Hola Chicas,
Leave your henna/indigo/cassia/amla questions below in the comments section. I’ll choose two to answer each day, for the rest of the week!
Later Gators,
Nik
p.s. The Curl Whisperer is back from her hiatus, and she is taking questions and requests! If you have a question you’d like for her to answer, submit it to nikki@curlynikki.com, with ‘The Curl Whisperer’ as the subject line.
I just Henna'd for first time last week. No problems. I bought my henna
(lab certified) from hennaforhair. The owner of the site has tons of personal & professional experience and is doing hr Ph. D on Henna. She is also very accessible for questions, and suggestions. She gave me personal suggestions on adding to my henna mixture regarding essential oils.
I let my Henna sit overnight (12hrs) for dye release, then applied and left on 6hrs (she told me 4-6hrs). I left on max time bcuz my hair texture (natural Kinky curly "s" curl 4b). The straighter your hair the more brighter the color I think bcuz all the white ppl's hair was bright copper carrot top red.
In addition, it does loosen your natural curl, for me not significantly, I had like 2% less shrinkage. The color appears brighter outside and in sunlight. I tookspic's.
Hi,
I am newly natural with TWA I Was wondering where to buy henna and what is a good brand. I am also a college student and have limited funds.Also do hair salons do henna treatments in case its not possible to do at home(I have 2 other roomies and a bf and space is limited and messing up the bathroom accounts for tons of drama)
I am obviously late, but I've done some extensive research on henna and am skeptical, I purchased the Jamila henna you use on your hair, but could not find the ingredients on the box, it wasn't even written in sanskrit. I've also read some scientific research articles (7 of them) that all found that contact dermatitis was the most susceptible reaction to henna applications. Some people even responded allergically 10-20days post the henna use on their hair. What concerns me is PPD. Although the FDA says that PPD is ok for use in cosmetic hair dyes, it isn't the best ingredient for the scalp or human body. While the Mehandi site claims that their henna has no PPD, once you purchase the box you have no way of knowing whether or not the mix has PPD in it because there's no list of ingredients available. The henna that is safe to use, researchers say is brown henna and fortunately in your photos the mix is brown. Any recommendations on a henna supply that has the ingredients listed on the box? Thanks for putting warnings that henna is not for everyone and that we should do our research before we put anything on our hair. I'll be returning my henna. Your informative and responsible. Keep up the great work on the site.
I'm natural and I'm thinking about using cassia for a DC because I'm not ready to add color to my hair. So, I wanted to know when you used cassia did it help you retain length and add thickness to your hair? Is it considered a protein or moisturizing conditioner? And is it okay to straighten my hair with a flat iron or maxiglide after using cassia or henna? Thanks you! =)
I have a answer rather than I question! I few posters mentioned that their hair felt rough/dry after hennaing. I was experiencing this as well until I add amla to my mix. Since amla is know for its conditioning properties, I noticed the difference in my hair immediately since adding it to my mix. Amla is slightly acidic, so you dont have to use any acid (no green tea, lemon juice, etc), just mix the henna and amla with distilled water. I am starting to experiment by adding other conditioning herbs like brahmi. Trust me ladies, it works! Plus, the color is not as intense. Each year's crop has a different stain and the 2008 Jamila was a little too red for me. Just experiment!
Can you henna once a week or is that too much? I am looking for the strengthing and conditioning and to split end proof my ends 🙂
Hey, I'm glad you're doing this because I just recently learned about henna. I know the benefits (for conditioning and natural hair coloring) but do they all color your hair? For example, between alma powder, indigo, henna, and cassia, will they all tint your hair color? I ask because I want to use one of them to deep condition my hair but I don't necessarily want to change my hair color and so far I know henna is for dying but I haven't seen much more info on the others which answers my question. Thanks 🙂
Hi Nikki,
have you ever tried to combine amla and henna in one treatment? My favourite brand has this henna/amla mix but i am unsure…I heart my henna and are more than satisfied with the results I get.
I have also tried amla once which was okay but not groundbreaking but perhaps the combo is the ish?
For the extra volume I was also very impressed by the results I got from cassia or brahmi treatments.
And is there a trick to get my mixture lump-free? Or am I simply too doof?
Thanks and Love, Monika
Does Indigo have the same conditionig benefits that henna has??
I know this isn't a question, but I wanted to thank you for your henna tutorial. I followed your recipe exactly for my first henna and loved it. I've since tweaked the recipe to suit my hair a bit I things are just better and better. I love that unless you don't get it all out, that its hard to mess up. Thank you Nikki!
I had bleached blonde hair and now I have dyed it red. Can I use henna to maintain my red and reap the conditioning benefits or do I have to wait until my bleached hair grows out, which will happen to be the end of my transition.
I can't find the post where you discussed this earlier but I was wanting to know what is the product you mix with henna if you don't wan't the red undertones. I have gray hair in the front portion of my hair and the last time I henna'd the gray portion was a bright red and the rest of my hair was a darker brownish/redish tone which didn't look well together. I don't want my hair to be black that's why I haven't bought the indigo. I just want it to be a darker red or dark brown where my gray is. I guess my question is what other product besides indigo can you mix with henna for your hair that will yield darker undertones? Thanks!
I'm thinking about doing my first henna but i don't want to change the color of my hair is there i way to do that?
I think Henna makes my hair dry. WHy is that? WHat can I use to keep my hair feeling moisturize.
Where. do. i. begin! You mentioned that you use the jamila brand of henna. Is there anything you mix with yours, or should the packaged product be used just as is. I'm super dumb with henna, is there mixing involved or o you just dump it on. Also, what precautions need to be taken to prevent the loosening of curls. thanks yo for this nikki.
Can I use your henna recipe for cassia or is there a better recipe?
Henna seems like its just too much work! I've heard stories about long rinse times, difficutly rinsing, loss of curl, breakage, and long mixing times and leave-in times. Is is really worth it??? Could someone please give me the short and sweet version of the pros of henna?
Can you relax natural hair that has been Henna'd? Can you Henna hair that has been relaxed?
In response to "b"- I'd like to say that my tub has a lining, I henna regularly, and I've never noticed any staining. As soon as I finish rinsing my hair in the shower I just wipe everything down. I *have* gotten stains in other places in the bathroom from blobs that fall on the floor during application. But I think there's just so much water movement in the shower that the henna doesn't get a chance to stain.
I just began using henna…did my 2nd treatment on Friday night. I used your method of rinsing in the tub first, then washed my hair at least 4-5 times in the shower with suave conditioner. I then deep conditioned for an hour and styled as usual. When I was blot drying my hair, I notice the t-shirt I used to blot dry was stained. Is this normal? I really thought I had got all of the henna out.
Thanks, Nikki.
I would like to use henna but I have color on the last 4 inches of my hair. I read somewhere that you shouldn't use henna on color treated hair. Is that true?
I used the henna two weeks ago. mine was mixed with indigo because I wanted a darker shade. Problem was my hair broke off a lot because it was so hard to wash off the henna from my hair. is this normal? is there a way to wash henna off easily. It did define the curls in the natural part of my hair (I am a transitioner)
I was wondering if you've experienced any curl loss from using henna? If so how do you deal with it and feel about it? I have henndigoed twice and after the second time I noticed I had lost curl at the front of my hair. Now if I wash and go the front part is wavy. I bought some Amla so I will be trying that out on my next henna but I don't know if it will bring back curl or just prevent further curl loss. I know you henna quite regularly, so I was wondering what your take on this is?
My daughter is 7 years old. She was born with no hair. It is now starting to grow, but not as fast as I would like. Would Henna help her hair growth and strength?
I've heard of people experiencing breakage from henna treatments. Is this suppose to happen to a certain degree, or is henna just not right for them?
My daughter is 7 years old. sShe was born with no hair. Her hair is finally starting to grow, but not fast enough as I would like. Would Henna help her hair growth and strength?
I recently purchased Amla Oil from my local Indian/Afghan store. The bottle reads Tibet Amla Hair Oil and the mixture is white and creamy. The instructions say it's good for the skin and hair. Now, from what I've been reading on line, the Amla I purchased doesn't sound like anything I've read about. Have you ever seen this type of Amla Oil? If not, can you please give some descriptions and the use of the various types of Amla oils and powders on the market? Gracias Nikki!
I have a lining in my tub (think Bath Fitters) so washing my hair in it is out of the question. (I called them and asked.) I live in a condo so there's no private yard to hose my hair down.
So…have you ever heard of any natural hair salons doing henna treatments in the salon? I know the henna takes hours to process, but could the process work quicker with heat?
Hey Nikki,
I'm somewhat new at henna use (3rd month, 5th application); currently I'm using green tea as my mix-in, along with a little castor or grapeseed oil. I mix and let sit for about 3 hours (minimum dye release); I then apply to my hair and let that stay on for about 5 hours. I use BAQ Henna for African Hair, by Mehandi.com. Immediately after use, my hair feels "rough"…not necessarily dry but what I would imagine hair would feel like if the cuticle was wide open. I then deep condition for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours and that helps a little bit but it's not until a couple weeks later, after a few co-washes, that my hair feels "not rough" or back to normal again.
Question: Am I leaving it on long enough to get the full conditioning benefits? Would you have a better moisturizing mix-in to suggest? Thanks in advance!!
Trena
How long does mixed henna last? Can I do anything to save mixed henna for my next application?