Now that you know all the benefits of henna on your hair from part 1 (What’s that?? You missed part 1! Well here it is), here’s how to reap the benefits and beautify your hair!
I’d like to reiterate the fact that you need 100% pure dried henna leaves, or it won’t have the same affect on your hair and it won’t be as healthy/healthy at all and it won’t be completely natural. Mehandi is pure henna-
Before you decide on a whim the day before a big event to henna your hair, just know it takes a few days to dye and for your hair to settle. It takes 12-24 hours for the dye to be ready, it has to sit on your hair for 2-4 hours and it takes 2-4 days for it to darken to a deep red (it starts out bright orange-ish).
In order to go from powdered leaves to hair dye you need a watered down acidic liquid. I used one part lemon juice to 4 parts water (ish). In a glass bowl (not metal, henna reacts adversely with metal and will ruin it) mix your watered down lemon juice with the henna until it reaches a slightly runny clay-like texture. Cover it with plastic wrap (I used an old grocery bag rubber banded on, since I don’t have any plastic wrap) and let it 12-24 hours. I mixed mine as soon as the mail at 3pm came and let it sit over night until I got around to doing it the next day around noon. It will look like a muddy cow pie and it will smell like a freshly cut hay field. I personally didn’t mind the smell, as I hail from farm country, but it does both some people. You can mix in some ground cloves to make it more fragrant (it will also enhance the red color).
I mixed mine in 2 bowls only because I lost my large glass bowl when I moved and I couldn’t fit it all in 1.
I used a 100 gram pack of henna powder and had leftovers. 100 grams is supposed to cover short hair and 200 grams is supposed to cover shoulder length hair. I have half of my head shaved and the rest of it is almost shoulder length, so I just went with 100 grams. I’d suggest mixing a little more then you think you’ll need to err on the side of caution. You can freeze the mixed paste to save for later if you end up with too much.
The next day when your ready to dye, add a little more water until its a creamy, yogurty paste. If its too runny it will drip all over the place and stain everything, as well as be too diluted. Put on some gloves (unless you want bright red hands for a few weeks), and start slathering generous portions of the henna glop on you hair. Start at the base of your neck and work your way up and over your head.
When its covered you want it to be thickly layered on your hair. Not thinly. thickly. Like your head is covered in clay. Then, cover you hair in plastic wrap and let it rest for 2-4 hours. I let mine on for 3 1/2 hours. Wear an old shirt because it will drip at some point. I covered my head in plastic wrap and an old plastic bag tied super tight because I was leaking too much.
If you get any on your face, wipe it quickly so you don’t turn colors. If you end up with orange skin, you can rub a little rubbing alcohol on it to get it off. Just be sure to moisturize your skin after you put alcohol on it. As you can see, I accidentally dyed my forehead orange.
With henna applied, covered in plastic wrap, and 3.5 hours later before I rinsed it out
Rinse it out until your rinse water is clear, not red-ish brown.
Right after I rinsed mine out I looked in the mirror and saw this:
I was scared. (I apologize if I’ve given any of nightmare from this picture, I am having nightmares too).
But seriously folks, it will be bright orange. But I PROMISE it darkens. It takes 2-4 days to darken and become red. You could already see a difference between when I rinsed it out at 4pm until I went to bed at 9:30pm. Here’s what it actually looks like after you rinse it-
Very orange.
Now, its darkened quite a bit and has become a lovely shade or red. I expect it to get even darker by Sunday =)
I will share a picture when it has completely finished darkening!
If you have any questions feel free to comment, Facebook or email me!! I love to help if I can!
Happy Henna-ing!!
~Courtney, The Crunchy Delinquent
Shared on LHITS DIY Linky!
Related articles
- Henna for Hair (Part 1) (thecrunchydelinquent.wordpress.com)
The Crunchy Delinquent 