Naturally Blonde

As all of you who know me know, I am not in fact a redhead. I'm naturally blonde. But I can claim that my hair color is "natural" because I do not obtain it by commercial chemical means. Ah, henna! The same stuff that you see used for the beautiful skin designs in India can also be used to turn your hair red.

The first time I colored my hair with henna was about two days before my high school graduation in 2003, and my mom freaked out. The first time you color blonde hair with henna, it turns a rather comical orange shade. And I was graduating in white. By the second application, though, I had the color I have now.

Henna is a plant (Lawsonia inermis) whose leaves are dried and then ground into powder and used as a dye. The color varies on skin from faint orange to dark brown; on hair it has the same color variation, although I've heard that it can turn gray hairs pink!

When henna is used as a skin decoration, it is referred to as Mehndi. It has a lot of cool traditional uses and has a few little-known side benefits when applied to the skin.

• Henna is a natural anti-fungal.
• Henna is a natural sunscreen!
• Henna has astringent properties-it feels cool going on and actually draws heat away from the skin.
• Henna is a natural anti-perspirant. You probably wouldn't want to stain your pits orange, but boatmen used to coat their palms with it to prevent chafing while rowing.

Henna also has several benefits for your hair, mostly because of the way in which it coats the shaft of hair.

• Henna thickens and strengthens your hair-no more split ends!
• Henna causes light to reflect differently off of your hair, making it shiny.
• Henna makes your hair softer.
• Since henna is a natural sunscreen, no more sunburns on the part of your hair.
• Henna's astringent properties make it a great headache relief during application.
• Henna can eliminate problems like headlice and ringworm.
• It's a whole heck of a lot cheaper than commercial chemical dyes, and won't damage your hair!

I purchase my henna from a local Indian grocery store, and it looks something like this in the box:

The brand varies depending on what the store has in stock, but it's always $2.99 a box. Not bad! When the powder comes out of the little plastic bag inside the box, it smells kind of like hay and will be anywhere from bright green to an olive or light brown color. The more green it is, the fresher it is.

Henna is pretty easy to mix up, and you can use all sorts of add-ins to tweak your color OR improve the smell (I like it, but it takes some getting used to!). A very comprehensive list of mixes can be found on the Reverend Bunny's Henna Page. Generally speaking, henna likes acid. Things like lemon juice will help to make your color more vibrant. You should NEVER use metal utensils with henna; it's surprisingly chemically reactive and it will tarnish metal. The metal may also alter your color. I use a glass mixing bowl and a plastic or wooden spoon. You should also know that the henna will stain anything other than glass, so if that freaks you out, use a different spoon for henna. Here's what it looks like mixed up:

Of course, if it's fresh, it will be baby poop green! Henna also stains your skin, so before I put it in my hair I always coat my hairline in either a thick lotion, vaseline, or olive oil and put on a pair of gloves. If you skip the gloves, it will look like you have a cheetos addiction. Also, wear an old t-shirt. Putting henna in your hair isn't like putting regular dye in your hair because it's so thick. The easiest way to do it is to coat just your roots at a part, then move on to another section. Pile all of your hair on top of your head and then coat the rest of it. The results of this can be pretty comical, as Tricia and I demonstrate in this Sellards photo circa 2006:

It's then a good idea to cover your hair with something. Henna reacts favorably to heat, so I always cover mine with at least a plastic bag to trap in some body heat and keep messes to a minimum. You can also throw a towel or t-shirt over the plastic bag:

Again, this stuff isn't like commercial dye that you let sit for just half an hour, then rinse. The longer you leave this stuff on, the more vibrant your color will be. I leave mine on for about an hour and a half usually. It takes a LOT of shampooing in the shower to get it out, especially if you didn't mix it well and it's lumpy. But the end result is so worth it!

This color will change a little over the next week depending on my blow dryer use and how much time I spend in the sun. Again, henna reacts to heat.

Now, a few critical warnings:

• Anything marketed as "black henna" is not real henna or even natural. It contains PPD (a toxic chemical) and can cause serious chemical burns. See the oozing skin photos if you don't believe me. The exception to this is indigo. It is possible to use indigo as a hair dye and as a skin decoration, but it's definitely tricky enough that you should read up on it before attempting it.
• As I stated before, don't use your metal utensils when mixing. Henna can tarnish metal.
• Henna will stain anything porous, including your skin. Protect surfaces and wear an old t-shirt.
• If your hair is chemically dyed, wait for the dyed sections to grown out before attempting henna. Chemical dyes are basic, and the henna mix is acidic. Putting them together is the equivalent of an elementary science baking soda and vinegar volcano-and it's possible it will turn your hair frog butt green and fry it.
• Your hair stylist probably doesn't know anything about henna. Don't necessarily believe what they tell you.
• Henna doesn't contain any bleach, so don't expect bright red hair if your hair is dark. You will however, get the conditioning benefits and probably some nice shine and highlights.
• Likewise, if you have very light hair, it will take a few applications to move you from cartoon character orange to the red color that I (as a natural blonde) have.
• The recipe for henna to use as body art is very different and will yield better results on skin than the hair dye recipe...so ask for another post on using henna as body art if your'e interested! The first photo posted is some henna (while it was still on the skin) that I did at a bachelorette party this summer.

Happy henna-ing! Once you start, it's hard to stop. I have at least one other person addicted ;)