First Experience Using Henna on My Natural Hair

I’ve finally become a henna head. After months of contemplating, I decided to just do it. But, not before researching the pros and cons of using henna to dye natural hair. Here’s a quick breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks to using henna.

Pros:
It strengthens and thickens hair
Adds shine Covers grays
Less shedding
Natural way to color hair

Cons:
Can leave hair feeling dry
May loosen curl pattern
Can be messy when applying to hair

For me, the benefits outweighed the negatives. I began noticing grays popping up about a year ago. Recently, more and more of them have been take over my edges. It was getting ridiculous. Here’s a before photo:

I’d often hide the grays by wearing my hair towards the front. The great thing about Henna – there isn’t too much of a contrast between the natural color and the color treated hair. It highlights the strands leaving an auburn or brownish hue. There are a bunch of companies that sell Henna. But, it was important to find one that doesn’t have contaminants or pesticides. I heard great things about Jamila. The site claims that this henna is triple sifted and allows for more penetration of the hair shaft which means more color. I purchased it online for about 7 bucks.

Products used: Cheap conditioner, green tea, honey, henna, water, hair clips, newspaper, shower caps, gloves.

Here’s what I did:
1. Placed newspaper down EVERYWHERE. I heard this could get pretty messy.
2. Emptied the Jamila henna powder into a plastic container.
3. Boiled one and a half cups of water and added two green tea bags. Please note: I only had green tea with lemon.  Other tutorials I’ve seen/read didn’t use lemon. I didn’t notice this until after the application process. Ahhhhh!
4. Combined green tea with henna, then added 2 tablespoons of honey – both are great for adding moisture to the hair. This is what the henna mix looked like when I finished mixing the ingredients.
5. After putting on gloves, I separated my hair in small sections and distributed henna evenly throughout my hair. I used claw clips to pin newly colored strands in order to make the process manageable.
6. After applying the dye, I covered my hair with a shower cap for 7 hours. (I wanted to keep it on longer, but that’s all I had time for). The henna did a great job of coating the grays along my hairline.

I was surprised that the process wasn’t as messy as I thought it would be. I imagined dye mix dripping all over my face and neck. I even wore an old shirt thinking I’d get dye everywhere. But, it wasn’t so bad. I think it’s because I didn’t add too much water. I also applied the dye on dry hair.

7. I rinsed out the henna in small sections using A LOT of the less expensive conditioner I purchased at the drug store.

8. Then followed up with Shea Moisture’s deep conditioning mask mixed with coconut oil. I wanted to make sure to restore moisture back to my hair.

9. I proceeded with my normal hair routine, which involved applying a leave-in conditioner and sealing my tresses with coconut oil before braiding in small sections, letting it air dry.

Here’s the final look:

It’s been a few weeks, and I’m happy with the results. As I mentioned, it’s s subtle difference from before. If you look closely, my grays are now an auburn or brownish color. My hair isn’t dry at all and feels healthy. I plan on doing this again.

Are you a henna head? Would you ever try using henna to dye your hair?