Beauty: A Vibrant Hair Color Straight from Mother nature

My sincere apologies go out to all for being MIA for the last ummmm days. Lately, my life has been quite hectic I barely had time for doing the things I love. Well, now that we are back in action, what do you say if we start by talking about hair? Yes?

Henna has been my best friend for quite sometime now. Growing up, it was the main hair color I've seen the ladies in the family use. I loved their shinny hair after they wash and set their henna processed hair.  The subtlety in the color change (especially if you have a thick dark hair) that it helps to acquire is actually what makes henna more appealing to me. Sometimes, you might not even notice the change in color if you see a henna treated hair in a not so bright room. But as soon as that same lady steps out in the sun, you will definitely notice the glow in her hair. Summer is here... so get your henna and let your hair glooowwww (bad joke!)

 Applying Henna is by no means your everyday easy and clean two step process. It can be quite messy so I recommend doing this over the weekend. Personally, I take the opportunity to deep condition and add a little moisture to my hair. I only use Henna brands labeled for body art (Jamila is my favorite brand). You might try different brands. By the way, if you don't know this already, the black and neutral Henna are not actual Henna. They are derived from either indigo or some other plant and chemical. The actual Henna gives you only burgundy color.

Here are some steps you may follow in preparing and applying henna to your hair:


Preparing a Henna Paste:

In my oh so not lazy days, I take it straight back home style and use a cold dark black tea to mix the henna powder. But often I just end up using plain water. Take a small bowl, dump all the henna powder (100g) into the bowl and mix it well into a thick paste making sure there are no lumps. On a separate bowl, crack an egg and beat it and add it to the paste. I then melt my unrefined cocoa butter and pour in about 1/4 a cup and mix them all together well. Let the paste sit for few minutes so it would release the dye.The flaky leaves in the henna seem to comes off so easily when you rinse your hair if the henna is mixed well.

Applying Henna:

Make sure you were latex gloves while applying the paste on to your hair unless you want to end up with golden brown nails and palms. Starting from the back of your head, part your hair into small sections and apply the henna paste on to your hair starting from the root and smoothing your way down to the tips. Work your way to the front of your head. Make sure your entire hair is covered with henna. Cover your hair with a plastic wrap and let it process at least for three hours. I often leave it over night.

The messiest part of them all is rinsing your hair out. It is always better to do it in a shower with a high pressure water. Wash it throughly until the water running through your hair is clear and use your choice of hydrating conditioner to remove the remaining henna and add moisture to your hair. Then try roller setting hair or a braid out.... guaranteed everyone will be asking you how you got your hair look so luscious :-)