FocusPositives

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclaimer for more information.

My natural hair color is black. I have lots of premature whites growing in. Love them or hate them a lot of women are growing out their greys these days. It’s also an opportunity to have fun with colors. I love henna, it completely covers my white hair and makes it shine brilliantly with glowing red and orange hues. Henna gives my course hair softness it’s never had before. I especially like that henna is all natural and doesn’t contain any chemicals. My biggest problem was I had a hard time coloring my hair without dripping it all over my clothes, the ground, my face…very messy! Everything I touched was dirtied with henna. The process took me hours and I wouldn’t know if I covered all my hair roots. Rinsing the henna off was enough of a chore, to top it off, dishes and tools used to prepare the henna had to be washed also. What a chore! I am lazy, I like to keep things simple. I’ll show you how I cut my henna process by half and eliminate part of my cleanup with one simple tip.

How to prepare henna:

Materials

• Box of body art quality henna
• Juice of grapefruits or lemons (orange juice shown below)
• Strainer
• Two Ziploc bags <– this is the key

Note: Metal may chemically interact with the henna and ruin the dye, so DON’T USE anything with metal in it when mixing the henna. Ex. use plastic spoons or glass bowls not metal spoons or bowls etc.

Directions

Henna is ready when it  changes from green to brown.

1. Double up the Ziploc bags. The Ziploc bags will be your mixing bowl and application tool. Pour the box of henna powder into the Ziploc bag.
2. Juice half of a grapefruit first. Using the strainer, pour the juice into the bag. Carefully push air out and seal both layers. If you feel comfortable you can use one bag. I use the second bag for security.
3. Massage the bag gently to mix the juice into the henna. Continue to add juice until you reach the consistency of super thick yogurt.
4. Set sealed bag in a warm place (under the sun, on a heater set to the lowest heat, a warm spot in the house). Wait about 24hrs or until the dye in the henna are released.

How to easily apply henna on your own hair:

You will be less tired if you have this type of dryer

Materials

• A henna bag prepared 24hrs ahead of time
• Pair of plastic gloves (reusable)
• Take out chopsticks (reusable)
• Plastic wrap, enough to wrap around your head.

Directions

1. Cut a small hole at the corner of the Ziploc bag.
2. Squeeze henna directly onto the roots. Push henna into roots, work evenly to end of white/gray hair growth.
3. Wrap head with plastic wrap and leave henna on for 3-6 hours. You can shorten the time to 1-3 hours, color will be less intense.
4. To make colors stronger and come out faster add heat with a hair dryer alternating between on and off.
5. Rinse hair clean with water only. (DON’T USE shampoo OR conditioner)
6. Wait at least 24hrs before shampooing.
7. The color will oxidize and get darker after a few days.
8. Repeat as often as you like. It’s 100% safe & natural.

My experiences with henna:

Ever since I learned the benefits of henna I’ve always used Reshma, 100% Henna. It’s been about 5 years now. It was cheap and easily accessible from my local Indian store. Often the packaging differed slightly but I was happy with this product. Recently the packs of henna I bought were going against the nature of henna and not releasing dyes but was still coloring my hair. This seemed odd and there were no guarantees to what I bought. This experience prompted me to look for safer options. I color my roots as often as every two weeks so I want something more safe to put my nerves at ease. I have mostly experiment with dark brown and 100% henna. I am looking forward to experimenting with other colors. In the interest of health, color and saving time, I found a few organic options to share with you.

I listed the pros and cons of each product below after using them. Brands are not listed in order of preference. I bought all my products below at full retail price at a local Harvest House store. I was not as web savvy at online shopping as now. If you like to shop online and save a few bucks, the affiliate links are listed below for your references.

My most used henna: Reshma, 100% henna

Reshma, 100% Henna is the cheapest, best texture and most convenient brand I have used. The only down fall is the inconsistency of quality. Lemons and oranges produces an orange copper color. Grapefruit gives my hair a redder tone that I like.

Pro:

• COVERAGE: 100% covers my whites
• APPLICATION: Easy to apply and sticks very well to my hair
• COLOR: Permanent, colors my hair orange brown to red-brown
• PRICE: Cheap, $2.99-$3.99 at local Indian store
• TEXTURE: Fine powder makes consistency easy to apply
• STORING: Can be prepared ahead of time and stored in freezer if you have left overs

Cons:

• ORGANIC: No
• PREPARATION TIME: Two day preparation
• CLEANUP: Easy, no dripping
• AUTHENTICITY: In some packs, colors did not release in preparation but still colored hair

Organic henna: Light Mountain Henna, Dark Brown

I like the fact Light Mountain Henna is organic and colors my hair a darker shade of brown that doesn’t have the copper orange tones. I just wish it didn’t flake as much while applying. I will add yogurt as suggested next time and give it another try to see if the texture improves.

Pro:

• ORGANIC: Yes
• COVERAGE: 100% covers my whites
• APPLICATION: One time preparation and application of indigo and henna
• COLOR: Permanent, colors my hair dark brown
• PREPARATION TIME: Saves time with same day preparation, 1 hour color release
• PACKAGING: Premixed indigo and henna in one pack

Cons:

• STORING: Can’t be prepare and stored if you have left overs
• TEXTURE: Powder becomes gritty after it’s mixed and doesn’t stick well to my hair
• CLEANUP: Henna mixture easily flakes off and drops all over the place

Organic henna: Light Mountain Henna, Color The Gray, Dark Brown

Overall I like the results of Light Mountain Natural’s Color the Gray Conditioner in Dark Brown. The color was much darker than using henna alone or the premixed indigo and henna packs. The color was dark brown with a tint of red.

Pro:

• ORGANIC: Yes
• COVERAGE: 100% covers my whites
• APPLICATION: Separate application of indigo makes color more rich than premixed combination of henna and indigo
• COLOR: Permanent, colors my hair dark brown
• STORING: Can prepare and store henna in freezer if you have left overs (Indigo has to be used the same day it’s prepared)
• PACKAGING: Separate packs of indigo and henna allow you to prepare henna ahead of time to release more dyes for a richer color and separate applications creates a blue undertone black color

Cons:

• PREPARATION TIME: Twice the work separately (Preparation, application, leave in and rinse off) for henna and Indigo
• TEXTURE: Powder becomes gritty after it’s mixed and doesn’t stick very well to my hair
• CLEANUP: Henna mixture easily flakes off and drops all over the place

Non-permanent henna : Surya Brasil, Dark Brown

Surya Brasil Henna Dark Brown Cream was the easiest one to use. Although it’s the most expensive, it’s also the most convenient when I needed to do small touch ups in the front. It’s especially great when I’m in a rush, it requires no preparation or cleanups.

Pro:

• ORGANIC: No
• COVERAGE: 100% coverage with white hair but the color is on the light side
• APPLICATION: Very easy and precise tip for retouching roots
• COLOR: Non-permanent, colors my hair a light brown
• PREPARATION TIME: No preparation time or clean up, it comes in ready for use
• STORING: Easy seal lid
• PACKAGING: Tub like toothpaste makes application very easy

Cons:

• PRICE: Expensive for a small tube
• QUANTITY: Not enough to color my whole head
• LASTING COLOR: Not permanent, it washes out in a few weeks

I want to try: Light Mountain Henna, Burgundy

Burgundy seems really nice. I like the purplish tint. I will update with pictures once I try this.