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!
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!
Henna, also known as lawsonia inermis
Mixing henna for healthy hair and beautiful red tones:
-Mix henna with warm water, or warm lemon juice, and allow the paste to sit from 2-12 hours (as this depends on the dye release of your henna powder chosen). Add enough liquid to make a paste the consistency of pancake batter.
-After dye release has been achieved, then apply the henna paste to your (damp or dry) hair by sections starting from the back and moving forward. Make sure you wear gloves when applying henna, as it will stain your hands.
-Wrap your hair and allow to sit from 1 to 6 hours. The longer you leave the henna in, the more dye will penetrate your hair.
-Rinse or wash the paste out.
-Your hair’s color will settle over the next 2 days.
Optional
- For redder tones you may add hibiscus or paprika.
- For browner tones you may add coffee, black tea, or even amla powder (this will tone down the red dye and give you great volume all at the same time).
- You may also try out a henna gloss. You can do this by adding some henna powder to your conditioner and let it sit in your hair for 30 minutes as a deep conditioning treatment and be able to achieve a less amount of dyeing.
- Feel free to add orange blossom water, rose water or essential oils to leave your hair smelling great!
How to store your powder: freezer.
How to store your henna paste: freezer.
Indigo, also known as indigofera tinctoria
Mixing indigo for jet-black hair:
-Follow the instructions on how to henna your hair first, then you will indigo your hair as soon as you have rinsed/washed the henna out of your hair.
-Mix indigo with warm water and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. Add enough water to make the paste the consistency of pancake batter. Optional, add some salt (1 tsp per 100 grams of powder) to help darken the indigo or add CMC to thicken up your paste.
-Apply the indigo paste to your hair be sections starting from the back and moving forward. Make sure you wear gloves when applying indigo, as it will stain your hands.
-Wrap your hair and allow to sit for 1-2 hours.
-Rinse or wash the paste out. Some prefer to use only conditioner when washing the paste out.
-Your hair’s color will settle over the next 2 days.
-This method is called a two-step process.
How to store your powder: fridge, or cool dark place.
How to store your paste: throw leftovers away as indigo paste does not freeze or keep well.
Mixing indigo for brown hair:
-Prepare the henna paste as directed.
-Once henna is ready, mix your indigo as directed (with warm water and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes). Mix these two together. The more indigo you add the darker the brown.
-Apply the paste to your hair by sections starting from the back and moving forward. Make sure you wear gloves, as it will stain your hands.
-Wrap your hair and allow to sit for 1 to 6 hours.
-Rinse or wash your paste out
-This process is called a one-step process.
-Your hair’s color will settle over the next 2 days.
Optional: You can also add CMC (Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose) to your indigo paste as it tends to be drippy. This will thicken your paste up, and is used to thicken up store-bought salad dressing and in the making of silk paper. You only need 1 gram per 100 grams of indigo.
How to store your powder: henna in your freezer and indigo in your fridge or cool dark place
How to store your paste: throw leftovers away as the paste does not freeze or keep well.
What other ingredients are in the henna. You must list. Some products contain dangerous chemicals and PPD.
Hi Ami, thank you for your comments.
We specialize in natural hair care for over 10 years and there are no other ingredients to list in our products. As our henna is 100% henna, and our indigo is 100% indigo.
This is the blog owned by the Henna Sooq, and we carry only pure henna and herbal products.
None of our products contain PPD, nor metallic salts, nor is this compound henna.
We also don’t list any other ingredients here because this is just a recipe using two herbs: henna and indigo. They are two plants that grow in India, and they yield different dye results in the hair, varying from red tones, brown tones, to black tones.
I hope you find this information useful.
this comment is for Ami who asked you to list the chemicals… As one who can attest to the difference between compound and the *real thing*…I found a canister of the comound henna at an import shop many years ago …and another brand in a box that looked like animal crackers more recently. Both of them left my hair feeling frizzy and bleached out and both cautioned me NOT to use a metal spoon during preparation (heavy metals in the mix left a greenish cast to the hair…it was awfull)
Since finding Henna Sooq and the real natural henna products I’m getting compliments almost daily on my hair color and texture…and I can’t thank Khadija enough for having real henna and no *fillers* *s*….~Jo
Thanks Jo! I think sometimes people think that this is just a regular blog about henna and not necessarily someone’s that actually knows about natural henna.
Big Smiles!!
Hello, I am using henna and indigo for the first time on my hair and I wanted to know if 100g is enough for my hair? My hair just touches my shoulders and is a little shorter in the front. It looks like I need more after I finished mixing it.
Hi Vanessa
It also depends on your hair length. 100 grams might be enough but if you have thick hair then you might need up to 150 grams.
Also have you already mixed the indigo? If so then you don’t have much time, as the indigo needs only 15-20 mins for dye release and then you put it into the henna paste and use right away.
I hope this helps!
do you sell shikakai powder or oil?
LW, thanks for your post.
Right now we only sell shikakai powder, but we are in the process of creating a hair oil with a coconut oil base along with shikakai and many other herbs to make a strengthening hair oil, with all the ayurvedic benefits.
I purchased a henna/indigo mix from a reputable organic/natural site, my question is it says to mix n apply right away ,( i guess because of the indigo), should i just leave it on longer, it says to let it sit for 1-4 hrs. My hair felt strong n healthy afterwards, but i did’nt see a big color change….im a little confused on how to use 2 reap the most benefits
Thanks for your post Tai. The thing is that we can’t tell how fresh the product is that you bought. If you want more of a color change (this also depends on your current hair color too), then use a fresh product. The fresher the crop of herbs the better the product.
Those would help you get the best results for sure. Pure henna powder and pure indigo powder would make a bigger difference. What is your hair color?
I was given a bag of original henna from an Indian co-worker. It turned my grey hair red as I expected it to. However, when I did the second process the indigo did not cover the reddish portion even though I left it on four about five hours. My Indian co-worker recommended a product called Shikaikai as a natural conditioner for the hair. The texture of my hair is very kinky/curly and it does feel a little stronger and is not breaking or brittle. Don’t like trial and error but I suppose it is the only way to find out what works for you.
Hi Ami, I am going to email you directly but usually indigo needs only to sit on the hair from 2-3 hours and did you make sure to use it within 15-20 mins after mixing?
I wish to purchase henna and indigo as well as alma, as i want the brown. I need it cover the greys and i want more brown then red.
Can you let me know what i need to buy from you
thank yo
Thanks Anna for the message.
I do recommend those herbs for a nice deep brown (especially with the amla addition it goes a bit darker, and adds volume/bounce to the hair.
If you want the results to come out more brown then red, then I’d suggest you use moroccan henna powder to make sure there is no red peeking through (if you really don’t want any red). Moroccan blends well to create brown to black tones. Let me know if you want to chat more at hennasooq@gmail.com
I kind of get the idea, on how to dye your hair black, but I just want to double check. My husband has coarse jet black hair, with a lot of white hair, I tried your indigo but I made lots of mistakes. So just to get this right (cuz I definitely would not want his white hair to turn red!) I first put normal henna on his hair, then I put indigo?
Also I have been using henna in my hair for a long time, but for the past 2 years my hair just doesn’t get red, in fact it gets dull brown, I find your henna to be awesome mashallah but mah hair is just not responding……
Thanks for your comment K. I am going to email you a response as it’s a bit long. 🙂
no problem……:)
Let me first thank you for the wealth of information. I’m a newbie to Henna and don’t want to make a mess of my hair. My hair is currently black with many gray starands. I want to use a Henna that will keep my hair dark, not necessarily black, with some brown highlights. I read in an earlier post that the Morroccan Henna and Amla was the way to go. Do I just use the Morrocan or is the Moroccan used as the 2nd step like indigo?
Thanks
I’ve just browsed this site and this is the most comprehensive site on henna I’ve seen. I absolutely love the site layout! I’ll continue to browse and will recommend this site to my family & friends, InshaAllah.
Thank you Um Imran!
Hi I just bought the henna only, I want brown with reddish tones do I just need to add coffee and do u mean just some instant coffee. If I have to buy something else I would like to do so asap so I can get them around the same time. Thanks
My hair is dark brown and I want it as light brown or red as possible. Which henna powder should I use and what can I add to enhance the color?
Hi Devon, Thanks for posting on my blog.
With natural herbal hair care, you can go lighter naturally as there are no chemicals in henna and natural herbs, that we carry.
We carry only 100% pure products, that are not adultered. For the best red tones, I’d recommend you get yemeni henna powder. The new 2009 crop is coming in any day now. I hope this helps!
Hello I’m a henna virgin and wanted some advise on adding essential oils whidh smell nice & add body and any recepits or advise for getting a deep red, burgandy or wine colour ( to cover grey strands), My hair is shoulder lenght and quite curly afro carribean( not course). how much natural henna should I use?
Hi Lca2047, essential oils that smell nice are sweet orange oil, lavender, lemongrass, clary sage, and rosemary. Some oils are also used to benefit your hair, and I’d recommend you look at our hair oils category in our shop to help you decide on which ones you’d like.
Yemeni is a very good henna powder for deep red tones. I’d recommend that one. You mya need at least 2-3 applications to deepend the color up some, and can add beet juice or hibiscus tea to add more red to the recipe.
I’d recommend you use about 100 grams of powder for your hair, and a bit more if your hair is thick.
Feel free to contact us directly too at 905-230-4651
Thank you!
I LOST HALF MY HAIR DUE TO YOUR PRODUCT AND I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS
Hi Ana, it’s hard to comment on what exactly you used for your hair since you didn’t specify which products you are talking about.
I am going to email you directly so we can figure out what has happened.
Henna does not cause hair loss, nor does any other herbs. There may be a condition already going on with your hair, and perhaps the herbs were just not the right choice for you. I’ll email you.
I am very interest in using henna.I have natural hair, with a little more than 20% gray. I want my hair to be a warm brown. Is it possible to get this color using henna,and what do I need to order? This will be my very first time using henna. I will appreciation your help. Thank you.
Hi Penny. I’d need to know what your natural hair color is right now.
A warm/light brown is hard to achieve with henna, as henna alone dyes reddish tones. So red becomes part of the process, but you can achieve brown using henna and indigo together and perhaps tone it down with honey as a natural hydrogen peroxide. Let’s see what we can figure out as a recipe for you.
My natural hair color is an off black with a little more than 20% gray.
With henna and natural herbs you can’t usually go lighter then your natural hair color. Being that your hair is black, and 20% grey, at least with the grey you can color it brown or red tones and make it look like highlights, but you can’t use henna to bring down your naturally off black hair tone, as there are no chemicals in henna or herbs that cause color stripping/bleaching.
You could consider making the grey hairs lighter though with just henna and indigo to make those brown, but it would show up to lighten your black hair.
So do I order the henna and the indigo separate or does it come together? Thanks.
You can order it seperately or together in one of our hair kits called Lush Brown.
Go to http://www.hennasooq.com and click on shop and then click your appropriate country flag such as USA or CAN
Let me know if you need any help with that.
I have one last question. I read where it states that I can add coffee to the henna to get a more brown color is that so?
🙂 yes coffee can help tone down the red of henna, so can amla powder too. Amla powder also adds volume to your hair.
Thank you for all your help. I think I am ready to order now. Have a good night.
I asked for your opinion and went on your recommendation, as soon as rinsed out the henna half my hair fell out.
i had long hair and sure i believed i would go natural and henna was one of my option, i have cut my hair short and now im following up with a hairdresser who told me that the henna caused my hair to fall out.
It is normal for about 40-100 hairs to fall out per day. Hair does fall out sometimes when rinsing henna out. I personally get more hair falling out when I’ve done henna.
Unfortunately hairdressers are not trained in herbal hair products such as henna. They are trained to market and sell commercial dyes, and that’s why henna and natural products are always put down, because the big companies that own chemical dyes are well known and are major sponsors to celebrities and others…
Henna and herbs do not cause hair loss. Hair normally can be loss when washing them out after an herbal hair treatment, but it wouldn’t be half of your hair. If that is the case then please send us photos of your bald spots.
Please read these helpful articles on henna and myths (misinformation), such as hair loss.
http://beauty-products.suite101.com/article.cfm/facts_and_myths_about_henna
http://www.hennaforhair.com/forum/messages/25.html
http://www.drpistone.com/Hair-Restoration-Library/Henna-As-A-Hair-Dye-Replacement/Hair-Restoration/
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-5-2005-66639.asp
Moisturizing your hair is very important when using henna and any herbs on your hair, such as hair oils. Conditioners are very important as well.
A lot of people I come across who are naturally doing their hair also change shampoos to avoid SLS. Please read here
http://www.hairlossbuddy.com/20/sodium-lauryl-sulfate/
You can also seek advice on http://www.longhaircommunity.com for further issues from a variety of people’s experiences.
Thanks Penny and please excuse all the additional blog replies you’ve gotten recently.
I love this site too 😀
I started using Henna products when I was pregnant and wanted to cover my grey hairs (even though I’m only 28, I have so many already!). I used 1 bag of henna and 1 bag of indigo (so the mix was 50/50). I Mix the henna powder with warm water and leave it for either 5-6 hours or overnight, covering it with siran wrap. When I’m ready to use the henna, I add some honey to it, this helps it come out of the hair more easily. Than I mix the indigo separately with warm water and leave it for 15-20min. Than I mix both together and put it in my hair and wrap plastic bags around my head. I leave it in my hair for about 5-6 hours. I get a lovely dark mocha brown and complete coverage of my greys! And my hair is very very soft after, not hard and dead like when I used to use chemical dies.
For the poster who lost her hair, I’m really sorry you had this experience. If you have thin hair you may want to add honey so that the henna isn’t so heavy on your hair. I’ve done lots of research on henna and have found that it is used when hair loss is a problem, I have only read that it causes hair loss if you add lemon juice or other acidic stuff to it because you may be allergic to those things or your hair may not be able to handle it. I hope your hair grows back quickly, you may want to go see a doctor about it though, rather than a hair dresser, because I’m positive it wasn’t the henna that caused it, but it may be an underlying health problem.
Thanks Mom2AH for your valuable input. This information will read help others understand henna much better. Everyone MUST do hair strand tests first to ensure they get the best results. We also recognize that everyone has different hair, and that henna sometimes is heavy and because of astringent properties it can remove damaged hair, to allow for new growth to come through.
I am naturally a mousy brunette. Have been a chemically dyed “irish” redhead for years. In the interest of living as chemically free as possible, I am thrilled to know that I may be able to achieve some measure of copper/red with henna. Can you advise me of how to start?
Second, my mother is growing out her beautiful natural gray color. Unfortunately she only about half way through the long process and is quite depressed, as the bottom half of her chin length bob is still chemically dyed red. A short cut is not an option.
Is there a way to use henna to help her through this transition? Thanks for your help and time! Peace
Hi Susan, For yourself I’d recommend you get yourself a very fresh and strong red toned henna powder so that it shows up nicely through your hair tone. Because we have to work with your natural hair color, and since henan doesn’t strip the hair color away, to give a variety of colors, using a strong henna powder is your best bet. Also after a few application you’ll get that deeper color (henna build up) that might not show up as deep as the first 1-2 applications.
I can really understand how your mother must feel. It is really tough to try to be patient, but if she does color her hair again she will have to stick with it or grow it out again if she doesn’t want it, even with henna and herbs. Does she want red tones back or just gray tones?
Some clients use cassia obovata to make their hair a bit more golden/blond toned as it colors the hair for a few weeks, but it does fade unlike henna that is more permanent.
Let me know and you can also email me directly at hennasooq@gmail.com
Hi. I have been transitioning from a relaxer to natural for 9 months. Now, I have three inches each of the two textures, as I have at least 1/4 inch cut per month. I permanently colored my hair two months ago (a mistake!)and I’m about 25% grey. Can I henna over permenent color and relaxed ends without causing damage?
Hi Joy,
Yes you can use henna as long as it’s 100% pure (sometimes called body art quality) henna powder, it will be safe to use on your hair even with the relaxer. If you go to http://www.longhaircareforum.com, you’ll see many women who use relaxers etc..along with henna.
Hi
I just used henna to cover my grey’s. But they turned yellow. My natural color is black.
What should i do?
Hi Ruby
hhmmm it sounds like you use either cassia obovata on your hair or a henna powder that had no dye or dye release demised for you. What type of henna were you using? How long did you let it sit for?
Did you want to color your grey hair red tones or black?