Henna ginger

[SeleneBlackthorn]

Hi

I'm Selene and I'm new to the forum. I never really dyed my hair much (once when I was 16 and once a month ago), but I thought of beginning to dye it more frequently.

My main goal is actually to make it grow longer - it is currently 51.5cm and I want to reach at least 80cm...
I heard henna helps with hair growth, so I dyed it ginger (the last picture shows my original color and what I had right after dying it). However - I don't want to ruin my hair (since it has to grow!) so I came here for tips.

The recipe I used was:
250gr red henna
4 grapefruits
5 lemons
2 spoons of red paprika

I didn't really see any difference in quality before and after dying - my hair seemed a bit weaker at first, actually, probably from the lemon juice (perhaps I should use oranges instead.... ). I am not really certain how much longer it grows than before - but I dyed it almost 7 weeks ago, and the roots are about 1.5cm long. Is that good? or is it slow?

So.... Do you have any tips on dying with henna?
Which is the best frequency to dye it, considering hair growth and health as the main objective?
Which recipe do you recommend for it? (if you know a better one than mine)
Do you have any tips on how to make it healthier and longer in general?
Also... I thought of using a mix of black and red henna to make the tips dark brown... Do you think it would suit me?

[marthamagic;]

Yay another henna head, it looks lovely!

I don't have any tips for dying with the henna you use as I use the henna blocks from Lush as they're easy to mix up and get hold of.
However, as henna is non-damaging you can technically dye as often as you like, I do mine every 6 weeks or so, or whenever my roots get unbearable.
Your recipe seems good, as you have plenty of acid in the mixture to help the dye release, the henna blocks from Lush that I use require me to just pour boiling water on them but I also add lots of lemon juice, sugar and cinammon, I don't know if the cinammon makes a colour difference but it makes it smell better aha and I use the sugar to stop the henna from going flakey.

If you're finding your hair to be a bit dry after hennaing then you could add a bit of olive oil to your mix or just make sure you deep condition really well afterwards as henna can behave as a protein treatment in some ways.
I think it may be the grapefruit rather than the lemon being the more damaging in your henna though, try just using lemons or oranges as you said.

As for making your hair longer and healthier in general I'd cut out heat-styling if you do it and make sure you get a decent diet

[Inquisitress]

Lovely

[Member-I]

It's very nice

[SeleneBlackthorn]

Thanks everyone~

Wow Martha, I didn't know grapefruits could cause this... I actually used them to have less lemons I should be careful next time...
I don't really buy henna from any company, because you can get it really cheaply at the market here. I was told the powder henna is rather good quality, so I didn't consider any brand. It did bother me however, that the henna wasn'r exactly a paste, but more like mud. Maybe I should try to add sugar as well. How much sugar do you add?
I will definitely try adding olive oil. Thanks for all the tips!

[IceBear]

There is no such thing as black henna. Because the names you are using are red and black that makes me think it's not henna you are using but a henna mix that is frequently sold as pure henna but has all kinds of other junk in it including metallic salts which I really hope isn't the case. I have usedhenna for years so I can help you a little bit. The first thing I would suggest is to head on over to mehandi.com and go to their forum. The henna experts there will help you There is also tons of info on henna there that I think you'll find very useful.
And whatever you do do NOT use a chemical dye over your hair until you are certain there were no metallic salts in what you used. I'm talking your hair sizzling off literally.
Just saw what you said about cheap henna at the market.  Now it's really sounding like you probably got the bad stuff.
If you would like you can tell me the brand you used and I can see if I can figure out what was in it.

[SeleneBlackthorn]

I have actually read all the information online before dying my hair, I know that "black henna" is a completely different plant. I used the simple name, do people here expect me to write "Lawsonia Inermis" and "Indigofera Tinctoria"? What would that matter? The product is the same product, and that's what you say you want to buy when you buy it.

And as I said, it is not a brand. It is simple powder from the market which is sold by weight, not packed by a company. I had used it because cowerkers of mine said that they have used it many times (and bought from the same place), and it only made their hair better - that was the reason I decided to dye my hair  it in the first place.

My hair was dropping off a lot after the first time I dyed it, with chemical dye, but this time it seems to be the same as before - I did not see any damage since I dyed it, but I also do not see improvement.

[IceBear]

The people on this forum are wonderful people and only seek to help others,  as I was only offering my advice to help you. If nothing else this may help other people who have come across the all too common "henna" powder that is really a bunch of synthetic chemicals with some twigs and leaves thrown in, which is honestly what it sounded like to me from your description.
I meant no offence

It wasn't just the red and black that made me question the quality of what you used, it was the fact that you said you felt no improvement. I should have said that point as well. What color did it stain when you checked for dye release? Even with poor dye release you should feel improvement. Even if the grapefruit or too much protein dried out your hair a little you should feel thicker glossy strands. At the risk of offending you I'm going to have to question the quality of what you used. Not to say it's not necessarily pure henna, it just doesnt sound like good quality to me. ***runs and ducks for cover
You can use chamomile tea if you want to use less lemons, it works great.
Using what you did should have made a noticable difference to your hair.
Lemon juice is conditioning for the hair so it really shouldn't have felt weaker at any point after use, especially not after a full stregnth first time henna application.

[SeleneBlackthorn]

That's weird - I did expect my hair to feel better after dying it because the ladies who recommended me the henna said it improved theirs - and I did buy the same thing they bought (not a brand, but I did think that if it worked on others it would help me...). I suppose I should try to order the expensive stuff and see if it is any different, there is no other way to tell (maybe my hair is just THAT damaged?).
And sorry if I sounded over defensive, I don't like to be treated as a noob just because I chose the simpler term to refer to something.

[IceBear]

No no it wasn't that at all! It's not that I thought you weren't knowledgeable about henna. It's that the snythetic stuff is usually literally called "red henna" "brown henna"  "black henna" etc, and I thought you were saying the name on the package. Good quality henna isn't likely to be labled that way. So that was clue #1 and clue #2 was how your hair felt afterwards, which led me to believe the quality was poor, which is why I gave the advice that I did. I was never referring to you in a personal way. Hope that clears things up.
Even if your hair was damaged henna will make it feel different.
The only thing I can suggest is trying one that is proven to be quality henna. Other than that you can reference Mehandi and ask the forum there if you want additional advice before purchasing a different kind.

[ModifiedMomma]

Your results are lovely!!!  I am really excited to see how much ginger you've managed even over brown hair.    It suits you well.

I've just started using henna myself.  I have a bleached base currently, but my natural colour is brown.  I've not seen it in years, so I really don't even know how dark it is anymore OR how much grey I have (I suspect quite a bit).  I'm not sure if I'm going to keep bleaching my roots to lighten it for a brighter ginger or just let the natural come in and do henna over that. I've only got just a cm of roots right now, so I'll have to make a decision soon.

I've used Lush Caca Rouge and I didn't mind it at all.  I did not know about adding lemon juice to help release the dye, so I will be doing that this next round.  I think I'll also try adding the cinnamon and sugar, too.  The smell of Lush's henna gave me a bit of a headache. 

Since I'm in the US and Lush North America is in Canada, it takes quite a while to receive my shipment in the post.  I might try to find just red henna powder to try in the future.