Synthia said:
Hmm? I didn't know you could use henna with relaxers. Don't most relaxer instructions say not to apply over henna?
. Maybe that's my imagination.
I've always wanted to try it, maybe I can after all.
P.S. Vixen, your hair looks great in your avatar. It's really coming along!
Mine doesn't say not to use it w/ henna but I have heard that before. However, body art quality henna is different from compound henna. Compound henna (the kind you find in most store) can cause problems when it's mixed w/ metallic dyes. Vendors don't usually tell you they've added metallic dyes to their henna. Metallic dyes can react with relaxers and synthetic dyes in disasterous ways.
Body art henna never includes metallics. But you need to let the body art vendor know you want to use the henna for your hair. Some body art hennas have a green undertone.
hennaforhair.com sells body art quality henna for use on hair. Mehndiskinart.com sells body art quality but call and tell them you want to use it on hair and they'll let you know which ones are appropriate.
But no matter what anyone says you always want to strand test w/ hair harvested from your brush, comb, or drain (ewwww).
It sounds complicated, but it's really quite simple and once you know what to get you'll never wonder again. Nor will you have to worry about reactions. It's worth noting that henna is considered permanent color unless you use it unreleased or use clear henna. It is also worth noting true henna only colors hair red. You can make it a cool red or a warm red, but it's still red. Indigo colors hair black. This kind of
stuff is considered compound henna. It's easy to tell because henna doesn't come in blonde.
A lot of people (myself included) mix henna and indigo to get different degrees of red. Lately I've just been doing indigo alone. So my hair is jet blue-black.
Something else worth noting is henna can be used over and over. You can do it 3X in the same day if you want. It's a conditioner w/ color as a side effect. I've done it twice in one week. I've done it once/wk for six weeks. There's never in any damage just more shine and strength. Henna benefits are cumulative. The more you do it the better they get.
Another thing to consider, not to scare you, but henna stinks. It smells like a farm mixed w/ ACV, but you only need to stomach it for an hour.
It is also notoriously difficult to rinse out. There a lot of tips like rinsing in sections, using gel pectin or dunking your head in a sink full of water to help w/ rinse out, but count on spending a lot of time rinsing. It's kinda like neutralizing a relaxer. But the annoyance of rinsing and the smell fade fast once you start seeing the benefits.
ETA: There's no real urgency to rinse it all out the same day you apply it. A lot of people henna their hair overnight so it staying in your hair a couple of days because you didn't feel like rinsing it all is just fine. I've done it more times than I care to admit.
There's
another thread we (henna revolutionists)
have been posting on, but there are others.
ITA, Vixxen's hair is off the chain!
HTH