Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

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Fri, 2010-09-03 07:57
#1
adrialanta
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Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

I have the Henna (Yemen) for Gray Hair Medium brunette Kit by Ancient Sunrise from Mehendi, and I have a few questions on how to use.  I have medium to dark brown hair 3c/4a (natural no chemicals) with gray strands througout, but not salt & pepper, more brown than gray.  I have used semi perm hair color and Surya Cream Henna, but not in the last 6 months. My goal is to cover my gray, get the conditioning benefits from the henna treatment and hopefully it will also loosen my curl pattern. 

The instructions say after mixing the indigo with the henna, leave it in for 2 hours.  Is the 2 hours long enough to get the benefits of the henna treatment, if I leave the mix in longer than 2 hours, will my hair turn black, which I don't want?

Also, how long does it take for this type of henna (Yeman) to release color?  The instructions say over night or 12 hours, is there a faster way?  I have some green tea to mix with the henna, using purified water, is that OK or should I use some type of fruit juice like apple or both tea and juice? 

Finally,  I also purchased 100g of Celebration Henna and 100g of Indigo, I was undecided on which Henna would work the best. I have been reading that Celebration has a really fast color release and covers gray really well.  My biggest concern is not turning my gray to a loud red or orange or some weird color. This is my first time using henna in powder format and I have never worked with indigo.  What is the best and easiest approach, using the Kit ingredients or using the Celebration and the indigo if needed? 

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated....I am planning to do it this weekend.

Thanks

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Fri, 2010-09-03 08:19
Carrie
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

Leaving the hendigo mix on for 2 hours and no more will ensure that you don't get too much red, which will happen if you leave the mix on longer and the slow-acting henna deposits a lot more dye than the fast-acting indigo. Two hours is enough time for henna to do its thing for conditioning and depositing enough color to help the indigo work. It's important to keep your head wrapped airtight in plastic wrap or a processing cap, and then covered with something warm like a winter beanie or scarf. Warmth is really important for good uptake.

You can get a faster dye release using green tea but be *sure* to test the henna paste for dye release on your palm before you add the indigo paste to it. You want a bright orange stain on your palm after 1 minute. If it's not staining that bright, don't use it yet. A splash of something more acidic like juice will help with gray coverage. Be sure you add that at the beginning, before dye release, you don't want to add it right before you add the indigo paste.

Applying gentle heat (like 80'F) to the henna paste for a *short* time will speed up dye release. You can do that by putting it outside for a half hour if it's hot where you are, or putting it on your car's dashboard, or under a table lamp. Do not put it in the oven or the microwave as too much heat will (partially at least) kill the henna dye, and then you'll get wimpy color from the indigo as well.

Either your kit or the Celebration & indigo will work.

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Fri, 2010-09-03 08:21
(Reply to #2)
Carrie
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

Forgot to say, also make sure your hair (especially the roots area) is super, super clean so indigo will work well. Wash it the same day you apply the hendigo, for sure.

Here is our FAQ on troubleshooting gray coverage:

http://forums.hennapage.com/node/22

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Fri, 2010-09-03 08:50
adrialanta
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

Thank you the tips really are helpful.  I had been reading on this forum and others where many people leave the henna in their hair for many hours, 6 or more or over night, so you are saying this is not necesary for what I am trying to accomplish? (gray color & condition)

If so, that is a big relief for me, because I thought that the long hours with henna in your hair was the only way to get the full effect of the conditioning benefits.

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Fri, 2010-09-03 08:57
adrialanta
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

one other question, after reading the tips page for coloring gray, I have the Zizyphus Spina Christi & Juniper Shampoo bar, would that be sufficient to clean my hair, or should I use a clarifying shampoo?

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Fri, 2010-09-03 11:41
(Reply to #5)
Jen
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

It works just fine for me. I would try, and if you're struggling with gray coverage after that... then switch to something stronger like a clarifying shampoo or even dish soap. Most people don't have to go that far to get good coverage though.

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Sat, 2010-09-04 15:34
(Reply to #6)
xyz
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

Adrialanta

To your question on post #3...you understood Carrie correctly.  You don't need to go beyond 2 hours for the henna to condition your hair, and a couple of hours is enough for the hendigo to work without giving a chance for the henna to overpower the indigo and make your grays extra-extra red.  Like she was saying, indigo is very fast acting, and then demises quickly, while henna keeps going and going...

I'm one of the people who can vouch that, when doing a hendigo, the gray strands will tend to turn "browner" if you don't let your mix on too long.  I was making that mistake and then trying to dull down the glowing red-grays by doing indigo glosses...Once I started doing shorter applications (eventually going from 4 hours to 2) I've found that I'm happier with the way the grays blend in.  Now they turn sort of a golden-reddish BROWN rather than bright orange-red, which is way more complimentary to the rest of my dark brown hair. 

********

I've washed my hair with the Sage-Rosemary and the Ylang-Ylang shampoo bars before henna, and they've worked fine.  Just make sure you rinse well (as you would do with any other cleansing product). 

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Tue, 2010-09-14 14:46
(Reply to #7)
irinadax
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

what ratio of henna and indigo do you use to achieve this effect?

thank you

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Fri, 2010-09-17 09:51
(Reply to #8)
xyz
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

I've slowly gone from half-and-half to 1/3 henna (with amla) plus 2/3 indigo (approx 67% indigo).  I leave it on 2 to 2.5 hours, no more.  This mix gives me a color that is ever-so-slightly darker than my natural shade, but as the indigo fades a bit, the grays remain deep golden reddish brown (each strand is a little different, but they all blend well with the rest of my hair) and the overall color lightens up somewhat, to the point where I can see my natural highlights coming through again.

Another thing I do (sometimes) is that I separate about 10% of my indigo paste, mix the rest of it with my henna, hendigo the top sections of my hair with this mix, then add the 10% indigo to the remaining hendigo paste and apply that to my lower sections of my hair.  So I'm virtually creating a 2-color process (very subtle on dark hair) with different ratios of hendigo.  My top layers are a little redder than the "inside" of my hair; it looks very natural, especially if I braid or otherwise style my hair so the sections overlap.  I did a similar thing for my friend, who wanted the area around the face lighter than the back of her hair.  I carefully mixed different ratios of indigo-henna (I used a kitchen scale to measure all the powders).  I did 50:50 in the fringe, 65:35 over her temples, and 75:25 indigo:henna on the very back.  The color gradation looks really nice, not obvious at all--in fact, I don't think anyone can tell a thing about the varying shades, but they do notice her hair looks awesome. I wouldn't recommend this on light hair (it might end up looking like stripes) but on medium-brown to dark hair, it's quite easy to do.  It's like "painting" highlights on!

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Mon, 2010-09-20 13:39
(Reply to #9)
irinadax
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Re: Henna Kit forGray Hair ??

this is very informative and very helpful -thanx.

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