My first Henna

I have been wanting to try henna for a while now, but a little intimidated by all the reported mess, and work, and waiting...not to mention I'm never good at remembering to order stuff online - I'd much rather get it on the ground.

So when I happened by the big Indian grocery store near my job I got really happy when I saw a small section of beauty products - including boxes of Jamila henna!!! I picked up a box and off I went, extremely excited to try something new.

So last Friday evening I mixed up the henna according to Curly Nikki's henna gloss recipe. I used 1 cup of green tea with lemon brewed with 3 tea bags and some HE Hydralicious conditioner until it was a nice pudding like consistency.

I covered the mixture and let it sit overnight.

I washed my hair and let it air dry before application. The next evening I applied the henna, covered with a plastic cap, a stocking cap, and an old tshirt (it was hot and the stuff was starting to drip something awful and I wanted to spare my sheets) I applied it as I would a perm, and smoothed it through really well. The mix was great and and made for a really easy application.

It also washed out really easily the next morning. I rinsed all the henna out then cowashed a few times. I had to rinse it a few times because I kept feeling grit in my hair. After, my hair immediately felt stronger. I've read this before in other posts and had no idea what that meant until I actually felt it - not hard, just strong...in the greatest way possible. I used SheaMoisture's Deep Treatment Masque and left it on for about an hour after, did a cold rinse and styled as usual.

I had no idea there was any color change until I just put these pictures side by side. Its VERY subtle - in the pic it looks like I just change the setting of the picture to add a sepia tone. And it doesn't really show in the picture, but my coils were more defined than usual on my naked hair. I hear that's a good sign of moisture retention and hair health - me likey!!!

It was kinda smelly, pretty messy - but nowhere near as I imagined. I will definitely henna again - and I'm sure my next venture will be even smoother. I definitely consider that a success!