Henna Time!

*Doing the MC Hammer typewriter* oh oh oh oh oh oh oh! Here come's the Henna! lol!

From the moment I learnt about the many benefits of henna, I've been hooked - like, literally. At a point, I would henna weekly (it's that good) but these days, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day to get everything I want, done!

So what's the fuss about Henna? Well, henna is a natural dye and because it doesn't contain any of the chemicals used to bleach or color hair, it is safe to use on natural, relaxed or colored hair. Quite apart from its dyeing properties, henna also strengthens, adds shine and volume and coats hair strands thereby keeping it from any damage (or further damage).

Pure henna looks green to brown and will give your hair a red/auburn tinge. Should the package purport to give you any other color then it is not pure  henna and has probably been mixed with something else. While there are other very good natural plants that condition and dye hair black (Cassia Obovata a.k.a 'neutral henna' and Indigo respectively) they are completely different from henna even though they are normally grouped along with henna.

Anyway, so I'd been gagging to do a henna treatment because I hadn't had time to do one in over a month and had been postponing, juggling and trying to find one day when I could just kick back and do my thing.

After several attempts at creating enough time for myself, I finally decided to do it over a 2 day period as opposed to my customary one day treatment; which meant that I'd either be sleeping with henna in my hair or deep conditioner in my hair depending on how early I got the process started.

So I got my Godrej Nupur Henna (this is the only henna I use because not only is it body art quality but it's also mixed with 9 different Ayurvedic herbs which give an added boost to the already regenerative properties of henna) mixed it with boiling hot water, making sure it was not too watery and not too thick, then covered it and stored in a dry cool place.

Some 5 hours  later after the dye had released, I mixed in a little more hot water and some Vatika coconut oil for added softness. The consistency was now like cake batter so I  covered and put it aside. Time to wash my hair.

I clarified with my Optimum Therapy Ultimate Recovery Shampoo which claims to feature micro oil technology, penetrating the hair with micro beads of natural oils to help nourish, strengthen and protect hair. It also claims to:
 - nourish strands with natural extracts of coconut, olive, avocado and jojoba oils;
 - Rescue and smooth damaged hair shaft;
 - Remove all styling residue without stripping;
 - Restore intense moisturization from root tip

I really like this shampoo as it doesn't leave my hair with that 'stripped' feeling most other clarifying shampoos have so I guess its claims are not too far fetched.

I tied an old t shirt around my hair to soak up excess water and got my bowl of henna ready to apply, only for me to realise I had forgotten to bring some gloves from the salon! Drat! I was obviously going to end up with orange hands and finger nails for some time to come. Oh well, the show must go on :) (I did end up with orange hands in the end)

So I applied my mix all over my hair starting from the back and worked my way to the front - I've done this so many times that unlike my first time when I made a great big mess with globs of henna everywhere, I'm now able to apply my henna without dropping anything anywhere *patting myself on the back*

*Henna Tip - if you still haven't got the hang of applying henna and end up with henna all over your bathroom floor, you can put your henna in a ziplock bag, make a small cut on one end and apply like you would icing on a cake. You'll be able to control application better and will get less mess that way*

I then covered it with my processing cap, donned my satin bonnet and went to bed . In the morning, I did a thorough rinse, then followed up with a co wash and then went to the salon and deep conditioned for 30 minutes under a steamer. (My deep conditioner had my usual mix of honey, coconut oil, avocado oil, castor oil, olive oil with a few drops of rosemary and peppermint oil - giving me a nice tingly feeling on my scalp and very soft, moisturized strands).

I was too tired to style my hair into anything but my new found pantyhose tied puff  - so did that and finished my day up at the salon.

Next time I deep condition, I plan on mixing an at home recipe using avocado and honey - for some reason it's been on my mind and recently at the local supermarket, I keep seeing a batch of large ripe avocados!

The universe is conspiring with my thoughts :)