Henna Gloss and Adding Moisture to Your Henna

When I first began henna'ing 3 years ago I felt like it was a drying -my-hair- out-nightmare that I could not possibly benefit from. I was on a quest to achieve the long awaited silk strands that other hennalistas obtained from this magical pixie dust...That's when I came across a henna gloss treatment that incorporated conditioner into the mix. I thought conditioner?- this must mean extreme moisture! Well, I mixed up my henna and after the dye release I added some condish (Herbal Essence Hello Hydration). I loved the results-that it was easy to rinse out and my hair was so moisturized. I was a bit leery of my strands actually sucking up the dye, but I received good results and at the time I was more obsessed with keeping my my strands moisturized than discovering the perfect henna mixture.

Now  lets fast  forward to the present:  I long left the henna gloss recipe behind and figured out more natural additives to make my henna mix less drying. I can honestly say that it isn't drying to my hair what so ever. So why did I attempt the henna gloss again you ask?  I came across this alternative again and who would shoot down an opportunity for some added moisture? Certainly not me! So I stirred up my mixture and added my condish (Herbal Essence Hello Hydration again) a few hours later.

The results:

After rinsing it out my hair it felt nicely moisturized. I had no complaints that adding condish to the mix was a plus, but at what cost I wondered. What I realized  was that it  took 4 cowashes before the water began to look anywhere near clean. And after my deep conditioner I  still had so much more henna rinsing from my hair. This was not good. Without this added ingredient I could co wash maybe twice and proceed with my dc with very little run off of the henna. This leads me to believe that the condish ( which was not a mystery to begin with) definitely interferes with the dye uptake but so much that I had to watch my precious henna that was supposed to attach to  my stands be washed clean down the darn drain.... Never again!

If you're looking to add  more than just moisture  to your henna recipe you can :

*Mix it with aloe vera juice that haS a lower pH and helps with the dye release

*Add coconut milk which is high in oleic acid

*Add marshmallow root which will give great slip and make it clump together

*Add oils like coconut and cocoveda that add to a pleasant smell and protects the hair

*Add  honey for slip and shine

•ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ• Henna Me Silk 9~24~2012 •ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ•

This past Monday I did a  henna gloss with Moroccan henna and I really wish I hadn't. I wasted my precious powder and I will never resort to this particular method/recipe again. Check out my next post to find out why! Thanks for visiting my blog :-)

~Happy Hair Blessings~

Random Hair Pics

Here are just a few shots of my hair and a protective hair style I wear almost  daily. It simply  consists of a stocking  leg that I wrap around my head to protect my edges. The stocking leg ( tights) that I use is rather expensive ( around $8) and is stretchy but taught enough to keep my edges smoothed down without being too tight. A less expensive pair of tights would need to be pulled tighter,  the fabric could dry out the edges, and you'd need  to make it longer since pulling it would result  the need for more fabric to wrap it comfortably around the head. 

Once I find a pair of tights that do the trick, I tend to keep them for years, rotating each leg while the other is in the wash.  I'm sure to turn the stocking leg inside out to keep lent from building on the side that I want facing outwards.

I'm not too sure of this exact fabric, but I will note it after my next purchase. If you're really interested  in this look, this time  of  year (and towards the end of winter / beginning of the summer when tights go on sale) is a wonderful time to find a good pair of tights that you can use as a head band. Remember that tights, not stockings, are seasonal so once you find a good pair, buy another before the season  ends or they run out.  

How I make this is rather easy and I will do post on it soon.

 

 

Check out my new growth peeking through the sides :-p

Itchy Scalp ...uGhhhhh

As we move into the fall my scalp has become more itchy. But I cannot yet blame it on the colder weather moving in. The past 4 washes or so I have not oiled my scalp with my cocoveda oil, and at times, I didn't moisturize and seal until the following day. This leaves me with a dry, itchy scalp that can only be soothed by re-cowashing, oiling my scalp while damp to seal in the water, and then moisturizing and sealing when my hair has fully air dried.

I did not continue with my usual oiling as a test to see if I really needed to oil my scalp before air drying and then once again after.I do not usually have a flaky scalp, but it was itching from dryness. Once I spritzed my hair with water and then applied warmed coconut oil, my scalp was immediately soothed. I also tried oiling my scalp once before it was wet and this did not do it. So on two more cowash days I did my usual oiling before air drying and the problem was solved again. 

The verdict is my scalp needs to be oiled when wet- period. This step is very important for me and cannot be skipped or else it will take a few tries before my scalp had returned to normal. Here is my usual routine after each wash/cowash on towel dried hair:

* spritz - let sit for 30 secs before I work it through

* apply leave in

*warm cocoveda oil to scalp ( light application) then apply dime size amount to hair. massage through

* allow to air dry

*when  90% dry at least, then moisturize and seal

* style or if going to bed wear a silk bonnet

On wash day ( shampoo day) I have also incorporated pre-pooing with a mixture of mostly castor, coconut and olive oil, with other oils of grapeseed, jojoba, safflower, and almond ( I needed to get rid of them). I added essential oils of lavender, rose geranium, and sweet orange. You cannot imagine how uplifting this mixture is when I apply it. I was inspired by Rene Furterer's Complex 5 oil that I used to pay an arm and a leg for at the Haitian Salon I used to go to. Well now I make my own. If you aren't up to mixing things yourself  Beaux Cheveux Essentials makes and awesome prepooing treatment that smells just lovely!

Thanks for following me on my Healthy Hair Journey

•ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ• Henna Me Silk 9~4~2012 •ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ•

Again, another awesome henna treatment! Moroccan Henna never lets me down! What I did differently this time was add two Tbs of cocao powder for extra moisture and 2tbs of Marshmallow root powder for that extra slip. In my last post I talked about my run-in with approaching protein overload. So this time I gave myself that much needed moisture boost. I will not always add the cocoa to my henna as I have no idea how much it affects/interferes with the optimal dye uptake.  The end color was a bit darker than usual but I believe it has evened out to be the same color as usual. 

 

Need an Extra Moisture Boost? 

 Try adding Raw Cocao powder ( no real slippage here just moisture) and Marshmallow root powder to your next ayurvedic mix  or Marshmallow root powder to your next conditioner mix for  extra slip and moisture.

September Shedding..Oh, Let Me Count The Hairs!

In the beginning of my Hair Journey I had a hard time combating breakage and did not know how to decipher between shedding and breakage. After much research I stumbled upon many explanations of the difference and they all summed up to be: breakage = broken hairs shorter than the actual length of your hair and shedding = long hairs from the root with a bulb on the beginning portion of the strand.

In approaching my 4th year on my healthy hair journey ( I know my hair should be waist length by now but my focus was on length and now that it is on health I have cut away the damaged ends, leaving me now at shoulder length!) I have become very familiar with both. As September commences I now understand that this is the month I begin to shed and it does not stop until  the beginning of January. . .Yes, this  is 4  months of shedding, but it does taper.

I  reminded myself just the other day and sure enough last night after my henna treatment is when I realized shedding season has kicked in. Fortunately for me the colder months is when my hair grows the fastest. Being that my hair is quite fine ( not thin) I'd like to hold on to my volume as much as possible. Let's face it- hair is hair and is going to shed as a natural process, but I am ready to combat any unnecessary hairs that might THINK about falling out ;-)

My hair usually does not shed a lot. I do not loose 50-100 hairs  a day that I know of and even when I shed a lot  this amount seems extreme. Do I count them? No, no need. Here is a picture of what my Tangle Tamer ( the Tangle Teezer version with a handle) normally  looks like after a little over a week of not cleaning it.

What will I do to combat the shedding?

* Black tea Rinses
* More protective Styling
* Less manmipulation
*Hair Vitamins
* Bamboo Tea
*Prepooing
*baggying
* Deep Conditioning 2x or more /wk
* Moisture/ Protein Balance assessments fequently
* Ayurvedic Treatments, i.e. Henna, Herbally Divine! Hair Pack

For me, what combats shedding will also combat breakage.. I can't complain :-)
 

Approaching Protein Overload and Sukesh Time Baby!

I recently became so carried away cowashing my hair with the HE Honey I'm Strong Conditioner that I totally overlooked that it was a protein, hence the word strong. And guess what? Yes, I am protein sensitive! It felt moisturizing thanks to the honey part I guess, but it felt somewhat stale, like an open bag of chips on a humid day; my hair behaved well, except that it felt weird, looked and felt  like it needed to be moisturized more often, and I began loosing more strands during my cowashing and detangling processes. Let's face it- I was approaching protein overload and fast. Luckily I caught it before I had to undergo a series of moisturizing treatments and babying my hair back to health.

How did I do it? I used my 'Sukesh Time Baby!' treatment, adding organic cocao and marshmallow root powder  for that extra moisture . After the sukesh tretment I turned to the Cantu Shea Butter Deep Treatment Mask to really make sure my hair was going to recover from this  protein imbalance. I will do a thorough review on this another time. I then followed up with the  Organix macadamia nut oil conditioner to cowash out the deep treatment.

SO what's the conclusion? I was left with buttery soft hair that was also strong and I have never felt better about needing to restore my tresses back to original health and believe me, I could not be more ecstatic!

pic provived by bellamumma.com