Henna Hair Dye Tips

Henna has been used for several thousand years to dye hair, skin leather, silk and other materials in different parts of the world, It was used in India, Ancient Egypt and the Romans used it too. Henna has been used extensively in religious ceremonies and ritual and very often used for weddings. Henna is also an insect repellent, it has anti-fungal properties and can be used to make perfumes. Henna is a shrub that grows in subtropical and tropical regions and can be found in the Middle East, North Africa, India, Pakistan and Iran. It has never been used much in Western Europe and North America until the very end of the 19th century. Henna is imported legally as hair dye but it has never been approved to be used as a skin dye. Henna dyes hair and skin in rich red brown, anything called henna that dyes in different colours (black for instance) is not real henna. Henna dye can have slightly different tones and hues depending on the place it comes from but will always be a red brown. If you see Henna in completely different colours it means that other substances have been added and it is not all natural as you might think. If you want to be safe always use 100% natural henna as some of the additives in some of the Henna compounds can be quite toxic.

When you dye hair with henna the result will be different according to your hair colour. Very dark  hair will have rich red tones while very light or grey hair will look quite ginger. Proper natural henna will also make very damaged hair look shinier and healthier. To use Henna mix the powder (you need about 200 gr for  medium length hair) with something acidic, many people like lemon juice but if you think it is too strong for your and makes you itchy try something like grapefruit juice or orange juice. Mix well to form a paste, you can add some water but it must be hot as it will damage the dye in the henna. Keep you henna paste overnight to allow the dye to come out, before using it add a little bit more lemon juice. 

Apply Henna over your hair whlle wearing gloves, the more henna you apply the richer the colour will be. When all your hair is thickly covered with henna wrap your head in plastic film to keep it protected, warm and not to stain the whole house. Keep it on for several hours 2-4 hours would do, some women find it a very relaxing time. Once you wash everything off don't be frightened, it takes a couple of days before you will see the true colour. When you feel your hair needs to be refreshed even if it is only the roots you can repeat this process again, real henna does not damage your hair. Again ensure that you are only using pure natural henna powder with no additives, some products call themselves henna but have a variety of chemicals added which can damage your hair as much as any chemical dye, or even worse as some of this have not been tested properly.