4b henna. before & after

rakakan · 10-02-2010, 09:47 PM

I've been wearing my hair natural for years and am still learning what works for me.

My hair is prematurely gray. I wore it that way for about a year but grew weary of people assuming I was older than my late twenties and blatantly staring. I suppose an afro is one thing, but a gray one is too much for pedestrians.
I refuse to use hair dye so I tried henna & indigo for the first time. The process was easier than I expected.

I just randomly sectioned my hair to keep it contained and untangled. The first two are before photos, the last two are after. I anticipated an orange disaster with all that gray. But I think it works.

Still, I look forward to the day when my hair is a uniform salt color (a-la Claire Huxtable's mom on the Cosby Show...yeah, google that one kids).

MsCurlyBella · 10-03-2010, 09:45 AM

Great job! It covered the gray's very nicely!

dearheart15 · 10-03-2010, 12:03 PM

Great results! Do you plan to henna frequently?

AllyT · 10-03-2010, 01:05 PM

[quote=rakakan;1486481]I've been wearing my hair natural for years and am still learning what works for me.

My hair is prematurely gray. I wore it that way for about a year but grew weary of people assuming I was older than my late twenties and blatantly staring. I suppose an afro is one thing, but a gray one is too much for pedestrians.
I refuse to use hair dye so I tried henna & indigo for the first time. The process was easier than I expected.

Very nice results. How long did you have to leave it on? My hair is hennaed, and the henna did make my hair reddish which I want to get rid of. I'm afraid I'll have to use indigo to do it because hair color doesn't take well to hennaed hair (or so I've heard). Can indigo be applied alone? Where did you get your products? Thanks!

rakakan · 10-03-2010, 04:39 PM

Thanks for the encouragement/compliments everyone!

@dearheart15, I'd planned to henna maybe once every 6 weeks. I like the way it makes my hair feel.
However, I am struggling with how to find my natural curl or zigzag or whatever shape my hair is prepared to take. What little curls or naps I do have don't clump together with any consistency. Tends to be fluffy/straight like don king or random tight naps like kunte kinte. Hoping to find advice on products/routines here on the forum!

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllyT

Very nice results. How long did you have to leave it on? My hair is hennaed, and the henna did make my hair reddish which I want to get rid of. I'm afraid I'll have to use indigo to do it because hair color doesn't take well to hennaed hair (or so I've heard). Can indigo be applied alone? Where did you get your products? Thanks!

@AllyT, Yup, you can use indigo alone. It will generally dye your hair jet black or blue/black.
I used an indigo/henna mix, 2 parts indigo & 1 part henna in order to get a more brown result. I left it on for 2 hours. I read that most people make the mistake of leaving it on too long, which yields a very red color. Indigo dye releases faster than henna, so the first 2 hours the indigo is really working to dye your hair dark. Then, indigo rapidly breaks down and loses effectiveness. At that point, only the henna is active. So, beyond the first two hours, you're just dying your hair red.

Try the "henna for hair" forum. There's lots of info there. I got my products from mehandi. The finely sifted henna for "african hair" was surprisingly easy to rinse out.

Ekaette · 10-03-2010, 08:56 PM

Oh wow it looks super moisturized in the afters

AllyT · 10-04-2010, 02:59 PM

Thanks for the info. I think the henna I have is mehandi.

QVCDiva · 10-04-2010, 08:16 PM

You did a great job!

AllyT · 11-13-2010, 10:54 AM

Rakakan, are you still here??

Did you also buy your indigo from mehandi.com? I was wrong - my henna is not mehandi. It's a different brand that I bought off Amazon.com. I'm not sure it's 100% henna, either.. I'm going to be a little more careful about what I get into if I choose to color my hair this way again.

rakakan · 02-26-2011, 07:21 PM

Hi AllyT

Sorry, I haven't checked this forum in a while. I use the indigo from mehandi as well. Sounds like you might have learned the hard way to be very careful to use only body quality, finely sifted henna. Hope you had a better experience after the first time around!

My "new" project is trying to find my natural or defined curl pattern, if I even have one. Right now, the only way I get those cute clump curls is if I braid or twist my hair. Otherwise it's a cottony, cloudy 'fro. So, I've drifted back to the forum to find a couple products that may help. We shall see.

oladaydreamer · 02-27-2011, 07:58 PM

the henna did really well on your hair.

P.P. · 03-07-2011, 07:22 PM

wow that's excellent!

rakakan · 10-11-2011, 08:32 PM

Still at it, with the henna. I rarely add indigo anymore. I do not care for the smell.

I add alma to keep the red muted and less bright/fiery. From what I've read, the alma is helping me hold onto my curls as well.

belwillcoily · 10-21-2011, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakakan

Still at it, with the henna. I rarely add indigo anymore. I do not care for the smell.

I add alma to keep the red muted and less bright/fiery. From what I've read, the alma is helping me hold onto my curls as well.

So...can you post some pics of your henna'd hair with the amla added? (pretty please!)

afrosheenqueen · 10-21-2011, 03:30 PM

Oh wow! That worked really well. Now I know indigo gives great gray coverage. Nice job!

rakakan · 12-12-2011, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by belwillcoily

So...can you post some pics of your henna'd hair with the amla added? (pretty please!)

Sorry this took so long. I stopped using alma for a bit to brighten things up. But here is my last photo with alma from Oct.

naturalnewb · 12-13-2011, 12:44 AM

Oh wow, that looks great! I didn't realize you'd get such great gray coverage from henna. Now I'm torn...I was going to go the commercial dye route, now I might change my mind. Your color looks awesome.

cysyca · 12-13-2011, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllyT

Rakakan, are you still here??

Did you also buy your indigo from mehandi.com? I was wrong - my henna is not mehandi. It's a different brand that I bought off Amazon.com. I'm not sure it's 100% henna, either.. I'm going to be a little more careful about what I get into if I choose to color my hair this way again.

Be careful when buying henna and make sure it's BAQ (body art quality). I buy my henna from Mehandi. I use1 part henna & 2 part indigo, mix together after the henna has set overnight. My hair came out dark brown and I love the results.

Mini Twist After Henna

Sent from my iPhone using CurlTalk

rakakan · 12-14-2011, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naturalnewb

Oh wow, that looks great! I didn't realize you'd get such great gray coverage from henna. Now I'm torn...I was going to go the commercial dye route, now I might change my mind. Your color looks awesome.

Thank you!
I'm glad I went the natural route rather than the chemical route. For me, the point of having natural hair is to have healthy hair. Chemicals just don't fit into my goal of healthy hair.

An aside, I actually use hennasooq body art quality henna now. While mehandi is a great resource for information, the price point is one of the highest for henna. More economical options abound elsewhere.

Jo Somebody · 12-22-2011, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakakan

Quote:

Originally Posted by belwillcoily

So...can you post some pics of your henna'd hair with the amla added? (pretty please!)

Sorry this took so long. I stopped using alma for a bit to brighten things up. But here is my last photo with alma from Oct.

Cor blimey!!!! Your hair is LOVELY!