It’s important to know how to use henna properly for successful hair application and I love this brand for quality and color consistency. First of all, henna is a plant leaf, which means it can go back and expire. Fresh henna powder should be green (not brown, which shows deterioration from age). It is also temperature sensitive, absorbs water (including from the hair if not applied properly), and releases its dyes over time (how fast depends on its temperature). It can also chemically react with metals. So you have to know what you’re doing for good results, but those results are vastly superior to chemical dyes: Henna (when properly applied) nourishes and conditions hair helping it stay strong and beautiful even on us middle-aged matrons. Here’s a “quicky” formula that I use, which works: 1) put your henna in a glass or ceramic bowl and find a fork that is not made of metal to stir it with. 2) boil some water and add enough of it to the henna to make a thick mud. A consistency similar to pancake mix is ideal. If you like, add a few drops of essential oils - lavender, tea tree, or eucalyptus are particularly synergistic. Stir it up thoroughly. 3) while your henna is marinating, cooling, and absorbing some of the water you added, put an old towel over your shoulders & comb coconut oil (also mixed with a few drops of essential oils) into your hair until it is thoroughly saturated. This will nourish and protect your hair while the henna is dying it and keep the henna from absorbing moisture from your hair, which can damage it. 4) check your henna. It may need more water because it will have absorbed some of the water you added previously. If it’s too hot, feel free to add this additional water via ice cube(s). Once you’ve got it back to pancake-batter consistency, apply it thoroughly to your hair (use gloves if you don’t want to dye your fingers too!) 5) pop on a tight shower cap, clean any extra off your face, neck, and ears, wrap a towel around the whole shebang and go to bed.... 6) let it stay nice and warm on your head for at least 4 hours. If you used to many essential oils, then your scalp may start feeling uncomfortable around this time, which is a sign to get up and wash it out. One rinse + two shampoos later, you are done and your hair will look and feel fantastic for a month. One of my favorite things about henna is that the color shifts gradually over time so roots coming in show a lot less (but grey is still covered). Also, when first applied, henna typically has bright orange overtones that fade to cinnamon brown within 3 days. If this bothers you, you can throw some finely ground coffee beans in the initial mix... they mask the orange with their own brown tonality, which is short-lived (fading out within 3 days). Finally, this is a quicky recipe for when I haven’t planned ahead. If you’re better at that, then mix your henna 6 hours ahead of time with room temperature water and it will be perfectly primed (except maybe need a little more water) at bedtime. Have fun! :) Debi
