Henna!

I'm a new convert. I admit it. I love the goop. It is only the second day mind you... but OMG, my hair.

- It is baby-soft.
- I'm still curly.
- The reds are so pretty.
- It just feels and looks amazing!

I used

• 300 g of Jamila super sift summer crop 2011 from AyurNatural Beauty. (It ended up being a bit too much.)

• 1/4 cup-ish Paprika (cap fell off while shaking so lots went in)

• 3ish cups of dark brewed chamomile tea

• juice of one lemon, with pulp

• dash of ginger powder

• 1ish cup of apple cider vinegar

I have absolutely no patience so I stuck the bowl into the oven that was still warm from cooking stuffed bell peppers. It was around a 100F in there when started (but it was not on and so was cooling off) and I had a thin red film in the stuff in less then an hours time. I let it sit another twenty to be sure and applied it at around 10PM.

Just like warm, brown baby doo. The sites I read said that the stuff under the top layer would still be greenish... mine wasn't it, was all brown, like thick dark chocolate frosting.

A Towel wrapped over plastic is how I kept it warm. My head was hot. The test hairball was quite reddish at three hours and I just left the plate on the stove.. so... I left it in my hair bit longer then that.

Mud Monster on my head!!!

Ended up rinsing it out in two steps.

First, I stuck my head under the tub facet and just massaged my hair. It turned the tub into a swamp but got most of the goop out. Since my hair was very tangled I then loaded it down with the Suave coconut conditioner I use when CWC or CO washing. (Cheap, no cones and really works well!) I then went and played on the interwebs for about a half hour.

THEN, I took a shower, and conditioner only washed (since more then a few sites recommend letting the henna cure before using shampoo) till the water was clear.

I went from this:

A rather blah brownish with grey

 To This!

Day one after henna.

 I'm happy with it. I think I may have not gotten the henna into a few parts as heavy as I should have but I am going to let it cure a bit before I do anything else.

Things I will do different next time?

1. Do it over damp hair. My hair really sucked in the henna juice. Made it harder to manipulate.
2. Leave out the lemon pulp. It was a pain.
3. GET HELP!!! Seriously. I managed to get the goop all over me, my bathroom, an unlucky cat, a towel, the toilet, the walls... I ruined the bathroom rugs (still gonna use them but they aren't as pretty). This stuff is not like chemical hair dye. If you have shorter or thinner hair then I do.. go for it yourself. If you have longer, thick hair.. get a friend!
4. Do a better job sectioning off my hair. When I went to the store they were out of those cheapo clips you use for this. Next time, I will get them ahead of time. Hair ties just do not do the trick.