First Henna Experience

As I mentioned in my last post, I purchased some henna for use on my hair; it was an interesting experience and I will definitely be incorporating henna treatments in my hair care process. Prior to mixing my henna I did tons of research on the Internet to find out how to best mix it.

I decided to mix it up following Curly Nikki's recipe, which is;

Henna

GreenTea

Honey

Henna Mixture

I used up about half of the packet of henna; I think it's about 50g (the packet is not labelled but I'm guessing it is 100g). I brewed 2 bags of green tea in 1.5 (approx) cups of water and let it cool down before adding to henna. The quantity of honey I used maybe be about 2 tablespoonfuls, I added honey when I was ready to apply the henna.

I was aiming for a mashed potato consistency when mixing the henna but I added a little too much green tea. 

The henna I have is Body Art Quality, with nothing (not other herbs) mixed in, so as par my research after mixing up and I left it to stand overnight for dye release. 

16 hours later I had this...

I applied henna on Clean, washed, damp hair and applied it as I would conditioner, making sure all strands were coated. Afterwards, I covered my hair in cling film and tied a scarf over it and went on with my day.

4 hours later, I was ready to rinse out as it was beginning to drip down my neck and face. 

I used loads of water in the rinsing process and stopped when the water started to run clear, I thought I was done but...I had twigs like particles left in my hair, so I used a cotton T-shirt to soak up some of the water and kind of 'fluffed' up my hair to remove the particles before proceeding to rinse again. Next time I will sift the henna powder before usage. 

Post henna

I expected my hair to feel 'hard' but it was surprising moisturised, I guess because of the honey. I followed up with a moisturizing deep conditioner all the same before putting my hair in twists. With BAQ henna, there is no drastic colour change and the henna tint takes a few days to oxidise and become more noticeable. 

Anyway, a few days later under sunlight I did notice the slight colour tint and I am happy with that. 

Longing for colour

Recently I have felt like colouring my hair but I have been reading up on (commercial/boxed) hair colour and decided against it.

The decision to colour afro textured hair is one that has to be thoroughly researched and prepared for; preparation before colouring, who does the colouring and subsequent care for the hair after colouring. It is advised to have hair colour done by a professional and I know I do not have any such professional around (I will not let a Nigerian hair stylist loose on my hair with colour, no way).

Anyway, I started to look into henna treatments and decided to go that way for now until I can get my hair professionally coloured or I get over the longing for colour (lol). I was able to get hold of some henna (at Emjay supermarket, Victoria Island) and would be 'henna-ing' sometime this week.