Henna Oil?

**Shatam1** · March 14th, 2012, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by wavykisses

This is interesting it might as well stain hair since it is stained your hands

.
I guess if I used cassia it won't be much of a problem.
I'm waiting to buy a tea ball to put my herbs in there and the steep them in to the oil

I wouldn't put them in a tea ball if I were u because it would not let the herbs seep all their benefits in the oil. What I do too is I stir it with a plastic spoon every few days then after a month I strain it when all the herbs are lying at the bottom. Then I start to use it. The quantity I make lasts me about a year

**wavykisses** · March 14th, 2012, 06:50 PM

Thanks for the tip Shatam1, I will use your method without the tea ball

. I'm excited to make my own herb oil.

**Starchild494** · November 12th, 2018, 05:32 PM

If I add a few drops of vitamin e and places in a brown bottle, will my henna infusion last longer?

**Starchild494** · December 4th, 2018, 10:37 AM

I infused henna in EVOO and I am in love with it and will make more! Makes my hair soft and shiny. I plan on making a whipped hair conditioner using my henna oil shea butter and a few other oils and essentials...

I think I have made my first oil batch very strong and I'm ok with that. Just used it in an oil treatment! I luv it!

**Starchild494** · December 4th, 2018, 10:44 AM

I infused henna in EVOO and I am in love with it and will make more! Makes my hair soft and shiny. I plan on making a whipped hair conditioner using my henna oil shea butter and a few other oils and essentials...

I think I have made my first oil batch very strong and I'm ok with that. Just used it in an oil treatment! I luv it!

I have seen it stain on my hands or hairs if that helps...

**Neoma** · December 5th, 2018, 11:43 AM

I am intrigued by this idea. I'm thinking it might help extend the time between henna treatments.

Thoughts? How long to people leave it on?

**tuanyiji** · August 11th, 2022, 07:51 AM

Inspired by Steph Arizona, I made some infused henna oil with my Nupur henna and various oil.

I did almost everything instructed in the video, and I included two capsules of Vitamin E as preservative as I didn’t use heat on it. I put it near the window where it can get some sunlight. I will try to remember to turn the glass jar upside down every day or every few days. I will update in a few weeks.

**Nightshade** · August 11th, 2022, 08:24 AM

so I think this isn't likely to work for a couple reasons.

First, let's talk about how henna conditions. I go into it at length here (including how sedr and cassia/senna condition, too) but the short version for henna is:

Henna– There are two steps in the conditioning properties of henna. The first is the lawsone molecule, which binds to the keratin in hair and permanently makes makes hair red-orange, stronger and thicker. Also a desert plant, henna leaves a permeable coating on hair similar to that of Sedr’s. This coating fills in rough spots on the cuticle and helps reduce damage from outside sources such as combing and styling. This permeable coating, however, fades after 4-8 weeks.

The lawsone molecule is water-soluble, meaning it won't dye release in oil. This means you're for sure not getting this part of the conditioning.

For the second part, the henna leaves have a permeable epicuticular wax coating (made of fatty acids) to help retain moisture. This is the part of conditioning that might actually get into a 'henna oil' but given that epicuticular waxes are permeable and susceptible to the transport of water, I'm also skeptical about how this behaves in oil.

tl:dr- The conditioning components work when adding water to the henna powder, and there's no scientific reason they'd work in oil. You're better off just doing a sedr treatment if you want to refresh the wax portion of henna's conditioning.

**Nightshade** · August 11th, 2022, 08:29 AM

Also, keep in mind Vitamin E is NOT a preservative. It is an antioxidant. That means it helps protect whatever you're making from oxidization, it doesn't prevent things from growing in it or act as a true preservative.

**tuanyiji** · August 11th, 2022, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Nightshade

so I think this isn't likely to work for a couple reasons.

First, let's talk about how henna conditions. I go into it at length here (including how sedr and cassia/senna condition, too) but the short version for henna is:

Henna– There are two steps in the conditioning properties of henna. The first is the lawsone molecule, which binds to the keratin in hair and permanently makes makes hair red-orange, stronger and thicker. Also a desert plant, henna leaves a permeable coating on hair similar to that of Sedr’s. This coating fills in rough spots on the cuticle and helps reduce damage from outside sources such as combing and styling. This permeable coating, however, fades after 4-8 weeks.

The lawsone molecule is water-soluble, meaning it won't dye release in oil. This means you're for sure not getting this part of the conditioning.

For the second part, the henna leaves have a permeable epicuticular wax coating (made of fatty acids) to help retain moisture. This is the part of conditioning that might actually get into a 'henna oil' but given that epicuticular waxes are permeable and susceptible to the transport of water, I'm also skeptical about how this behaves in oil.

tl:dr- The conditioning components work when adding water to the henna powder, and there's no scientific reason they'd work in oil. You're better off just doing a sedr treatment if you want to refresh the wax portion of henna's conditioning.

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Also, keep in mind Vitamin E is NOT a preservative. It is an antioxidant. That means it helps protect whatever you're making from oxidization, it doesn't prevent things from growing in it or act as a true preservative.

Thank you very much for such a detailed explanation. I’m a big admirer of your work.
This explanation actually put my mind in a much more relieved state.
My intention for doing this henna infusion experiment is to have stronger, thicker hair without coloring my naturally black hair drastically (as far as I know, even if I do the full-on application, it won't really change my hair color that much), I won’t mind a little orange shine under the sun. I know however little henna I use (1tbs in a 500ml jar of oil), it will build up after multiple applications. Mostly I want the condition/waxing effect of henna on my very old and fragile ends, and if it works and dyes permanently, I will appreciate it all the same (after all, I can always add indigo later). I can’t source any reliable zizyphus in my area currently, roughly translated, we have something called “Chinese date or jujube” (a prevalent nutritious fruit) but I’m not sure if it’s the same thing. I will look into it. But I have cassia so I will try that next time.
I sterilized the glass jar before I poured anything inside since I didn’t want it to get moldy as this project had been intended to last a few weeks. Now that you talked about it, I will still use this oil next weekend in an attempt to finish it as soon as possible. I have a weekly hot oil treatment that contains vitamin E so it’ll just be part of my hair care routine as usual. If henna only works in water, I will try to mix the henna oil with other moisturizers and apply this substance to slightly damp hair and let it sit for a while. I’m curious to see how my hair will react to that.
I have been using deep cleansing shampoo to clarify my hair for the future maximum uptake of the henna goodies. I will update later.
Hope this thread will be helpful to others who are interested in doing similar things with henna.