How I Henna| Part 2: Rinse & Style

If you haven’t read or seen Part 1 of this process, click the highlighted words. But if you have already, let’s rinse this out of our hair!

RINSE

Henna can take a lot of work to get out of your hair. Have you ever been to the beach and had grains of sand stuck in your hair? That’s essentially the same feeling you’ll get with henna. Since it takes a while for henna to be completely washed out, I rinse my hair over the tub to save water and energy. I tilt my head upside-down and rinse until the water runs clear. After that I apply a thick conditioner to my hair, massage it into my scalp, run it through my strands and let it sit for about 20 minutes. This usually helps get the last bit of henna from my hair out. In the video I’m using TRESemmé Moisture Rich which I purchased at a local Watson’s.

 

DEEP CONDITION

This is the most important step in your post-henna hair care routine. Henna mimics protein on our hair, so it can make it feel rough and dry. Therefore deep conditioning to re-moisturize our hair is essential. When I first did my henna treatment back in ’09 this was the step I skipped, which made my already damaged hair feel even worse.

To rinse out the TRESemmé I dilute 2 tablespoons of ACV with 3-4 cups of water. Next I apply a sulfate-free conditioner, this time I’m using Natures Gate Jojoba Conditioner.  In order for my hairs cuticles to lift and absorb the conditioner, I need to use heat. So I put a plastic bag on my head, wrap it in a towel and sit under the dryer for about 30 minutes.

 

RINSE-Again

This is the last step to the hennaing process. As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t done a henna treatment in quite some time, so I forgot what it made my hair feel like. As soon as I rinsed out the conditioner (which I use weekly) my hair felt so much stronger, thicker (in terms of strand volume) and I had so much less shedding than I normally do. All making me a hair happy girl!

STYLE

In this video I chose to straighten my hair, but because of the curl definition most people get after doing a henna treatment, I’d suggest a wash-n-go.

 

Can you see any change in my color?

 

How I Henna| Part 1: Mix & Apply

I’ve been henna treating my hair, on and off, for about 5.5 years. I was originally enticed by its promise to strengthen damaged hair. At the time I was nursing dyed and fried hair back to health and at the beginning of my “healthy hair journey”. So on a trip to Singapore in 2009, I visited the ever-expanding, popular Mustafa, set in the heart of Little India. There I picked up my first bag of BAQ Henna. I applied it to my, then, chemically dyed honey blonde hair. It was so long ago, that I can’t remember the details of the application, but I remember my hair feeling very rough after. I was so confused, so when I got back to Korea I began my research on how and why so many women raved about using henna on their hair. I quickly realized what I was missing were some conditioning agents. Since 2009, I have changed my hennaing process completely.

I use to mix the henna with boiling hot water, add regular vinegar, various oils, honey, green tea and let that sit for 24 hours to allow the dye to release. The next day I’d mix in an egg then apply it to my hair, then let that sit on my hair for 24 hours. Yes! I did aaaaaall of that. Now, because of time and an effort to live as much of a minimalistic lifestyle as possible, I don’t incorporate as many ingredients and I don’t wait to apply the henna to my hair anymore. Last year a Russian friend of mine who has been using henna on her hair almost all her life, introduced me to the process of applying henna soon after mixing. Letting it cool first of course 😉 I’ve never looked back!

Here are the things I used to henna my hair…

• glass bowl
• wooden or plastic spoon
• plastic gloves
• Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar
• extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• boiling Hot water
• hair Clips
• saran wrap or a plastic bag
• a towel
• an old t-shirt
• hooded dryer (optional)

Mixing

As does every other natural girl, I rarely measure my hair concoctions, but after some time I’ve been able to gauge how much I use over-time. The amount of henna you will need depends on the length and density of your hair as well as your desired effect. Do you want to do a full henna treatment? A semi-henna treatment? A henna gloss? For this video, I’m doing a full henna treatment. I have fine strands and medium-density hair, so I’m using about 1 3/4 cups of powder to get full coverage.

How-to…

1. Add henna powder to mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add in boiling hot water and stir all the clumps out. We want our mix to resemble cake batter.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Add 1/2 tablespoon of ACV.
5. Stir until everything is evenly mixed together and the clumps have all dissipated.

Application

Before applying the henna to my hair, I like to wet my hair for easier manipulation and to rinse out the hair products I used. From here I section my hair then apply. If you’ve colored, relaxed or have simply deep conditioned your hair, you know how to do this. I apply the henna from root to tip, then smosh it into my hair to make sure it’s really in there. This is a short process, it took me about 15 minutes to complete my whole head. Next, grab your saran wrap or plastic bag and cover your hair. I’m sleeping with it in my hair overnight, so this is to create and trap in the heat as well as prevent the henna from staining my bedsheets. I then add a scarf and a beanie (the beanie I ditch before bed though).

Heat

If you want to speed up the dye release process, you can opt to sit under a hooded dryer for a few hours. This isn’t something I do every time I henna, but when I do, I can only do it in intervals of 15-20 minutes because it gets too hot and my ears start burning (hence the towel). If you can manage longer, more power to ya!

 

Stay tuned for Part 2: Rinse & Style

 

Do you henna? If so, what is your method?

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