I love my own hair color which is dark brown with natural auburn highlights, especially noticeable in the summer. However, my grays were starting to appear, so I decided to henna but keep my browns.
Since body art quality is supposed to be the safest and best for relaxed hair, I chose to use Catherine's body art quality henna (found at
www.hennaforhair.com), amla and indigo recipe for cool shade of brown. I took notes along the way (with my stained, gloved hand
) I used:
225 g of henna (prepared the day before with water only--no lemon juice)
200 g of indigo
50 g of amla
1. I added the 50 g of amla a little at a time while stirring it into the very thick, henna pudding I made the night before. I added just a little more water to keep the consistency while adding the amla.
2. Then I mixed the indigo in a separate bowl and added 2 cups of water a little at a time until it looked exactly like very dark green mashed potatoes.
3. I immediately added this "mashed potatoed" indigo to the henna/amla pudding a little at a time and stirred well, adding a little more water when necessary. Now I had a large bowl of creamy, thick, dark-green/brown mud.
I applied it to my hair with gloves, put a plastic cap (like from Sally's) on and left it for 3 hours. After rinsing, I loved the results, which was brown but the grays were a little reddish, although more red/brown.
After a day, I decided to use 1/3 Henna and 2/3 Indigo (per Catherine's recipe) to see if I can darken those reddish strands. They did get darker but I wanted it browner. I didn't want black though, just my dark brown color with my natural auburn highlights. I didn't have very much more amla.
For this 2nd treatment, I used:
1/2 cup henna (this time after adding water, I let it sit in a bowl by a heater for two hours for color release, sealed with plastic)
1 cup indigo
1 Tablespoon amla
3/4 cup honey
1. I first mixed up a small batch with this ratio mixing the amla into the already color released henna first, mixing the indigo with water for mashed potato consistency, then adding the indigo to the henna/amla mix.
2. I then applied it to a test area where I have a few strands of grey together (now a few strands of dark red). I let it sit under a plastic cap for 3 hours. When I checked it, it was just what I wanted! Yay! Where my reddish "greys" used to be was now brown--and not black. I had to look closely since I couldn't tell a few feet from the mirror. I held up a lock of my hair close to the light and I could see dark auburn highlights on the dark brown, as my natural hair is. It looks like I kept my natural hair color! I'm so happy!
3. Since I didn't make up as much as I did for my very first batch, I did the rest of my hair after mixing in some honey to stretch it and to condition my hair. I stirred up the mixture while pouring in about a 3/4 of a cup of honey. I did a honey/henna/indigo gloss! It was nice and creamy when I applied it and it seemed to stretch enough for my whole head, although not as thickly as the first time. No heavy head helmet, thank goodness!
4. It was easier to rinse out too after 3 1/2 hours under a cap. I love my hair color, thickness (and it was already thick) and strength. I know I don't need to do the heavy clay head again and may do henna glossing every four weeks or so, probably with honey. What a learning experience this was!!
I strongly suggest all who want to henna to go to Catherine's website first at
www.hennaforhair.com and read her new FREE book with details on everything you want to know about body art quality henna and your hair. Another great site for good body art quality henna is
www.hennasooq.com
. it does!
