Natural Hair: Henna on 4B/4C Hair - Low Porosity/High Resistant! (Pic Heavy)

Hello peeps. Work has been endless. I was working every weekend since January and finally near end of April the mandatory weekends slowed down and in May I went to Istanbul. Beautiful city, but that's a story for another time.

Once I get bored with my hair, I get bored. I wanted color again. I hadn't colored my hair since my last post involving the Manic Panic and that Semi-Perm Dye had washed out.

You see my ends are pretty much blonde again, no mistaking that. This is from an old Finger Coil.

I wanted a Burgundy hair color. This time a Permanent Solution. Though, I did not want to damage my hair more than I already have in the past with Bleaching, high developers.

Even though I had bought Ion Brilliance Burgundy from a previous purchase at Sally's, I decided to search the web and do my own Henna research on color options, as well as Pros and Cons.

I learned quite a bit, the main things that stuck out were:

• There are different types of Henna, based on where they are Farmed and the color they are known to stain more of.
• Always use a Plastic/Non-Metal Container and Utensils when involving Henna.
• Henna can strengthen and soften the hair. 
• The natural chemical Lawsome in it that also gives it the Orange-Red color fills in the damage of the hair cuticle.
• Body Art Quality (BAQ) Henna is the kind you want to purchase and use for your hair.
• Henna stains a Red-Orange color, regardless of kind. Some stain more intense than others. You can change the stain color by what you add to it (Coffee, Tea, Powders, Honey).
• Henna cannot lighten your hair. It can add color to Dark hair but if your hair is Black, do not expect Deep Red Hair. On Very Dark Brown/Black hair you might see highlights more in the sunlight than actual indoor/low lighting.
• Henna is a great moisture restorer - make sure to add something to it so it isn't hard to wash out.
• Henna does not Lift Color.
• If you are Hennaing for color, it takes HOURS to be left on your head. If you are just conditioning then 30mins - 2 hours is fine.
• Henna can define your curls but it can also loosen the curl - Some people only notice a slight curl difference, and for others it's drastic. Loosened curls is not common though.

• Henna is Permanent - Though I do believe this is based on how many applications and if it took to the hair. There are cases were people were able to remove the Henna. It's just a tedious process.

Purchased Rajashanti Henna from Butters-N-Bars online. Comes in 100gms bags. I bought 4. One was just enough for my Past Collarbone/To Armpit THICK hair. I also Purchased Beetroot Powder from Amazon.com. I read that Beetroot can help with the Burgundy color which is what I was going for!

I ordered the Henna on a Monday, Received finally on a Friday after waiting 2 days on Invoice.

If I ever order Henna again I might try a different site, like Mehandi.

Even though 1 bag was enough, I used 2 bags of Henna powder to be mixed with the Beetroot Powder, Green Tea and I purchased Coconut Milk because I read that CM can help with the moisture and won't leave the Henna on my head to dry out while waiting.

As you see the color was a Copper color. The consistency should be like Cake Batter. 

Searching the internet I also came across those in Forums that claimed that Frozen Henna proved for Deeper Color stain for them. I wanted all the color I could get. So I let this sit out for 5 hours for Dye Release. Then I stuck it in the Freezer for another 4-5hours.

This is after Freezing and thawing, you see the dye.

Once Ready, you should do a Spot Test. You put a spot of henna on the palm of your hand for up to 5 mins, then rinse it off. If it leaves a orange/pumpkin orange stain then the Henna is ready for use.

Freshly damped, washed hair that I used a Clarify shampoo to help in what I was hoping would be Color as well as my hair Conditioned.

I added a Spoonful of Coconut Oil in it right before putting on my hair to help with moisture.

It was looking Promising for all over my head and I let it sit on my hair for 5-6 hours in 2 Shower Caps and I used a Heated Cap for an hour.

Afterwards I washed out the Henna in the shower, which was easy. I believe the Coconut Milk helped with that.

My hair was very soft and moisturized. How it made my naturally dry hair feel great.

But when it came to the Color...

My Blonde turned into an Orange/Copper color, and there wasn't much color at all implemented on my natural hair.

There was slight color but that was later rinsed out in another washing.
I figured "if any of my hair gets the Red, my Blonde ends definitely should." And my hair definitely told me and said "Ha ha! You knew better!"

Though I was determined and I figured I would try again.
This time I bought a cheap Red Wine, used Apple Cider Vinegar instead of the Coconut Milk and mixed my Beetroot Powder in that before I added it to the Henna.

***TO HELP WITH SMELL FOR BOTH BATCHES I ADDED ROSEMARY OIL AND IT HELPED A LOT***

Again, it looked Promising but the results were the same...

The only Positive is that my Coils were more defined.

Disappointed I was on the color, I had bought Rajashanti Henna because I read that Raj Henna has the deepest reds. =/

So I learned my lesson. If I want to color my hair, natural dyeing will not be it. I should of known though, just BLEACHING alone on my hair takes well over an hour.

And if you have a Low Porosity and just want Moisture and don't care for the color benefit then Henna could be for you, it's just time consuming on preparation.

Till next time.