I am a long hair type of girl,  when you have long hair you know how crucial it is to keep it healthy, since the longer part of your hair is several years old you want to prevent any potential dammage, my european genes did not bless me with  beautiful thick hair but limp thin hair, I still manage to keep it pretty healthy, shinny and I seldom find split ends. I don' t credit what I do for it but rather what I don't do, I don't comb it, don't brush it, don't dry it, don' t use any chemicals at all on it  only organic shampoo and conditionner untill recently when  decided to go " no poo" ( that will be another post.)

The only thing that I actually do to my hair is a regular henna treatment every 2 to 4 months and a yearly hair cut.

The Henna came easy to me since my family lived several generations in north Africa, and over there Henna has been a staple in women beauty treatment for over 9000 years. I used henna all my life, when I was younger I used to prefer the neutral henna since I did not want to change my light chestnut color, but as I grew older I liked the splash of color added with the red henna. Ten years ago, I went to a hair dresser, I very seldom go to the hair dresser, but that day I was getting married, my sister was standing next to the hair dresser and shouted: "Oh my god, you have grey hair" the hair dresser confirmed that I, indeed had grey hair on he top of my head ( he also said that if it was not for her, I would have never known) This is the time I decided to start doing henna treatments religiously every 2 to 3 months, I have never seen a grey hair since then and I like to believe that it did not get any worst in ten years...I don't want to know...

Henna is  made from a plant that grows in North Africa among other places as a small bush , the leaves are dried and pulverised to obtain a fine powder, I like to use the organic persian red henna which is the natural color of henna if it is not mixed with other plants. Henna comes in several colors that will add to your natural hair color, the darker your hair is the less yu will notice the added color, but you will still benefit from the intense conditioning and protection .  Henna colors your hair and fades slowly but never totally goes away the henna treatment will  add more color to the previously treated hair and enhance the color every time, that will explain why the length of your hair will have a more intense color over time but close to the root the color will be less obvious, you will also not notice the new growth of hair at the root if you hair is brown, it will blend nicely. Note that Henna will coat you hair shaft and seal it in a way that is so effective that future chemical treatments on your hair will fail, it is hard to color , perm or relax henna treated hair, which explains why hair dressers despise henna with a passion.

 

No mess Henna day

 

 

On my henna day, I make sure that my hair is clean ( so the natural oils don't prevent the absorption of henna in the hair)

You will need:

-  a large glass bowl

-  a box of organic henna (4oz)

-  a wooden spoon

-  2 tbs organic olive oil

-  1 tbs  organic argan oil (optional)

-  2tbs organic apple cider vinegar 

-  plastic gloves ( or your hands will turn orange)

-  a kettle full of boiling water

-  a stick of natural cocoa butter ( or natural chap stick)

-  a supermarket plastic bag

-  a dark color towel ( or an old towel that can be stained)

-  a large plastic dish pan.

 

Mix all the ingredients before adding the water to the bowl, pour water slowly and mix with the spoon untill  you obtain a nice soupy mixture ( like a thick split pea soup) so it will flow nicely between the strands of hair but not run on your neck and forehead)

- While the mixture cools down a little bit

rub the cocoa butter stick all around your hair line, on the forehead, behind the ears, ( rub the ears too) and also the nape of your neck to prevent staining from the henna drips.

-   For the next steps I recommend wearing an old shirt and old sweat pants. Place the dish pan inside your shower or bath tub, place your bowl of henna inside it, kneel on the floor and bend over the tub pushing all you hair forward, now grab the henna with one gloved hand while you use the other one to separate your hair in sections, try to cover your whole scalp and all the length of you hair in the end  rub the henna in like if you were shampooing , then twirl your hair and form a bun on top of your head, wash your hands while the gloves are still on, remove them, grab the plastic bag and cover all your hair with it. 

With a paper towel or an old wash cloth remove the drips around hair line and ears and cover with the towel to keep the heat in.

Only the dish pan and the bowl/ spoon will need washing ( there may be a little bit of splatter in the bath tub too).

Keep the henna on your head for 90 minutes or more and then rinse for a really long time untill it all comes off and wash/ condition as usual I like to finish with a cold water rinse to enhance the shine .

Note that the towel you use to dry your hair will get lightly stained as well as anything touching your wet hair for a couple of days.

The pictures were taken on a sunny day, one month afer a henna treatment and one week after replacing my shampoo and conditionner with baking soda and apple cider vinegar.