4 Ways to Use Henna in an Herbal Hair Regimen
Last updated on August 13th, 2020 at 03:32 pm
Henna has been a staple in Ayurvedic (or herbal) hair regimens for years. It’s like, if you are using herbal hair products to care for your hair and don’t use it, your hair regimen is incomplete. So, in this article you’ll find ways to use this precious herb in an herbal hair regimen.
You’ll find a number of articles here on Fine Natural Hair and Faith with info on using henna. I’ll link some of them below but in the meantime, let’s look at the number of ways to use henna in your hair regimen:
- Full Strength Treatment
- A Strengthening Gloss
- Tea Spray
- Whipped Butter
Full Strength Mask
The strongest of treatments is obviously the full strength hair mask. It’s when you take henna, mix it with hot water, tea, lemon juice or an acidic liquid and apply it to your hair under a plastic cap. I personally prefer to use just water because the acidic liquids cause my scalp to itch.
Once everything is mixed, allow it to sit on your hair for an hour to over night. Depending on the quality you use the dye within may release rapidly. The dye within is what’s known as the lawsone content. The higher the amount of lawsone in the henna, the faster the dye can release and the richer & deeper your color stain will be.
When doing a full strength treatment, once the dye releases, you may optionally add a natural oil to the mixture to reduce the likelihood of your hair feeling dry after rinsing. Once you do rinse, always follow with a deep conditioning treatment sans protein. This will balance out the strength you received with necessary moisture.
Related Article: Using Rajasthani Henna on My Crown and Glory
Henna Gloss
Similar to how you would make a full strength treatment, you’ll mix henna and allow it to sit for at least an hour before applying to your hair. The difference is you’ll be mixing the herb into a conditioner of your choice and won’t need to follow with a separate deep conditioner afterward.
You may use your favorite deep conditioner (preferably one without protein so that you don’t get strength overload – similar to protein overload). Some ladies will put henna into any old conditioner (including rinse out conditioners).
While herbs can boost any conditioner’s efficacy, it’s still best to use a quality conditioner meant specifically for deep conditioning. You will get the best results when you use high quality products.
Henna can be applied to your hair right away if you plan to leave it in for a while. This is something I like to do when running errands or doing housework. After rinsing, all you need to do is to proceed with your normal styling process.
Related Article: Results from Using Curly Proverbz Henna Hair Gloss
A Tea Spray
If it’s your first time using this herb, one of the easiest ways to do so is via a spray. You can use it in small amounts by creating a tea with it. A tea spray can be used every day once your hair get used to it. When you first start, spritz your hair a few times a week as needed to aid with moisturizing.
Using a tea spray will keep your hair most balanced when after spritzing your hair with the tea, you follow it up with an application of your favorite leave in conditioner. The reasons are exactly the same as following a full strength treatment with a deep conditioner.
In the video below, I share my version of Curly Proverbz tea spray (plus hair growth results):
A Whipped Butter
Of the four ways you can use Henna in your hair regimen, whipped butter is the only one I haven’t tried (some day) and the most timely to make. Curly Proverbz shares a recipe for a Whipped Shea Butter and Henna Coconut Oil infused mixture on her Youtube channel which you can watch below:
Click here for a beginner’s guide on using Henna: Henna on Natural Hair: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide
Places to buy quality Henna:
From beginner to advanced, you can find a way to use henna on your hair that’s effective for strengthening and improving the manageability of your hair.
