Pure Henna is useful in changing the hair color to red. However neutral henna is used by many just to condition the hair without changing the natural color of the hair. Preparing your own henna mixture at home is easy and safe compared to purchasing a premix henna product. All you need is a bowl and a spoon to mix the ingredients.
How to Mix Henna for Hair
Use a plastic or a glass bowl to prepare a mixture. Avoid metal bowl as it can react with the mixture and might produce adverse effect on the hair. Alternatively use stainless steel bowl to prevent any form of reactions. Here are some simple tips on how to prepare your own henna mixture,
- Always use an acidic ingredient to mix henna. Lemon juice, orange juice or grapefruit juice, vinegar, etc are some good examples of acidic liquids which can be used to mix henna. It is important that you mix this acidic liquid to the henna leaves, as acidic liquid is essential to release the color in henna leaves
- The amount of henna would depend upon the length of your hair.100 grams of henna powder is considered adequate for hairs that are of normal thickness and are up to the length of the shoulder.
- Now mix henna powder and liquid in a bowl. Mix the two till it forms a thick paste of toothpaste consistency. Cover the bowl and leave it for about 24 hours.
- After about 24 hours the color of the mixture will turn greenish or brownish. Now add some more liquid juice and apply it on the hair. Avoid making the mixture dilute as it might result in dripping of the henna.
How to use Henna for Hair
Using body art quality Henna is better since the quality is guaranteed. Freshness of the henna powder is also equally important. Especially for grey hair, if the henna is not fresh it tends to give an unattractive orange look to the hair. This can be prevented if the henna is pure and fresh. Pure henna will provide red pigment only, however if there are other ingredients in the henna, it can change to color to dark red, brown or slightly golden.
Apply the henna paste on the hair using a brush and leave it on for about two hours. Wash your hair with cold water, which allows the pigments to adhere on to hair.
Henna for Hair Conditioning
Henna is also used merely to condition the hair. In this case, avoid using pure henna and instead use neutral henna which is considered to maintain the normal tone of the hair whilst just providing conditioning assistance.