a smooth feeling and lots of shine. Whenever I'm feeling cranky about my hair feeling damaged, especially in the canopy area and at the ends, a cassia treatment fixes me right up.

I hope that helps.

Thank you so much!!!

[dorothea-brooke]

Oh! I just noticed that some of you have forgotten your mix. I can only tell you that I use 100g for my BSL length hair. I add the hot chamomile tea slowly in a glass bowl, and use enough to make it the consistency of cake batter. I cover the bowl with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes, apply it to my hair and leave it for an hour.

Hope that's at least a bit of help

Hi frannyg,

I just ordered some cassia from the mehandi site; they recommended 400 g for BSL hair! What have your results been with 100 g? That seems like a huge difference to me....

cheers,
dorothea

[marajade]

Hi again!

For those of you who have used cassia-- should I be clarifying prior to cassia? I was thinking of doing a light baking soda wash then cassia then SMT. Is this ok?

[khyricat]

a lot depends on how thick your mix is and how much hair you have.. for BSL hair they recommend a lot of Henna too, but I still use 33 grams...

Anyway- onto why I am here.. I have a cassia question.. the few days after I henna my hair is the nicest it is all month.. I use a cassia based poo bar, and it has always worked well, but lately I am wondering if using straight cassia would be a better option as a washing agent. Has anyone done this and what type of mix would you recommend?

Amie

[lynnala]

a lot depends on how thick your mix is and how much hair you have.. for BSL hair they recommend a lot of Henna too, but I still use 33 grams...

Anyway- onto why I am here.. I have a cassia question.. the few days after I henna my hair is the nicest it is all month.. I use a cassia based poo bar, and it has always worked well, but lately I am wondering if using straight cassia would be a better option as a washing agent. Has anyone done this and what type of mix would you recommend?

Amie

I did try using a very watered down mix of cassia as a wash, and I didn't really like it as it didn't clean my hair like, say BS does. Plus cassia will add a slight golden tone if you have blonde or white hair, and I was told that it might start to yellow if I used too much. I didn't try mixing it with other ingredients for a wash though, I think it would be worth investigating, because the pure cassia conditioning treatment is wonderful.

[FrannyG]

Hi frannyg,

I just ordered some cassia from the mehandi site; they recommended 400 g for BSL hair! What have your results been with 100 g? That seems like a huge difference to me....

cheers,
dorothea

It is a huge difference, but honestly 100g makes more than enough for my hair. I remember asking around in the old Cassia Thread and a lot of people used less than what was suggested.

Don't forget though, that I have 1a/f/ii hair, so you may find it different, depending on your hairtype.

[sybarite]

Could someone give me simple directions on how to apply cassia?
-How long do I let it sit after mixing before I putting it in my hair?
-How long do I leave in on my hair?
-Do I shampoo after I rinse it out?

[Rae~]

sybarite, if it helps, here is what I do (whatever my mix is):

- mix with warm/hot water and let sit only as long as I need to get ready (making sure to test the temp before applying, to make sure it has cooled to a comfortable level). ETA: If you include any henna in your mix and you are trying to get colour, this prep may vary, of course.

- wet my hair, towel dry just enough to stop it running down my back

- separate my hair into about 8 sections, make small beebutt buns and secure with mini clips

- unwrap buns one at a time and apply cassia mix (aka 'gloop'!) to the length. Rewrap and re-secure. Also apply gloop to the scalp area (ie the hair that isn't wrapped inside the buns)

- after having done that to all sections, I spread any remaining/excess gloop all over, both scalp area and buns.

- cover in clingwrap if I can bear the giggles from flatmates etc. This is to stop it drying out, particularly if you plan on a long treatment. Plonk myself down with either a good book, or in front of the computer. I tend to leave it on for as long as possible, but it has ranged anywhere from about 30-40 min, through to 4-5 hours. ETA: I also have an old towel around my shoulders, and a box of tissues on hand in case I get drippies running down my neck, which I usually do at some point, to varying degrees.

...

- when you are ready to wash it out, if at all possible run a bath. If you are conserving water, it doesn't have to be deep - just enough so that when you lie down (ie on your back) you can get your head, up to about your ears, underwater. I do find that the more water, the better it rinses, though.

- unwrap buns. No detangling yet. Lie down and massage my scalp, paying particular attention to the hairline, where the gloop may have dried a little. I swish my hair around quite a bit, but this might not work for longer hair. The water will go a really dark green, it will feel like you are swimming in a swamp.

- after at least a good 5+ minutes of that, and when I can't feel any hard clumps in my hair, I get up, drain the bath and turn on the shower. Rinse for another few minutes with plain water until the water is almost clear.

- Apply LOTS of conditioner. I have a relatively cheap one I buy in bulk, exactly for this purpose. Massage condish through. At this stage, I usually test with finger-combing to see how tangled it is, but I don't try and detangle yet. Rinse.

- Apply more conditioner, possibly another couple of times. Detangle starting with fingercombing, then moving on to a wide-toothed comb.

- Air dry hair as per usual.

I did have photos showing all this, but I can't access them as they were in my old photo journal, sorry.