For as long as I can remember, my mom has taken the holistic route whenever possible. Herbs for health, oils for healing, tinctures for immunity– the whole nine yards. So when I heard about Lush’s all-natural henna hair dye, I knew she’d be interested.
My mom has been coloring her hair regularly since she started growing grays in her thirties. We ball on a budget in my house, so there’s been the occasional box dye nightmare. She finally agreed to letting me dye her hair with henna when she reached her limit; she was either paying over $100 at the salon for a root touch-up or catastrophically ruining her hair with box dye.
DISCLAIMER: There are many henna brands, methods, and even professional henna hair salons. I can only speak to what I’ve tried, and what has worked for us. I am in no way a henna specialist or an experienced stylist. I’m just a girl who watched a lot of Youtube videos.
When I started I had a lot of questions about using henna to cover gray hairs. Upon doing some research, this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. Using henna to dye grays is typically a two-step process.
Henna, unlike a chemical dye, works around your existing hair color. It bonds around your existing color, acting as a stain or varnish on your hair’s cuticle. Chemical dyes lift your hair’s cuticle and penetrate the hair shaft, using damaging chemicals (like ammonia) to do so. Dying grays with henna can be a two-step process because most henna will not bond to gray hair. Here’s a snippet from Lush’s henna FAQ page that explains it best:
“gray hair is colorless, which means that the henna may not stick easily to the strand since it doesn’t have existing color to hold onto. (This is why gray hair is sometimes called stubborn.) We recommend starting with our lightest henna shade, Rouge, which creates a color base for the darker henna shades to hold onto.”
Therefore, in order to achieve a consistent brown shade, we needed to first dye my mother’s grays with Rouge (red henna), before we applied Brun (brown henna) all over. If we just went in with Brun, the base color of my moms hair would change but the grays would still remain. In a few Youtube videos I watched some lucky people who just used one color have said that their grays turn into blonde highlights, but in other videos people were upset that their grays remained totally unchanged. Rather safe than sorry, I bought both Lush’s Rouge and Brun.
Lush sells four shades of henna: Rouge (Red), Marron (Chestnut), Brun (Brown), and Noir (Black). The henna shade is dependent on what plant is being used and how much. Pure henna will give a bright, fiery red and Indigo will give a deep, dark black. The more henna, the redder the result; the more indigo, the darker the result. So Rouge has the greatest quantity of henna plant, and Noir has the most indigo plant. Lush’s henna products are so great because they’ve compressed the henna into blocks of shea butter. This leaves the hair silky smooth, super duper shiny, and some even say it makes their hair feel thicker. My mom says her hair has never felt or looked healthier.
Photos courtesy of Wikipedia
What you’ll need:
- Henna
- Newspapers
- An Old Towel
- Old Clothes
- Vaseline
- Pot for Boiling Water
- Tea Kettle
- Water for Pot and Kettle
- Glass Bowl that will fit in Pot
- Dye Brush
- 2 Hair Nets
- Gloves
So how do we do it?
*Before you begin make sure you have clean, dry hair*
ROOTS FIRST:
- Prep your station. Set down newspapers, lots of them, all over the space you’ll be dying in. This stuff can get messy, and will stain.
- Begin boiling water in your pot and turn on your tea kettle.
- Cut your red henna. Lush’s henna is built into 6 blocks. I cut two Rouge blocks for my mom’s roots.
- Place cut henna into the glass bowl, rest the glass bowl on a pot of boiling water. Make sure the glass bowl is not touching the water, just the rim of the pot.
- Pour a small amount (about ¼ c.) of boiled water from your tea kettle in the glass bowl.
- Begin mixing water and henna.
- Add water, little by little, until your henna is the consistency of brownie batter.
- Bring the henna to your work station, with the pot of hot water. You want your henna to keep warm while applying. Henna works best when activated by heat.
- Rub vaseline around hairline, neck, and ears to avoid skin staining. Put on gloves.
- Apply henna to roots with dye brush.
- Put on a hairnet**. Leave Rouge henna on for an hour and a half.
- Rinse hair, shampoo, and condition.
**I’ve also seen people apply saran wrap onto their scalp, saying it helps retain the heat for better color payoff. I haven’t tried this yet but plan to next time we dye!**
BASE COLOR:
Repeat steps 1-12 *with variations (see below)*
Variations:
- I used 3 blocks of the Brun henna (this will vary depending on how long your hair is, my mom’s hair is just above shoulder length).
- Apply henna all over to roots and full length of hair
- I leave the base color on for about 3 hours (this is up to you; the longer you leave the color in, the more intense the color payoff will be)
And voila ! This is honestly the most beautiful shade I’ve ever seen achieved with hair dye. Takes some time, but the color payoff is so well worth it. And the best part, it’s 100% natural and GOOD for your hair. I absolutely love how you can play with different shades and mix different henna colors. Consider giving it a try if you’re looking for an affordable, natural alternative to chemically altered hair. Works just as well if you haven’t got any grays and are just looking for a change without damaging your hair. My mom’s hair has seriously never looked healthier and people compliment the color everywhere we go.
Quarantine is begging for you to dye your hair at home! What are you waiting for?