henna on hair photos : Red Henna Hair Dye

Red Henna Hair Dye Photo Picture Images Biography 2013

source(google.com.pk)

My local Indian store changes its henna brands every so often, but this is what I've been using lately.

If you're reading this, you're probably into the idea of having RED! (and seriously, with henna you need to type it like that) hair without putting your tresses through the wringer with conventional hair dye. WELL, COOL, 'cause I've been dying my hair with henna for over a year, and I have a few tricks of the trade up my sleeve.

Preliminary notes

Henna takes some time: seriously. You'll need to wait twelve hours after mixing for the dye to release and then it needs to be on your head for 1-4 hours, depending on the shade you want.

All henna is not created equal: go to your local Indian store and pick up a box or bag of henna — you don't want to use the dyes you can find in some natural food stores. If you don't have a local Indian store, you can get henna online.

Your hair probably won't look like mine. Henna looks different on every single person that does it. You can follow this step-by-step, and you may not end up with a result that matches what you'll see in my photos. It may not be drastically different, but the shade of red you achieve with henna depends on what your hair looks like before you put the henna on.

You can't get rid of henna. Seriously. Henna gets into the shaft of the hair — so you can't even really dye over it with over-the-counter or salon dye. I imagine the only thing that would really work is bleaching your hair, so keep that in mind. If you don't want to commit to a hennaed head or take the time to grow it out, stick with a box dye that's easier to dye over. Henna is very, very permanent.

People with all hair types can use henna! It'll look different for everyone, but you can rock it regardless of your hair color or texture. Also, as long as you're using body quality henna, it's safe to dye over chemically treated hair.

In my experience, henna doesn't apply evenly. If you can't stand the idea of every hair on your head not being the same color, you may not want to commit to henna.

What you need

Supplies!

100-500 grams of henna (for reference, I use 200g, and my hair is halfway down my back, but I've been doing this for a while. The general rule of thumb is 100g for short hair, 200g for collar-length hair, 300g for shoulder length hair, and 500g for waist-length hair)

a medium-sized bowl

a spoon

plastic/saran wrap

lemon juice (not necessary, but it is for how I do it)

1-3 free hours (depending on how intense you want your hair to be)

How you do it

Mixing your henna

I always mix my henna twelve hours before I want to apply it. You'll want to put it in a darkish area (I usually put mine in a bowl on the top shelf of my closet and shut the door) at room temperature (around 70F or 21C). If you need to rush it, you can put it somewhere warm (95F or 35C) and it'll be ready in two hours — however, you want to make sure it's not TOO hot. Careful, careful!

Dry henna!

Mashed potatoes-y henna.

Here's my mixing process:

I pour two bag of henna into the bowl

Then I add between 1/4 and 1/2 of a 16 oz bottle of lemon juice — you basically want the mixture to have the look and texture of (green) mashed potatoes. If you have sensitive skin, you can water down your lemon juice (sometimes I do half lemon juice, half water), or substitute in orange or grapefruit juice. Some people warn against using tap water, but I always do and I'm honestly not sure why you shouldn't. Vinegar and wine are also alternatives, but they'll smell pretty rank (though some people think henna itself is funky smelling) — however, you want to stay away from using yogurt or coffee. If you're familiar with henna body art: don't add "terps."

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Let it rest! I always leave my spoon in the bowl. I don't know why, really… I just do.