Here are some simple recipes for mixing your natural hair products. Please visit www.forums.longhaircommunity.com and www.longhaircareforum.com as you will find a wealth of information, along with techniques and various recipes. You can even ask questions on their forum!
Please remember when using any new hair product it is always recommended that you do hair strand tests first!
We also encourage you to add orange blossom water, rose water or essential oils to your pastes and mud, to leave your hair smelling great!
Important: Please keep in mind that everyone has their own unique hair texture. Herbal treatments can be drying for some, and it is recommended that you add hair oil to your recipe, or deep condition your hair afterwards. We recommend that everyone keep an open mind when using henna and natural herbs on their hair, and use the recipe that works best for you!
Amla powder, also known as emblica officinalis.
Mixing Amla for healthy hair and skin:
-For best results, add a small amount of amla powder (3-4 tbsp) to your henna powder or cassia recipe. OR
-Mix powder with hot water. Let it cool.
-Apply warm amla paste to your face and on body, and cleanse. You may also let it sit on your face or body for 5-10 minutes. Rinse off.
-For hair, apply amla paste by sections starting from the back and moving forward.
-Wrap your hair and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
-Rinse or wash paste out.
How to store your powder: fridge or cool dark place.
How to store your amla paste: freezer
Hello
I’ve used amla powder for the first time as a conditioner. But I didn’t know how much amla and how much water I had to use. So after washing I didn’t got best result. Can you tell me the quantity amla an the quantity water I need to make the paste? Let me know. Thank you very much.
I had the same problem! Would you please post a recipe up showing how much water/amla powder to use? Is this supposed to be a substitute for shampoo, like ghassoul? If I use it like a shampoo, do i need to condition my hair afterwards? I don’t want to dye my hair, I would just like to use this alone. Thanks.
I already have some Henna powder that a friend got me…and did it…very very bright red…so i used some left over Surya dark brown creme(that stuff has chemicals in it!) it did tone the red BUT i’d rather use Amla powder BUT how much is “ADD A LITTLE”?….I have shoulder length hair…coming in grey now it’s a great reddish chestnut…and it’ll be time to do it again so i want to order the Amla and know how much to add and when..Thanks
Hi Fran!
I’d say that you must be using about 100 grams of henna for your hair. So at 100 grams you should add at least 2 tbsp of amla powder to tone it down. and up to 4 tbsp.
I hope this helps. Also 2 tbsp is about equal to 25 grams.
help!!!!!has anyone heard of adding coffee to the surya golden brown powder? i have used it 3 times now it does cover the grey nicely,,,,,only problem is instead of golden highlights it’s now a brassy color,,,,,i fear it will only get worse every time use it which is about every 6 weeks.will coffee tone it down?
Hi Camille
It could get worse because it sounds like there is some henna in there too, maybe a small quantity to make it that tone, as usually pure “golden brown powder” might be cassia obovata and that leaves a light golden tone on light hairs.
So amla powder would REALLY help tone it down. Add at least 2 tbsp of amla powder to 100 grams of powder you use.
If you change your herbs, to a more 100% pure variety (not a henna and herbal blended box), then you would get better results.
I’ve just received my order of the Lush Brown Kit, and I am sort of confused about the instructions on how to mix both packages. How much water do I mix with both power and do I use both of them together. And also when do I mix the amla powder? How long do I wait before I use it? I order hair oil also, do I need to mix it whenever I use it to? Your help is greatly a appreciated. Thank you. P.S. am I suppose to use the whole packages?
Hi Penny, as my reply might be a bit long, I am going to email your answer directly.
Hi Khadija, does the indigo set for 1-2 hours also? I am sorry if I am asking so many questions, it is my first time and I just want everything to go well.
Not a problem Penny
By set do you mean like when you mix it and allow it for dye release? or do you mean set and color your hair in 1-2 hours?
I’ll answer both just in case.
Indigo needs only about 15-20 mins of sitting time for dye release and is ready to use right after that. NO LONGER then that. MAX 30 mins. Or else it won’t color at all.
Indigo can sit in your hair for about 2-4 hours. Then wash out.
What happens when you mix henna and amla together and let the mixture sit overnight, instead of making the henna paste sit alone for dye release then add the amla later?
I recently bought several products via order no 100106-160338-1930. I’m just now getting around to using them. But I’m also confused about the instructions. They don’t appear to be specific enough. My hair natural hair color is medium to dark ash brown and it naturally has red highlights in the sun. when I was very young my hair was more a dark golden ash blonde light brown color. I’ve tried to get this color with hair dyes and have damaged my hair in the process. I also now have grey coming. Currently from with the front up to the crown its approximately 30% gray, with close to no grey in the back. Currently there’s approx an 1″ on regrowth at the roots. Consequently I usually only dye the canopy or top and front (layer) of my hair. Underneath is pretty much virgin. I want to keep my light-medium brown with golden accents (mostly the grey is the golden part except for some remain highlights. My current color has been mostly achieved with health food store commerical hair dyes. Of course I’m here cause I want to eliminate these chemicals and their damage from my life. I was hoping to start my henna adventure with using Cassia Obovata and adding alma to help maintain my natural (3a) curl and Katam to add brown hopefully to my grey roots. I’m also considering using chamomile teas for the water and/or adding alma or some other oil to the mix and maybe some EO. However, I’m really unsure of the proportion to use. My hair is about 2″ past my shoulders and tend to be dry and frizzy (if I’m not constantly moisturizing it) on the top layer but straight at the nape of my neck and underneath.
I eventually will use henna on my hair. I bought from you the orrocan Henna Powder and the Organic Lush Brown Kit. However, I’m a little reluctant to use indigo just yet. I wanna first see if I can achieve an acceptable color without indigo.
Any help you could offer would be most appreciated. Thanks.
I recently bought several products via order no **** (edited for privacy reasons). I’m just now getting around to using them. But I’m also confused about the instructions. They don’t appear to be specific enough. My natural hair color is medium to dark ash brown and it has natural red highlights in the sun. When I was very young child my hair was more a dark golden ash blonde – light brown color. I’ve tried to get this color with hair dyes and have damaged my hair in the process. ( I also now have grey coming in.) Currently from the front up to the crown its approximately 30% gray, with close to no grey in the back. Currently there’s approx an 1″ on regrowth at the roots. I usually only dye the canopy or top and front (layer) of my hair. Underneath is pretty much virgin. I want to keep my light-medium brown with golden accents (mostly the grey is the golden part except for some remaining highlights. My current color has been mostly achieved with health food store commerical hair dyes. I’m here cause I want to eliminate these chemicals and their damage from my life. I’ve done a lot of research on this site and others and I was hoping to start my henna adventure with using Cassia Obovata and adding alma to help maintain my natural (3a) curl and Katam to add brown hopefully to my grey roots. I’m also considering using chamomile teas for the water and/or adding alma or some other oil to the mix and maybe some EO. However, I’m really unsure of the proportion to use. My hair is about 2″ past my shoulders and tend to be dry and frizzy on the top layer (if I’m not constantly moisturizing it) but wavy-straight at the nape of my neck and underneath.
I eventually will use henna on my hair. I bought from you the Morrocan Henna Powder and the Organic Lush Brown Kit, among other things. However, I’m a little reluctant to use indigo just yet. I wanna first see if I can achieve an acceptable color without indigo.
Any help you could offer would be most appreciated. Thanks.
Thank you for your post Janice. The instructions are general so that everyone has a basic recipe and then can customize it as needed. With henna and herbs you can’t go lighter naturally. Honey can act as a natural hydrogen peroxide and you can add that to your recipe, but for more specific recipes that others have tried out, I’d recommend you view the honey thread on longhaircommunity.com
I feel that the cassia with amla powder and a bit of honey, even a touch of honey too can help you achieve a nice tone, in the direction you want it to be.
To cover any greys the henna alone will made them red toned but with cassia in it, that would bring it down some, and amla can tone down the red of henna as well. Chamomile tea would be a good addition as well to your recipe for more golden tones on those light/grey hairs.
So what exactly have you decided on using as part of your recipe? and then I can suggest proportions for you.
Thanks so much for your response. I’ve been obsessing over henna-ing my hair and coming up with the proper formula for weeks now so I just decided to try it. I did do some strand tests on hair shed in the shower but didn’t wait the 3 days to see the final out come. One test I did with just cassia after the 5 hour development, the other had the cassia with katam and amla added. After 10 hours I rinsed and the cassia only looked a wee bit lighter than the other, but it could have been my imagination. I decided to proceed anyway and decided to use 16 tbsps of cassia obovata, 4 tbsps of amla and 1 tbsp on katam. I followed the instructions included on dye release except on the cassia I mistakenly let it develop for 5 hours ( I fell asleep), ended up freezing it in a freezer bag and thawed it the next day (today) for 1 hour in hot water while I washed my hair with the Cocoveda shampoo bar (really liked that) rinsed thoroughly and used no conditioner, however spread just a few drops of organic jojoba oil on the canopy. I used chamomile tea made from both tea bags (2) and some loose chamomile flowers for the water in all products, I also added a few drops ylang-ylang and cedar wood combo EO for damaged hair. During the 1 after the cassia was removed from the freezer and b4 applying to my hair, after it was thawed I divided my Cassia into two bowls, one I added the little less than 1/2 the cassia and amla and all the katam and used this on my roots in front and on top where grey was. The other bowl with (a little more than) half of the cassia and amla, I used on the length of my hair. I didn’t put the katam on my length ’cause I didn’t want to darken it. I ran into two problem, One, I didn’t mix enough product, especially for the hair length, so I wrapped in saran wrap my almost complete application and went back and mixed the remaining 4 1/2 tbsps of the cassia, 1 tbsp of the alma and 1 more tbsp of the katam (in 2 bowls as I did before) however this time I only allowed approximately 15 minutes for developing of the individual products b4 I combined them. I went back unwrapped my hair and applied the rest of the product to my roots and the other bowl to my length. I left it on my hair 3 hours 45 minutes, the 2nd hour I applied a heat cap for 1 hour. After 3.75 hours I rinsed with copious amounts of warm water, it rinsed out pretty easily and applied 3 hands full of Aubrey Organics Jojoba and Aloe Desert Herb conditioner and CO washed and rinsed thoroughly. Final rinse was with cold water only. The hair felt really good. I resisted the urge to add gel because I wanted to see what this treatment yielded with out any leave on product; however I did spread a couple drops of jojoba oil over the canopy. Results: My blondish highlights are a teeny bit more red, the hair it self is a bit more taupe/ash. I like it. Its shine with spiral type ringlets, which are usually present after I wash but fall out in a couple of days, if I haven’t wet my hair in between.
The 2nd problem is this procedure did not cover the gray. Maybe a little but not substantially. Can you help me figure out why? Was it because I didn’t use any real henna, just the cassia. Or did I over develop the cassia to the point of dye demise.
Most of my research on henna has been on the longhaircommunity website. I love it. However, it very time consuming to find answers there, almost too much info. And because I’m new there I can’t see most of the pictures (boo-hoo). I’ve probably logged 60 hours or more on that site, in the last few weeks. I definitely will take your advice and will review again the honey stuff and use that in one of my next treatments. I’ve purchased from this site the Moroccan Henna and the henna in the Organic Lush Brown Kit. Which of the two do you think I should use 1st on my roots; again trying to cover grey? How much cassia, amla, Katam and/or honey should I add? How soon should I do this after my 1st application (described above)? Is it okay if I only apply the henna to my roots (in the front up to the crown) since I don’t wanna change the color on the length of my hair at this time. (It took at least 7 tbsp of cassia to cover my grey roots) In order to cover the remaining gray I’ve used Revlon color stay eye shadow which blends pretty well, until my next try.
Sure hope I haven’t exceeded the number of questions to ask in a gracious manner. Your responses are most appreciated; it really helps to have some one to ask these questions of. Thanks so very much.
You’re welcome anytime!
It can be overwhelming, for sure. The longhaircommunity has a lot of ressources there, and longhaircareforum.com is good as well.
I’d recommend that you mix most herbs together as one, except mix any indigo or katam that you use seperately and let those two herbs sit out ONLY for 15-20 mins at most so that the dye release has been achieved and doesn’t demise on you.
Using cassia after sitting for one hour would be good enough, but even if you let it sit for a few hours, it should stil be fine as some mix and let it sit up to 12 hours. I just don’t feel it’s necessary for best results.
For sure do another root touch up, and get that color in there as much as you can. To cover greys usually you do need base application of henna in order for katam or indigo to stick to your hair strand. Cassia may not be good enough for coloring and it isn’t as long term either so that doesn’t help the katam or indigo.
I hope this helps! Let me know
Yes, your comments do help. Thanks again.
Great! Welcome. If you need me you can message me at anytime. We’ll speak soon! Take pictures. I am sure everyone would love to see the results.
Hi! I have thin, straight, light brown hair that sheds a lot and breaks easily. I want to add strength and volume to my hair, and I would love it to grow faster if possible. But I would prefer not to change its color. I was thinking about using cassia obovata and amla mixture on my hair. Will this change the color? I have also heard of mixing henna or cassia obovata with other powders such as bhrigaraj, brahmi, shikakai and methi. How do I find the right mix for my hair? Thank you so much for your time!
Thank you for your post Katherine.
Cassia and amla powder would be good herbs for your hair. Some of the other ones are great too,if you can find the other ones in an Indian shop. We don’t carry them personally, but we do have cassia and amla powder and those two hebs I’d recommend firstly and to be mainly in your recipe.
With light brown hair, you shouldn’t really have any color change at all with these herbs but we do have them as free samples online at http://www.hennasooq.com and click shop. You’ll see them there.
How long is your hair, so I can recommend quantities?
My hair is about 5-6 inches below my shoulders. I am trying to grow it out to mid-back. It is very thin.. not thinning, but the strands are very fine and fragile. It also tends to get flat and I have no volume 🙁 Amazingly, it does much better in the summer than in the winter, when somehow it gets very oily. Thank you so much for your help!
HI Katherine, Winter and colder weather can be drying and damaging to hair. Good thing is if you do these herbal hair treatments it will coat your hair to protect it from the elements.
I’d recommend your total recipe contain 125 grams of herbs. Cassia and Amla at 50/50 would be a nice recipe for you 🙂 I hope this helps!
if you add henna, this will add red tones to your hair. But henna is more long term though
My neice wants to dye her hair blue-black. Her hair is dull and needs some shine to it. I was hoping 1)henna her hair with some added amla oil/powder so as “cool” the henna down some 2) indigo her hair, then 3) using cassia after the indigo is washed out to add the shine and conditioning to her hair. Is that too much? Should I just add the cassia to the indigo? Can you do that? Her hair is about shoulder length, so I was going to get 100g of henna and 200g of indigo with 100g of cassia. Will this be enough?
My cousin also would like to dye her hair a midnight blue or dark purple-ish. Would I cassia her medium-dark brown hair and indigo over it? Or would I half cassia half henna her hair first then do the indio once that is washed out?
Hi Christina
Thank you for your post. For those tones yes you should use cassia and indigo but not a lot of people do it and results vary so I’d like it if you could get free samples from us at least, and do the hair strand tests to see if the color comes out the way you want it to.
For your niece, the amounts would be good. Amla powder tones down the red of henna, not the oil though. I hope this helps
Let me know if you have other questions
Hi, I just bought 2 henna products on a whim, then started reading about compound hennas and now I am nervous to use them. One brand is Red Rose Henna with amla and Shikakai (herbal hair conditioning and coloring “formula”) with no list of ingredients; and the other is Manzoor A-1 Zarqa black henna which lists only ground indigo leaves as the ingredients. Now, my questions are;
1. have you heard of either of these products and if so would you recomend them?
2.I have thin medium brow hair just below shoulder length that is prone to split ends and breakage, I am trying to grow it out and it is looking lackluster and blah! I haven’t dyed my hair in about 5 years and I would really like to find a way to make it a rich dark brown with less red (but I don’t mind some auburn highlights). I would like to avoid the compound hennas or anything with chemical additives! Is there anything that you would recommend? Also, anything that could promote hair thickening and growth?
Thank you for your post Angele
I’d say you could do hair strand tests with them, to be certain but I don’t know of those henna products from personal experience. They are mixed blends for sure though so not sure how well they may work or not.
I’d recommend for a rich dark brown, 40% henna and 60% indigo. Amla powder in this recipe would be great as well as it does promote hair growth. Just add like 3-4 tbsp of amla powder to your recipe. You’d need about 100 grams to 125 grams for your whole recipe.
Maybe even a hair oil, or shampoo bar of ours would work well for you. I hope this helps! Speak soon
Hi, I have heard of using Amla paste to rub into the scalp to reverse grey hair? Does anyone know of this or is it just a dye?? If it is something that works could i pls have instructions on how to make this paste, Im way to young for this grey hair..
Thanks for your post Carly. I have heard that as well, but I don’t see enough evidence at this time to prove that. I’d like to see more about that and see if someone has had those type of results.
Amla doesn’t usually dye the hair, it only tones down the henna a bit. Alone there is no color usually unless you have fine blond hair it could add something.
The recipe is in this blog post above the comments. Please read 🙂
when you mix the alma with the henna, the 2tbsp to 100g is this before or after the dye release?
Thanks for your post Ransom, you can mix amla powder directly with the henna powder and then add your liquid and let it all sit as a paste
I have grey hair especially at the roots.I usually use henna powder mixed with coffee powder,egg yolk and curd but i’m not satisfied with the colour. it always becomes a yellowish-red which i d’ont like at all.please help me.i want it to be dark brown.thanks.
Parveen, you can also use organic indigo that we carry at http://www.hennasooq.com to darken it. You’ll love it!!
Hi,
you recommended I use amla and cassia together to condition and grow my hair, as i have frizzy hair that falls everytime I comb.
However as I would be using cassia and amla for ultimate conditionig, would you recommend that I wash my hair with shikakai for maximum growth benefit?
And also do I apply the amla and cassia mixed paste before I wash my hair then wash it with shikakai powder, does the hair need to be clean or dirty before the treatment?
how do i use argan oil, do I put it on after wash or before, do i mix with amla and cassia or is it best to use alone?
and also how often do i do the herbal treatment of amla and cassia?
would adding shikakai to my treatment regime ie washing hair after herbal treatment add maximum benefits?
I would also like to die my hair naturaly, the hair colour i desire is black or blue black. what would u recommend. would u recommend the indigo to dye my hair black?
Many thanks
Thank you for your post Fatima.
It is normal for some hair to come out every day as we lose hair every day. It depends if the amount is a lot more then normal or not.
I’d recommend the cassia, and amla for sure, but perhaps a shampoo bar so you get on a natural cleansing regimen as well. They work amazing!
You can add the argan oil directly to your paste but the most popular way to use it, is to put a dime amount into your hand and then rub it through your hair, then brush it through.
The herbal hair treatments can be done every 3-4 weeks, sometimes every 2 weeks depending on your hair type.
Shikakai is a great herb for cleansing so that the scalp is fresh, and extra cleansed before during the treatments.
For black tones you need henna and indigo, and do a 2 step process for best results
I have grey hair and use approx. one-third indigo to two-thirds Yemeni henna. Its a stunning color but a bit too orange for my complexion. I would prefer it to be a deeper red or even toned down a bit. I don’t want it to be too brown. Would Alma powder be sufficient to tone it down or should I also incorporate a bit of other henna with the Yemeni to make the color deeper? I would really appreciate your expertise….
Shirley, Amla powder would be a good choice to tone down the red of the henna a bit,(tone down the orange). How many times have you used the henna powder so far? As it should also deepen up with a few applications
if i just wanted to use the alma as a mix on my regular hair… no henna or anything, would that be good?
Also, is alma a dye?
Misha thank you for your post. You can use it straight but it is astringent so you might want to add some little bit of hair oil or conditioner to it so it doesn’t dry your hair out. It promotes hair growth, and helps maintain curl pattern, or add bounce/volume to your hair.
Amla powder doesn’t dye your hair, but some people who have blond hair, sometimes notice a touch of darkening of the blond tone. Cassia is a good herb to use along with amla powder as well
Hi, I put henna in my hair two days ago and it turned out dark orange. What can I do to tone it down. I live in Mexico and it is hard to find special products like amia. Is there something else that I can use to tone the color down? Please help me. I want to be a red head, but not a carrot top:
Thank you for your post Yvonne.
You can use amla powder, or indigo might even be better for you as orange is rather bright. If you want red tones, then using yemeni henna powder is your best choice, but in the meantime if you add coffee to your henna powder then it will also tone it down.
We ship worldwide if you need those herbs as well at http://www.hennasooq.com
Thankyou so much for answering so quickly. I just bought a tint made of henna and herbs, and it says that it will tone my hair down to a medium brown. The tint has amla in it. Should I use it? I also bought mollases and baking soda. I read that it helps tone down also. I could not find indigo or amla by itself. What should I do. Helppppppp!!!!!
Welcome Yvonne! Well if you don’t have indigo or amla alone then this might be your best bet. Does it list any chemicals or funny ingredients?
I ordered the amla and cassia for the conditioning benefit. Can I mix them together or should I use them separately. How long should I let the amla sit on my head?
Thank you for your post Maxine. Yes you can use cassia and amla powder together. You can let the mixture sit on your hair/head for at least 1-2 hours. Longer if you had light hair and wanted golden tones to show through. Cassia has a low golden-yellow dye molecule that shows up on light hair.
Enjoy!
Can I use coconut milk instead of water to mix my amla and cassia and if so do I need to warm it. I use coconut milk with Henna and find its helps when washing it out. Also is it ok to add honey and oils and to my mix and if so how much. I do plan to deep condition also.
Maxine, yes you can use coconut milk as long as you don’t find it too thick, and it’s a good consistency. Make sure you don’t let the coconut milk sit out too long either since it’s perishable. You should warm the coconut milk. Warm liquid is better.
Honey and oils is also good. About 1-2 tbsp of each per 100 grams of herbs that you use. If it’s essential oils then use 1 tbsp per 100 grams.
Thank you for responding so promptly and I look forward to receiving my order. Thanks again