henna

How to use Henna and Indigo to naturally darken brown Hair?

Nayantara Karnik · July 22, 2015 · 48 Comments

Since I hit my 30s, I’ve been noticing greys creeping up one by one. Maybe not 50 shades, but enough to be noticeable! Sadly, most of them turn up around the crown of my head and end up being very visible. Ever since I decided to grow out my hair, I’ve been trying to take care of it better and part of that was to stop using chemical dyes on it.

I just got tired of the whole cycle of getting damaged and split ends, cutting it then wondering why I wasn’t able to grow it out. So around 3-4 years ago I decided to start using henna. My henna of choice is the one by Shahnaz Hussain, and I’ve been happy with it. I actually like the smell and love the way it conditions my hair.

But, from 8-10 greys or so, I now have loads more…sigh, the perils of ageing!! And, I really detest those bright orangey-red threads running though my hair. I literally had nightmares of my whole head turning a ghastly orange. After the usual internet research, I found there were 2 options to naturally colour hair dark-brown to black, though it doesn’t seem to be used commonly in India. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Both these methods involve the use of indigo, and as fate would have it, when I happened to step into the local organic store a few days later, I spotted it on the shelf, so picked up a pack. This is the one that I’m using, and it’s available on flipkart and amazon, probably other sites too. Since then I’ve used it twice, and I did get better results the 2nd time I used it. Just like plain henna, it builds up colour with each use.

By the way this is the same indigo used to dye denim, and it can’t be used on it’s own, it’s always used in combination with henna. So, if you would like to know how to use it, read on ladies (and gents)!

So, the thing about the indigo molecule is that it literally needs the henna to hold onto the hair shaft and they are used together either as a 1-step or 2-step process. In a 2-step process, you get a deep blue-black colour, which I understand colours even lighter toned hair and the 1-step gives you a deep auburn to dark-brown shade.

#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Wrapping up!!

Swati · March 31, 2015 · 17 Comments

Holy moly! We have reached the first quarter end of the new year and with that I am so happy to say that we have successfully concluded the hair care series on the blog.

I hope it was an equally helpful series and you enjoyed it like I did while conducting it. Of course, I would have loved more interaction from all the participants but I do understand your own time constraints and hectic lifestyle. Many times even I face the same issue – I go through and article but I am either too tired to comment and share my opinions or I just want to get it over with and go and sleep 🙂

Anyways, I know I missed out the last four days right from the weekend. Basically, my mom has come unplanned and you know how it is with girls and their moms, especially after wedding! It has been countless time of gossips and discussing this and that stuff and rearranging my household. Well, she brings some order to my extremely chaotic household!

But, I do hope that you did not miss out on your weekend hair care routine which is something you CANNOT shortchange on ANY day!

And, as a wrap up, I had planned to leave you all with some really quirky hair care posts I had done in the past. Some of them are actually very useful, even though they look really weird.

Hair Care Basics

Whether you have long hair or a pro at your hair care, re-doing the basics never really hurt anyone. So, we have everything right from do’s and donot’s for the hair to decoding your hair textures to implements on how to apply hair oil to your scalp.

Washing Up!

What is a more crucial routine than cleansing your skin or hair and we often make mistakes in this one routine than any other! Rinse and repeat is a formula of old. We have to devise our own formulas with respect to our hair depending on its needs. So, tell me do you use a natural-shampoo-cum-conditioner to wash your hair? Or, may be you have added a natural twist to your shampoo?

How long and how often should henna be for? {Hair Care}

Swati · June 2, 2013 · 31 Comments

So, I was applying Lush Caca last Saturday when I had a chat with my friend. As I have mentioned earlier as well that to get color from Lush Cacas, one has to keep it for like 4-8 hours and that too it doesn’t come in one application! One HAS to apply it 2-3 times in a row to color the hair which lasts for 2-3 months.

Now that I have been smitten with chestnut color since long, I really wanted to follow the coloring process like my earlier attempt with the Cacas. But, this time my friend intervened and gave me an advise that henna, howsoever good it might be, should not be applied on hair regularly!

Henna is extremely drying for hair and if applied often or kept for long time on the hair, makes the hair brittle and thins it and makes it break easily!! She says to get the color, henna should not be kept on hair for more than three hours and there should be a gap of at least 2 weeks in the applications!

Well, hearing this, I decidedly sobered down on the thought of applying Cacas in a row and waited for 2 weeks to passby for the second application and this Saturday, I kept henna only for 4 hours. Yes, a delay of 1 hour due to household chores and my reluctance to wash it off early!

But, there is an upside to it. Henna color keeps on building in the hair for a good number of 3 days after the application even if you wash the hair on alternate days. This at least holds true for Lush cacas. Don’t know about regular henna, though!

Anyways, what do you think? How often should henna be applied and for how long?

Related Posts:

High Frequency Treatment for Hair

Hard Water affecting Hair?

Availability of Indigo Powder? {Reader’s Query}

Swati · February 16, 2012 · 5 Comments

Hey Everyone, Gayathri had asked me to post this query and I do hope some of you might be able to answer her. I can’t 🙁 So here goes her question.

I have brownish-blackish hair – upto my waist.
I have applied henna/mehendi and have found that it makes hair really soft. A few greys are popping out and the henna does a good job of coating them a deep red shade.
But, I want to change them to black.
I have read that Indigo powder (similar to henna) makes the dyes the hair blue – which means henna’s red + Indigo’s blue = Bluish- black.
I am finding it very very difficult to get indigo powder (in India).
1. Can anyone suggest where to get the indigo powder from? If an online store, have you ever bought anything there before?
2. Have you had any experience with Indigo powders?

So, have you guys any idea of where one can get Indigo powder? Btw, pure indigo powder is extremely hard to obtain ad is expensive too. So, it is always better to buy for reliable sources to ensure minimum or no adulteration of the powder. And, btw, Lush also has one of their Cacas in Indigo variants but I have had it from one reliable source that it doesn’t do anything for gray hair which is pretty sad!!!

Biotique Bio Henna fresh Powder Hair Color {Product Review}

Swati · October 6, 2011 · 5 Comments

So, this is more of a experience than a review coz I have no idea of the hair color it gives and I can’t say how much of the grays it will cover.

color chart

Price: Rs 199 for 90 gms

Ingredients

Mehendi (63%), Aam Beej (8%), Neem (5%), Arjun (8%), Gambhari (6%), Daruhaldi (5%), Kikar Gaund (5%)

Packaging
I thought it would be good to speak about packaging to while reviewing the products coz they have a lot of influence in the mindset. So, the jar is very much similar to the other Biotique products and frankly I don’t like the green jars and tubs they have. Very unusual color and very tacky. The worst is that this tub has a false bottom which pretty much reduces the quantity of the product. And, the tub is not full to the brim, probably only 3/4ths which is really bad. I wish they would at least consider providing a proper quantity.

My Experience

Well, I have mainly used the henna for henna gloss and it has definitely been a good experience. Regarding the product, I would say that the ingredients sound fabulous and the smell of the henna does make me feel that it is real enough. One thing I have noticed is that it doesn’t dry the hair like other hennas do. So, I would definitely vote for it. And, yup, I shall definitely buy this henna in case I need it ever in the future.

The only disadvantage is that the quantity is too less. It lasted me 4 times, that’s it and that was henna gloss application. A proper henna application would take lot more of henna and probably for long hair, one application would finish a jar. And, for medium hair, it will probably serve 2-3 times, that’s it!!! And, for that quantity and usage, it is definitely very costly. But, much cheaper than Lush Cacas and equally natural.

My Recommendation

I think it is worth a try, definitely.

Have you used this product? Pin It

Henna Gloss Recipe {Hair Care}

Swati · September 12, 2011 · 7 Comments

Applying henna is a very very tedious process so I found out that there is a simpler version of henna – Henna Gloss. It is easy to prepare, apply and wash off. So, I tried this one out.

What is Henna Gloss?

Henna is mixed with a conditioner and applied to the hair.

Henna Gloss vs Henna

Henna is drying for the hair and can make the hair straight and straw-like for people with dry hair. Henna doesn’t suit everyone and then, applying henna is a really tedious process. One has to make sure that the color doesn’t get on the hands or neck or ears or forehead and dripping is an issue if henna becomes too thin. And, applying thick henna is not easy as it doesn’t spread easily on the hair and very often, you need help to apply henna. Henna makes the hair straighter so people with curly hair who love their curls hate using henna on their hair.

So, henna is mixed in little quantity with henna to make it easy to apply henna, it helps with color touch ups for people who use henna and the roots begin to show and to avail the conditioning properties of henna without compromising on the hair texture. This also doesn’t affect the curls like henna does.

Henna Gloss Recipe

Often, henna is mixed with a conditioner which doesn’t have any silicone or protein in a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 to make the texture of the mixture into a creamy paste just like those of the hair colors. The conditioners which have silicone or protein in them do not mix well with henna so try not to use such a conditioner as the results might not be that good.

My Henna Gloss Recipe

Since I wasn’t supposed to use a conditioner with protein or silicone, I thought of using the only natural conditioner I had – Biotique Watercress. I am yet to review it but for those interested, its an amazing conditioner. And, I had Biotique Henna Powder too which is again I found out amazing. I shall review that too but I am not using it for coloring purposes so I don’t know how much useful my review would be. But, one thing which I noticed was that when I mixed the powder with amla juice, it smelled exactly like the henna leaves smell when ground into a paste. Coming back to the recipe, I am elaborating it below.

Ingredients

5 table spoons Biotique Henna Powder
Amla Juice to make paste of Henna Powder
5 table spoons Biotique Watercress Conditioner

Method

I use amla juice because one should use acidic liquid to activate the henna color and also amla is very good conditioner for hair. You can use water or any liquid of your choice. Make a paste of henna powder and leave it overnight. Next day morning, mix in the conditioner. Ok, since Biotique conditioner is very watery and thin in consistency so my mixture became thin in consistency but it wasn’t dripping but it wasn’t creamy which you would get of you use creamy conditioners. Btw, you can’t use Dove as it has a cone ingredient in it. Anyway, I used Biotique conditioner because of another reason too – I didn’t want to use any heavy conditioner on my scalp. I use conditioners only below my ear level. You might want to consider that point also. Anyways, after all that mixing done, the mixture is prepared and applied on the hair. It is easy to apply and then, leave it on for as long as you desire. If you are going for a deep conditioning treatment which henna gloss is meant to be, keep it on for 3-4 hours as I did. I kept it on for 3 hours I guess. While washing off, use a conditioner to wash off all the gunk from your head. And, make sure your hair is completely clean before stepping out. Do not shampoo.

Results

without flash

My hair is shinier and so soft that I really don’t have words for it. But, the results of this was damn good. My hair is more hydrated and silkier too. And, my curls are looking great. And, I do think that there is a little bit of brown which my hair caught on to but I am not very sure of that. Next time, I shall take a before photograph too to see the difference in color and texture. But, I think my hair is looking awesome!!!

with flash

I would definitely recommend this treatment for your hair. If you don’t want henna color on your hair, you can use more of conditioner and less of henna in the original ratio of 1:4 or 1:3 as I pointed out earlier in the post.

Natural Henna Manicure {Nail Care}

Swati · September 7, 2011 · 2 Comments

Ok, this is not a very welcome option for every one. But, still, I would like to put this up. You all know what Henna is what multitude of benefits it offers. So, did you know that henna is anti-bacterial and the smell of henna acts as repellant for mosquitoes and insects. That was one of the chief reasons of applying it on the body and of course, later on, it became famous for body art too. There is one more major usage of henna.

Henna when applied to nails makes nails strong, healthy and shiny. Yes, unfortunately, it stains the nails too so they become orangey in color and the nail has to grow out completely to get rid of that color. But, applying henna prevents the nails from any fungal and bacterial infections too. And, I happen to like henna on my nails though the nails look really bad when the color reaches the middle but it does keep my nails pretty healthy for at least a month or two. So, try applying henna next time to the nails too and you can always use the nail paints to cover the orange color.

Btw, here, I am not talking of the commercially available henna cones. I am referring to the fresh henna leaves ground and then applied on the hands and nails. The henna available in the market have a load of chemicals mixed in them so I don’t really like applying from henna cones. Instead, plucking tender leaves of the plant and drying them is a better option to keep an unlimited supply of natural henna at home for whatever purpose you want whether it is coloring your hair or for body art.

Have you ever tried this?