Henna is used extensively in Indian weddings and for a variety of beauty purposes like hair conditioning, hair dyeing and body painting. I am myself quite fond of using henna for colouring my tresses and covering those premature grey strands. I like the natural tinge it imparts, especially because I am not very comfortable using chemical-based hair colour, no matter how instant the results are! As a herbal hair care enthusiast, henna is my most favourite go-to ingredient. So mostly, I bank on henna as a natural hair dye simply because I prefer to steer clear from the harmful chemicals that the readymade hair dyes contain.
BENEFITS OF HENNA
Natural henna, or red henna, is henna in its purest form, unlike black henna or neutral henna and it imparts a rich-brown colour, when used at regular intervals. There are several other benefits of applying henna on hair, check out the most prominent ones:
- Henna’s antimicrobial and antifungal properties help combat dandruff and itchy scalp by doing away with impurities.
- Henna removes excess sebum and unclogs the hair follicles, thus balancing oil secretion on the scalp and promoting hair growth.
- Henna has healing properties. It repairs damaged hair, improves hair elasticity and seals the cuticles.
- It acts as a hair conditioner that helps minimize hair breakage and split ends. READ MORE – NATURAL HAIR GROWTH SHAMPOO
HOW TO USE HENNA AS A NATURAL HAIR DYE?
When you use henna as a hair dye, expect tints like orange, red, burgundy, auburn or chestnut brown, depending upon how you soak the henna and how long you leave in on your hair. The longer you leave it on, the deeper the tint is.
- Mix henna powder (around 80g-100g for short hair) with tea liquor or coffee water overnight, in an iron bowl. I prefer boiling 2 tablespoons of coffee in a cup of water and using it for soaking my henna. It imparts a rich reddish tint.
- Add some lemon juice (this helps treat dandruff but if you have very dry hair, then you can skip this step).
- Next day apply the smooth henna paste on clean hair (that has not been coloured for the last few months).
- Wear a shower cap and wait for at least 2 hours. It is better if you can keep it for a longer time.
- Wash off with plain water. Do not shampoo your hair. Use plenty of water to do away with traces of henna paste, as much as possible.
- Shampoo your hair the next day with a gentle shampoo, preferably, after oiling your hair. READ MORE – OVERNIGHT HAIR SPRAY to stop hair fall
FOR DARK BLACK HAIR COLOR – use henna with indigo
If you have a lot of grey hair and wish to cover them naturally, you may add the indigo powder to your henna paste. Indigo powder acts as a natural darkening agent and works best when combined with henna to cover your gray hair naturally.