My Henna Experience

My Henna Experience

Today I’m going to tell you all about my Henna hair treatment experience! As I’m sure you noticed from the pictures, yes I am now officially a red head/ginger/copper top, whatever you would like to call me (except for carrots!).

A little History… I have virgin hair, meaning I have never colored it in my life! You can’t imagine how hard this was for me to do! The decision to make this change left me with feelings of excitement, curiosity, and down-right trepidation! The thing was, I loved my hair color as it was; I just really had a hankering for red hair and something a little different. I thought to myself, “I’ll just wait until I start going grey and I’ll probably want to color my hair anyway.” Then it dawned on me that that will probably be a long time from now and I may not feel like being a red head then. But, it just seemed so permanent! I was so afraid of looking like an orange pumpkin or carrot orange, or simply not liking it at all and being stuck with it. Trey said, “Just try it! If you don’t like it it’s not the end of the world, you can color it back as close to your natural hair color as possible and let it grow out; even if you have to use a chemical dye. Besides, I think it sounds kind of exciting for you be a red head.” So it was Trey who actually gave me the courage to take the leap.  I have since read that you can actually lift the Henna from your hair using several oil treatments. Whether this works in all cases I do not know.

So why Henna? I did a ton of research on Henna for your hair. Most of us know Henna as a dye that People in India use for temporary body art, particularly during ceremonies and special occasions such as weddings. But did you know that for centuries people have also been using it for their hair? It is very nourishing and really promotes healthy hair! Chemical hair dye is packed full of harmful chemicals, not to mention, it is very damaging for your hair itself. I weighed the pros and cons in my mind and was easily swayed toward Henna!

So why red? Combining Henna with other natural herbs can give you a hair color anywhere from light brown and red to black, believe it or not! Since I was but a wee lass I have imagined I was an Irish maid full of fire and spirit with a mane of wild red hair flowing behind me. I have dreamed of visiting Ireland and wondered and hoped that somehow there was but a drop of Irish blood in my veins. I always enjoy listening to Irish/Celtic music, especially at Christmas time. I really don’t know about the Irish blood in my veins, but I certainly did not have a mane of wild red hair. I cherished the highlights in my hair that gave it a reddish cast, but that was about the extent of it. When I saw some of the different hues of red that could be achieved with Henna I began to wonder if my childhood dreams could perhaps be achieved in a very safe, healthy, and natural sort of way.

I was anxious to see how long it would take before I needed to touch-up my roots. From what I had read the roots were supposed to look much more gradual and natural with Henna than with chemical dyes and that was absolutely the case! I did my first Henna hair treatment at the beginning of September and I didn’t feel the need to Henna again until three months later. By that point the roots were becoming pretty noticeable to me, especially in certain lighting but many people could not even tell the difference. I decided to do another full Henna treatment. I was very pleased with the length of time I was able to go between treatments!

Another thought was, will there be a color change when I decide to do a root touch up or another full hair treatment? I could detect no line whatsoever! I was once again pleasantly surprised!

Due to the fact that I was not faithful in taking after photos, the after photo is actually the results of my latest Henna treatment. The results were very similar with perhaps a slight deepening of color the second time around.

Over the course of a few posts I would like to go a little more in depth about where to find Henna, Henna application, links to websites with information, etc. I’m really excited to share this with all of you!

~ Clair