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.
I have dark brown hair with a golden copper highlights. Which henna would you recommend, jamila or yemeni. Also, if I add amla powder do I wait until the dye has released from the henna then mix the amla powder in?
Jamila and Yemeni are both two very good henna powders. I personally like yemeni, but that’s because I really like it’s deep red dye, and Jamila is very good because it’s like a cool red but very creamy in texture, and easy to wash out. Amla powder will be added to the henna powder, and you let them both sit together for the time that is needed for dye release.
Be careful with the light parts of your hair. It will turn out brighter then the rest.
Thank you for your previous reply.
I would also like to know how often can you henna your hair? Also, if I mix the jamila and the cassia what color would I get?
Felecia, I’d recommend every 4-6 weeks. That’s the average but it does depend on how fast your hair grows. If you mix henna powder with cassia, you’ll get a lighter tone of red, such as strawberry blond-copper, and in between tones depending on the proportions.
the other day I did a henna “gloss” with your indian henna and yogurt. I mixed 2 tablespoons of henna with warm water and let sit for 3 hours. I then mixed it with 1/2 cup yogurt and applied to my hair for 1/2 hour.
My hair is naturally medium brown with some gray. My goal is to cover the gray. The result was a darkening with auburn tones to my brown and orange/golden to the grays. I’m fine with this, but would like to try to get the grays a little darker without getting more orange or bright red.
Should I reapply the same treatment (I glossed because i was scared to do a full treatment) and if so, how soon can I do that?
thank you
Thank you for your post Linda
I’d recommend you add indigo to your henna powder if you don’t want as much orange/red. That would be the key ingredient to get your henna to be darker. The gloss dilutes the henna some to make it come out more copper to orangey tones.
great. just a couple more questions:
1. I applied the first treatment the other day, do I have to wait before retreating with henna and indigo?
2. should I prepare the indigo and henna in a normal fashion or as a gloss?
thank you for your helpfulness
Hi Linda
Do you want to make your hair darker is that why you are asking if you can do another application? You can use the henna about 1-2 weeks after the first treatment and then regularly every 4-6 weeks depending on how fast your hair grows.
For best results prepare the henna and ingido as directed normally, as if you want less color results (as in, not as strong) then you can do a gloss but it does dilute the color.
Is it okay to use different henna brands for each application? I henna once a month and want to experiment with different brands (i.e. Yemen, Rajasthani or Celebration) to see what color my grays turn. I keep my hair protected during the winter and I don’t need to use the 2-step process w/indigo. Thanks.
P.S. I’ve done the 2 step process w/indigo and have been quite pleased.
Sharon, thank you for your post. Yes it’s safe to use different brands of henna powder.100% pure henna powders, such as some labelled body art quality that henna artists use, is even better.
Assalamu Alaikum,
I am new to the site as well and find it very informative. I am partially grey, more dark brown than grey and have been covering the grey with a rinse. I would rather use the henna. Which would you recommend for me? The Morroccan and the Indigo mixture? I would like to try the samples to do a strand test also. How can I do that?
Assalaamu Alaikum Ayesha. Thank you for your post.
Do you want to work with your natural hair color, like keep it dark brown. If so then the Moroccan henna and indigo is a good choice. Use at least 60% indigo to 40% henna for a dark brown tone. The samples can be found on our website at http://www.hennasooq.com and click shop, they are available on Henna Sooq USA.
I’m interested in covering my sparse white hair with Henna. I have natural straight black/dark brown hair and have never used henna before. I’m hoping to dye my white hair black or dark brown but I’m also okie with dark red. I am a bit confused about the process so hopefully you can help me a little.
I have purchased Jamila henna for hair from my local indian grocery store but can’t seem to find indigo powder. The closest I’ve found was the Zarqa black henna whose only listed ingredient is indigo leaves.
1) I tried mixing both hennas with water in 2 different bowls. Surprisingly, the Zarqa was more green than the Jamila Henna both dry and wet. Is this normal? Should Henna always turn out green instead of brownish? The Jamila henna paste was brownish right after I add water. Is this a sign of dye release? If not, what are the signs of dye release?
2) The Zarqa box says wait until 8 hours before applying, which indicates it probably contains some henna but it couldn’t even stain my tissue paper doesn’t matter if I tested immediately after mixing with water or after overnight dye release. The liquid didn’t change color nor does it appear to absorb the water very well. Did I do something wrong here? I was suspecting this is likely because the power was not fresh and also not being pure indigo powder. Should real indigo powder always turn the liquid blue-black right away after mixing with water?
3) I know your store sells indigo but at this time, I prefer to buy the ingredients in person and I can’t go to Toronto in the meantime. What type of stores will carry pure indigo powder? Is there any particular brand that I can look for? Will they be boxed, sealed in plastic package, or labeled something else? I have tried looking in several indian stores in Mississauga. So far, no indigo at all. My searches online seem to show only indigo packaged by individual sellers without the company name or brand.
4) Is it possible to over do dye release and loose the staining power? How do I tell if the dye release is not enough, complete and too much? I don’t want to just rely on the clock.
Thank you so so much for reading this long post. I just can’t wait to henna my hair.
The Jamila for hair should be fine. It’s not as smooth as the body art quality henna powders, and the zarqa if it’s only indigo leaves then it must be powdered indigo. You can get that as well but do a test strand first with both to make sure they actually are still good enough to color your hair as they might be old.
Yes indigo is much darker in color, like a bright green. See a photo of ours here:http://www.hennasooq.com/usa-store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=163
Let me keep reading more đŸ™‚
yes fresh indigo does stain blue-black and climbs up into papertowel so that you can see that as well. It also has to be mixed with hot water to get it going.
The powders and paste of the jamila and zarqa are what they should normally look like but it sounds like your zarqa isn’t good quality as it didn’t color. It should be paper towel to test that out. It absorbs better then some tissues.
Do you need someone in Mississauga for products. Our new manager will be in Mississauga and she’ll be allowing clients to come in the weekend for order pick ups like we used to have. Please email her at fatma@hennasooq.ca, but please direct your questions to us as she handles only product distribution. I hope this helps. If we’ve missed something email us at hennasooq@gmail.com
Thank you!
Okay, so I ordered the Jamila Henna for hair (by accident) instead of the BAQ. This is my first time doing a henna on my 4c hair which is 3 inches below my shoulder. I have about 5% gray in my very black hair. Since I’ve read that the Jamila for hair is grainier than the BAQ, I decided to add to it. First, I mixed the henna with warm green tea and allowed the 12 hour release time; then I added about 1/2 cup of conditioner, 1 TBS each of honey and olive oil. My hair is exceptionally thick and coarse.
I put the henna mixture on my hair, wrapped it and sat under a heating cap for 2 1/2 hours. I then proceeded to rinse out the henna. I mixed my indigo (forgot to add the tsp of salt- will do next time),let it sit for 15 minutes and then applied it to my hair, wrapped it and allowed it to sit for 2 hours. Rinsed that out and then applied a deep conditioner for 2 hours.
Wow! Wow! Wow! My family thinks my coarse 4c hair is now soooo soft!!! I told them that I owe it all to my new found friend- Khadija!!! You are a precious jewel!!!
I’ll be back for more and will send others your way!
JaChanaly, thanks for posting. Your recipe sounds so yummy!! I really know why you absolutely love it!
You are a treasure for letting me know. I really appreciate this post. You should add this to our feature natural hair lover page. Did you hear about it as yet? You can get $15.00 worth of free products from us by taking part. The info is on the top right side bar, and it says Featured Natural Hair Lover. Check it out!
can i dye my hair with commercial dye-no ammonia/peroxide after i have put henna in my hair. its been several weeks since i used the henna.
Onetime, yes you can as long as you’ve used 100% pure henna powder. Which henna did you use?
Dear HennaSooq,
Indigo vs. Katam. What would be best for hair whose roots are white, and are normally colored professionally (and permanently) with a level 5 or 6 permanent hair color? I’d like to start using henna + ??? instead of trekking to the stylist once a month to cover my roots.
Thanks so much!
Thank you for your post Lex.
Which herbs you choose really also depends on what hair tone you want. Henna is red toned, and katam and indigo are used to darken it up in varying ranges from reddish-browns up to as dark as black. What color were you hoping to get?
Dear admin,
Thank you so much for responding to my question so quickly. In all honesty, I’d like to achieve a chocolate brown color similar to this image: http://l.yimg.com/a/feeds/us/shine/wisteria_cosmobeauty/2007-lv.jpg. At the moment, my hair is a dark, sandy brown (or as the box says, light golden brown).
Thank you so much for all of your help and patience.
Lex
That’s a really pretty picture of her hair, Lex. I’d recommend for the tone you want, and it does have a touch of red in it, from what I see. The proportions to use would be at least 50% henna, and 50% indigo with the tone from the picture. If you want a little bit darker, like chocolate brown then 50& indigo and 40% henna. This would be mixed together like a one step process recipe.
Thank you so much admin!
Welcome!
Hi, I am about to use Henna on my hair I read that I can use coffee in my henna what type of coffee, Can I use instant decaf or do i have to brew it. How much and how strong. Thank you, I am waiting by my computer
Hi Ann. Thank you for your post. The coffee is use is up to you. The easiest would be an instant coffee. You can use decaf too, and you can add it directly into your warm liquid and dissolve it.
You can add about 1-2 tbsp of instant coffee to 100 grams of powder.
Hi I have nappy hair can I use henna ? My ends have relaxer in them and my hair is naturally thin which henna recipie do you suggest?
Thank you for your post Dee. My recommendation depends on what you want to achieve. What would you like for your hair by using henna? Red tones? Grey coverage? Loosening curls? etc…Please let us know
Hi, I have off black colored hair and I want to dye it jet black (or as dark as possible)so I was reading the instructions about using the Henna and Indigo and I wanted to know, if I don’t want any of the brownish tones from the Henna should I allow it to sit that long for the dye to release? Or would it be sufficient for me to let the Henna sit for maybe and 30min-1hr, apply it/wash it out, then let the indigo sit for the specified time?
Hello Ebony
The moroccan henna yields the least amount of red tones, and you could first add indigo to that as well to really tone it down, and then do a second step process with all indigo. This is the best procedure as it’s very hard to control the color of the henna, because it can dye very quickly and be strong since it’s such good quality. and if you try to wait it out, it could be days.
I hope this helps. Let me know.
hi, i want to use henna to colour my hair as i have had a couple of alergic reations the chemical hair dyes. my natural hair colour is dark blonde but have dyed it black for about 5yrs and want to keep it black. ive been looking at your site and see that i need henna and indigo and do 2 stages, my hair is quiet fine and is just below my chin. could you please advise me what henna i should use to go with the indigo and the amounts i need to use, also can i get a tester pack first…Thank you
Hi,
I’m just wondering how the ‘Lush Brown for Hair Kit’ is different from ‘Organic Lush Brown Kit’. If ‘Lush Brown for Hair Kit’ is 100% henna and 100% indigo, it could be organic too, right?
I have black hair and additional grey 20% so I need henna covering my grey hair permanently with brown or dark red(but not too dark as black). Which one do you recommend? organic or not, Yemeni or Moroccan?
Another question: because this is the first time to try henna product, Do you recommend any products to use with henna to cover grey hair?
Thank you very much.
Hi Minky
The organic lush brown would be both herbs as being organic, but yes right now the non-organic lush brown kit will come with organic indigo but you get a choice of whichever henna powder you’d like (if you choose organic indian then it would be 100% organic like the organic kit is). So you have more selection as well with the regular lush brown kits.
If you want really rich red results then yemeni is a good choice. Moroccan is good if you want it to be more brown to black tones (when used with indigo) and less red to come through. A reddish brown is usually 60% henna and 40% indigo.
I recommend if you are on the dry side as far as your hair type and scalp then do wash with our shampoo bars, and especially use a hair oil. Hair oils are really good because herbal hair treatments can be drying. I hope this helps!
Thank you for your post Karen.
Yes you can get free samples at our website at http://www.hennasooq.ca or .com
This way you can test the strands and make sure you get the right results. I;d recommend you use moroccan henna as it yields the least amount of red, and use organic indigo. We have a new batch of indigo coming in, in about 3 weeks that yields a richer black though as it’s from a different farm. So we’ll be getting that sample online when it comes as well, just so you can see if there are any differences for you in tones. I hope this helps.Also you would need about 75 grams per application which is about 3/4 of a package of each herb
The henna indigo combination is a natural miracle. I henna my hair for 2 hours and then roughly rinse in the sink. I then mix up the indigo with salt until the color develops. Then I add some really high cone conditioner (this is the only time I use cones in my routine). I leave the mix on for 1 hour and I have a beautiful dark black brown that glows in the sunlight and does not fade. By using cones I have consistently been able to have indigo perform as good as any chemical hair color with 99% white coverage on dark brown hair. I am extremely pleased and have done this over 10 times now with very nice consistency. When I cheap out and use local products instead of Hennasooq I’m always sorry because it take soooo long to get the bits and stems out.
Thank you Khadija
Thanks Lisa for posting and ordering đŸ™‚
Yeah those stems and bits are a pain. Our job is to search for the best henna powders and make sure they are finely sifted and fresh! I never knew about using a high cone conditioner would lead to such results. I always had people telling me that it diluted it. You learn something new everyday. This is why henna and natural hair regimens need to be kept open minded, because there are always news ways to create something beautiful like this, and make it work for YOU! That’s what’s most important.
Which high cone brand did you find that works well?
Hi!
I am excited to do my first henna soon (as soon I figure out which henna to buy from your site)! I have very dark brown 4a and b hair-currently in a short TWA. I am would like to achieve color (but not raggedy ann red color-lol–not even sure if that is possible since my hair is so dark)with organic body art henna. Which one do you suggest I use? Also, can chamomile tea be used in the mix to help release the dyes
Hi Kay. Thanks for posting.
Your hair is dark so it shouldn’t go that red. I’d recommend the organic rajasthani indian henna since you did mention organic and this one is certified. The others are pure and BAQ but not certified. Yes chamomile and teas can be used to achieve dye release. You’ll be benefitting your hair as well with the herbal tea. I hope this helps!
Thank you for your response. Of course I ordered everything except the Rajasthani over the weekend-lol I ordered jamila and yemeni because I saw that the raj was sold out. I plan on trying the yemeni first đŸ™‚ as long as they are BAQ im happy!
Thanks Kay! The Rajasthani Indian henna is under the Organic category. We have that in stock at both Henna Sooq USA and Henna Sooq Canada. The ones you chose are really good as well.
Great! I definitely want to hold on to my curl pattern so I’m adding amla powder to my mix I am only using 50g for my hair..what is the ratio of amla powder I should add?
Also, for 50g of henna, if I add amla, do I need to add chamomile tea to activate dye release?
If I opt to not use amla and use chamomile tea, how many tea bags is sufficient to use to release the dye?
Kay, you can add 1-2 tbsp of amla powder. Yes you can use chamomile or even warm water to get dye release. The amount of chamomile is up to you as no specific quantity will or will not give you dye release. The wam liquid will get the dye to release. You can use both amla and chamomile tea if you’d like. For that amount just use 2 tea bags.
What ways can I de-thaw frozen henna paste. Is it ok to microwave?
Hi. I’m asian, and my natural color is black. I’m growing out my brown highlights, so the bottom half of my shoulder lenght hair is much lighter compared to my 10 inch roots. My asian co-worker has been using Jamila (mixed with coffee, egg, and lemon) for 4 years, and she has lovely reddish highlights which looks like foil highlights from the pro salon. I would love to try your Yemeni to get the same reddish highlights, but what will Yemeni do to the lighter part of my hair? Will it result in my hair having two colors – dark and light? Thank you.
Hi! Me and my friend are wanting to use henna/indigo to achieve highlights. We both have dark brown hair already, but would like dark highlights. What is the best way to dye only portions of our hair? Also, what color do you think would accent darker brown hair and tan skin the best? Thanks so much đŸ˜€
Hi,
grey hair is a heridetary in our family. I started getting grey hair when i was 19. i applied henna when i was in india but none could help me to cover my greys as they left my greys reddish brown which i dont like. my natural hair color is indian black to dark brown. now my hair is more than half grey. i shifted to hair colors for past 5 years now i want to go back to henna as am afraid of using dyes all my life due to harmful chemicals used in them. I applied henna 3 weeks ago after leaving my hair without applying any hair color. greys turned to reddish brown and as i have lot of greys on the hairlines n forehead even the henna color is fading away in a week. i found your website to be very helpful. my question is if i mix indigo with henna as per the isntructions will my greys turn to black or close to black instead of reddish brown, i purchased indigo yesterday from your website. my hair length is below shoulder knives and my hair is curly and very rough. please advice tog et back my black hair
thank you
after applying henna for 2-3 hrs, do i have to wash it off with shampoo or just water? and also do i have to completely dry my hair before applying indigo. do you have any products that can make my coarse and rough hair soft?
thank you
I was wondering if Lisa Kennedy who commented about her henna/indigo process using high cone conditioner could provide some more details about this. I would love to try this. What high cone conditioner are you using? How much conditioner do you add to the indigo? Thank you.