My first attempt at a henna gloss

SUCCESS!!!! :)

For those that follow me on Twitter(@sanguinerose81), you all know I attempted a henna gloss yesterday. My henna sessions normally involve henna, amla(or cassia, etc), a little bit of oil, honey, and maybe some green tea. It aslo would involve 18+ hours of sitting with what feels like a pound of dirt on my head. LOL!

This time, I wanted to try something different and see if the results would match the hype.

My arsenal:

• Jamila henna
• Cassia
• Marshmallow Root Powder
• Honey Powder
• Giovanni Smooth As Silk & TJ's Nourish Spa conditioners

Steps:

1. I first combined all of my dry ingredients. I didn't measure it out, so these numbers are all approximations: 1 box of Jamila henna, 3 heaping teaspoons of cassia and marshmallow root powder, and 2 regular teaspoons of honey powder.
2. After thoroughly mixing dry ingredients, I then mixed in tepid water(boiled and cooled down to room temperature); slowly stirring in until thick and lumpy(not too smooth or it becomes runny).
3. Once the mixture reached the consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes, I let it sit for about 20 minutes, covering with saran wrap to allow dye release. I've found that I literally get instant dye release with Jamila henna and with the other Ayurvedic herbs I combine with it.
   
4. After those 20 minutes, I then mixed in about a cup and a half of Giovanni Smooth As Silk conditioner. I ended up mixing just a little bit of TJ's Nourish Spa to get the consistency of a chocolate pudding.
5. I then sectioned off damp hair, and started applying the mixture from back to front, twisting each section until my entire head is covered.
6. I take the saran wrap, proceed to wrap until my head is covered(to the point of looking like a saran-wrapped conehead, lol). I then covered with processing caps and covered with a microfiber towel.
7. I don't always sit under a hooded dryer, but I sat under one for about 30 minutes on medium heat(after using my body heat for about 4 1/2 hours).
8. After about 5-5 1/2 hours, I rinsed out with warm water, cowashing twice using TJ's Nourish Spa, and then dting overnight with Hollywood Beauty Olive Cholesterol Deep Conditioner, rinsing in the AM and styling with Ori Organics Products.
   

Results:

I'm VERY pleased with my results. One of the noticeable differences is the ease at which I rinsed out all particles. One of the biggest headaches with henna is getting every bit out of your hair. Both of the conditioner(s) added, as well as the marshmallow root, helped in providing the slip needed to remove the mixture from my hair.

My hair also felt nice and heavy. In other words, my hair soaked up the conditioner which is a good thing as my hair is border-line low porosity.

I also had minimal shedding, something that I've grown accustomed to with henna treatments. Oh, and I only had the henna on for a fraction of the time, and still had a nice stain. More on the brown side, but noticeable, even while my hair was soaked with conditioner.

I twisted my hair the next morning (today) with Ori Organics and another positive I experiences was how much better the products took to my hair. When I wrote up my review a few weeks ago, I mentioned how there was no slip. This time, there WAS slip. Not a lot, but enough . I also noticed that my scalp was nice and clear. Henna and honey are naturally anti-fungal, so the seborrhea dermatitis is on vacay for the next week(if not longer).

So to sum my experience up....I'm a very happy Naturalista.

Below find pics of my hair

First two pics are of freshly rinsed off hair(w/flash, no conditioner).





Next two pics are of hair saturated with conditioner(no flash)





These pics are from today. I tried to show how the tint shows in the light(no flash w/the first pic)

Natural Urbanista