Freezing your henna

I always wondered what to do with the extra henna I end up with  after an application. I did a bit of research and discovered that freezing the henna will actually INCREASE  the dye release. I’ve tried  this a number of times, but I wanted to take a comparison pic to visually capture the difference in dye release.




Smaller bowl on left is thawed henna. Darker = more dye release.
Bowl on right was freshly prepeared and sat for 4 hours.

 

Remember:

You cannot re freeze thawed  henna.

Freeze the henna only after it has been mixed and  the henna has sat out for the dye release window to take place. The dye release window for my  Nupur is about 3- 4 hours so I freeze it within a half hour after application. Letting it sit out too long will decrease the dye uptake of your hair.

Indirectly defrost the  henna by allowing the bowl to sit in another bowl of really hot water. I had to reheat the water 3- 4x times before my henna was completely warmed. I added a bit more of warm oil and warm coconut milk to achieve that  melted chocolate consistency.

Only add your oils in after the dye release has  taken place. You can add extra oils after it has been thawed, but not too much!

This technique cannot be used on INDIGO, as indigo’s dye release is pretty much immediate. Reusing frozen indigo willl probably not change  your hair color or condition the hair.

The one thing I LOVE LOVE LOVE about henna is that it is all a big experiment. You may have read or may find that these techniques don’t work for all henna. I have tried yemeni, moroccan, jamila, and nupur , and this technique  ( done correctly) has produced favorable results for me every timeJ   Be sure to try what works for you, and don’t  be afraid to make a mistake because with henna, there’s no such thing!

 Find other henna dye release times here.
*moroccan henna should not be froze as it has the shortest dye release and may not produce any color the second time around.