Description
How to get the best results from Natural Henna:
Henna is a natural plant, and it grows in very hot climates. Henna is a natural herbal powder used for colouring hair. As a natural plant it makes only one colour in orange-reddish tones.
Henna is natural and also possesses the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. Moreover, it also restores the scalp balance (acid-alkaline balance) without tempering the natural balance of your hair. It nourishes your scalp and hair and acts as a good conditioner for your hair to help it grow faster. Henna powder is mixed into a henna paste, which can be used to dye your hair (permanent until it grows out), or to create henna body art designs (temporary) on the skin.
Method to use henna for hair to get the best result:
As henna by itself produces reddish tones, it is mixed with few other herbs to get burgundy or darker shades, better lustre and smoothness. Gooseberry powder, shikakai powder, fenugreek seeds powder are some of the herbal powder you can mix to pure henna powder. Some of the herbal henna is already mixed with these ingredients. You can add 5gms/10 gms of these ingredients to 100 gms of henna and create your own herbal tonic mix for healthy and lustrous hair.
How to make the paste or henna mask for hair?
Boil water and add 1 or 2 teaspoons of black tea to it. Let it boil for ¾ minutes and allow it to cool a bit. When it is luke warm, then add the henna powder gradually and mix well. In India we generally use an iron bowl to mix and keep the henna paste. Iron adds to the darkness of the colour. But you can mix it in any steal or glass bowl. The mixture should be as thick and homogeneous as the cake batter because applying the thick layer is important for the desired results. Cover the henna mixture with a plastic wrap or just a lid and let it rest for 6 to 10 hours in order to let it release its colours. You can also add egg, olive oil and yogurt to henna for conditioning of dry hair.
One can add 2 spoons of curd, an egg, a teaspoon of coffee, juice of half lemon to the mixture as these ingredients add to the conditioning of the hair and scalp. Some people don’t like the smell of egg and avoid that. It is entirely up to you if you wish to add any of these ingredients.
How to apply?
Divide your hair into sections, wear gloves and apply henna paste on each strand of hair with brush and cover nicely.
After applying henna cover it with cling film or wear a shower cap. It will keep the henna moist and also trap the heat released from the head. Heat helps release more dark colour.
Let it be for one hour to three hour depending upon the time available with you. In one hour also we can get good dark colour but longer duration ensures more burgundy hues.
Rinse it thoroughly with luke warm water. It is advised to shampoo your hair after 24 hours after rinsing your hair. If you oil your hair then you should surely oil your hair for few hours after drying your hair. If oiling your hair then you should always use luke warm oil. It soothes the nerves and nourishes the scalp. Shampoo your hair afterwards with a natural and sulphate free shampoo.
If using henna to colour your hair for the first time and wish to have dark colour then you are advised to apply once every week for the first month. Afterwards you can use it fortnightly or monthly depending upon your hair colour.
