Henna Washday - #WashDayExperience

My last washday was also my henna day. 

Here is a brief recap:

I used Nupur Henna this time unlike the unbranded one I've been using. I got Nupur Henna from Sizzelle @ N800. I decided to try it because of the 8 additional herbs it has in it. I mixed and prepared the whole satchet the same way I did here. 

While waiting for dye release, I prepooed with V05 Herbal Escapes Sun Kissed Raspberry with Chamomile Extract Balancing Conditioner + A tablespoon of Tropic Isle JBCO (Rosemary) + A tablespoon Estella Pride Vegetable Glycerin + A tablespoon Now Foods Grapeseed Oil + drops of peppermint oil.

My Pre-poo Mix 

It was also the washday for clarifying, so I washed with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, lathered twice. I had the intention of doing a last lather with Creme of Nature Moisture and Shine Sulphate-free Shampoo to restore some moisture. However, I got lazy and decided not to. Lol

I wrapped my hair in a cotton tshirt to absorb some moisture while I got my henna mix ready. I added Estella Pride Vegetable Glycerin and some Grapeseed Oil (I didn't measure just gauged), mixed it up till it was smooth. 

I put on an old tshirt, applied vaseline around the perimeter of my hair and snapped on my gloves. I applied the henna mix using my method of starting in the middle and rolling into a bun until I have a huge bun. I especially love this method because it keeps the henna from drying out and becoming crumbly, it's less messy, it keeps henna off my neck and face since no hair is hanging down. 

I left the henna in for about 4 hours and rinsed it out quite easily. I used cowashed with V05 Herbal Escapes Sun Kissed Raspberry with Chamomile Extract Balancing Conditioner till the rinse water ran clear. 

I tshirt-dried and applied Aussie 3 Minutes Miracle Deep Conditioner to my hair. It was quite late (I started the whole process around 1 pm in the afternoon) and I was exhausted. Hence, I deep conditioned overnight.

I rinsed the following morning with cold water and tshirt-dried. My hair felt soooo nice, strong yet soft. I kept running my fingers through. I'm in love with henna, really. 

I worked in small sections because I was 14 weeks post and tangles and knots are inevitable. I applied African Pride Shea Butter Miracle Moisture Intense Leave-in Conditioner, sealed with Grapeseed Oil, finger - detangled  and blow-dried with cool air using tension method. After blow-drying, I applied a little Cantu Shea Butter Natural Hair Creamy Lotion to each section and detangled with my wide-toothed comb. Detangling wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. Yipee! I oiled my scalp and put my hair into 6 cornrows and under the wig they went.

I had a couple of knots and few tangles but nothing my fingers couldn't tackle. I didn't even need to grab my Mane n Tail Detangler. I'm getting better at this relaxer stretching game. Normally, relaxer touch-up day would be anytime soon but I think I'll keep going as far as my hair can take it. I had this washday last week, so I'm currently 15 weeks post.

Detangled Hair

Still rocking my short wig!

I will definitely use Nupur Henna again. I loved the results. What's your favourite henna brand?


Related Posts:
My First Henna Experience: Will there be a second? 
WashDay - Second Henna Treatment 

WashDay - Second Henna Treatment

I did my second henna application over a week ago. As I mentioned here, I plan to do henna treatments once a month.

PREPARATION + APPLICATION
The preparation and application steps were very similar to the steps in my first henna treatment. The major differences are as follows:

• I did not have to mix from my henna paste scratch. I only brought out the paste from my first mix that I had kept frozen, and left it out in the kitchen overnight for it to thaw.
• I did a henna treatment proper this time unlike the conditioning henna treatment I did the first time. So I didn't mix in any conditioner, I only added 2 tablespoons of honey.

I prepooed overnight with Tresemme naturals nourishing moisture conditioner + honey + extra virgin olive oil.
Shampooed with Creme of nature moisture and shine sulphate-free shampoo. I used warm water and I lathered twice.

I squeezed out excess water and wrapped my hair in a cotton tshirt. I then applied the thawed henna paste using the same method I used for my first application.

Thawed Henna Paste

I wrapped my hair in clingfilm and used my Hair Therapy Wrap to apply heat. The heat from the heat therapy wrap lasted about 40 minutes but I left the henna on for a total of 4 hours.




I washed out the henna under a running tap. It washed out so easily but my hair felt quite hard. However, after I used Tresemme naturals nourishing moisture conditioner and rinsed it out, my hair felt softer immediately.

I squeezed out excess water and wrapped my hair in a cotton tshirt. Then I deep conditioned for about 30 minutes with Aussie 3 minutes miracle deep conditioner + Tropic Isle JBCO ( Rosemary ) + Roux porosity control. I rinsed out the deep conditioner with cold water and I detangled in the shower with help of the running water and a wide-toothed comb.

STYLING
I tshirt-dried for about an hour, then I sealed the moisture left in my hair with my oil mix. My hair felt strong and soft at the same time. I really loved the feel. I started parting my hair into sections, applied megagrowth profectiv daily leave-in strengthener, then detangled. Detangling was easy peasy despite the fact that I was 7 weeks post and already had about an inch of new growth.

I applied one/two pumps of beautiful textures curl defining mousse to each detangled section and sealed with my whipped shea butter and twisted. I used the smallest foam rollers in my set of conair foam rollers on the ends of each twist. The twists were 10 in total.

I tied my hair up in my satin scarf and went to bed. The next morning I unravelled each twist after applying a little  whipped shea butter in my palms. I Loveeeeed the results.

Day 1 

Day 3

Day 5

This is the best heat-free curls style/method I've ever tried. They were easy to do, easy to sleep in unlike flexi rod sets (That I also love by the way) and the result? Amazing. I had never tried twistouts before now, even though I have done braidouts several times but I've never been able to get this much curl definition. The curls also lasted longer than the curls I get from braidouts.

 Ladies, what is your favourite heat-free curls style?

Thanks for stopping by. 
Bee 

My First Henna Experience; Will there be a Second???

I have quite a number of grey strands on my head. The why beats me really, lol. I found the first strand when I was a teenager and I was I should let it be that removing that one strand would cause more to grow out. So I left it believing others won't pop up, o boy! was I wrong!!! Hahaha! As years went by they kept on multiplying. I actually kinda like them but still I don't think I'm ready to flaunt grey hair yet.

I started thinking of ways to cover up the grey strands. I considered semi-permanent hair dyes/colours but after doing some research online I decided not to, especially because my hair is already chemically altered i.e. relaxed/texlaxed. Another chemical would probably be too much for it to handle without falling apart.  I finally decided to go with natural dye (Henna) especially because of the other benefits of henna asides natural colouring. I should do another blog post on the benefits of henna.

PREPARATION

• I steeped 2 bags of green tea in about 1.5 cups of hot water and allowed it cool.
• I mixed the steeped tea gradually into 200 grams of henna powder purchased from www.olori.com.ng in a plastic bowl and stirred with a plastic spoon until i had a nice paste. It was quite thick at this point but you will find out why soon.
• I covered the bowl and left it in my kitchen cupboard overnight. I also applied my pre-poo mix to my hair, wrapped my hair in clingfilm, covered with a shower cap and left it overnight.

APPLICATION

• I Shampooed with Creme of nature moisture and shine sulphate-free shampoo and wrapped my hair up in a tshirt.
• During my research on henna application and results I found that it tends to make hair dry and hard like a strong proteintreatment. I decided to tread with caution go for Curly Nikki's conditioning henna treatment. see here
• I divided the henna mix into two because it seemed like a lot (I poured the other part into a plastic bowl with a lid and poured in the freezer for later use). I then mixed in a sizeable quantity of Tresemme naturals nourishing moisture conditioner. This made the thick paste a little thinner and it was just perfect for me. The consistency was like that of set yoghurt.

• I then proceeded with the application using the method in the  video below 

                            

• The application wasn't as messy as I thought it would be, although I took precautions; protected the floor with newpapers, used gloves and wore an old tshirt. My edges and ears were also protected with vaseline to prevent stains.
• I left the henna in overnight and rinsed under a tap with warm water. It took a while before the water ran clear. I used Vo5 herbal escapes pomegranate and grapeseed conditioner for the rinsing.
• My hair felt quite strong just like after aphogee two step protein treatment and even better. I deep conditioned with aussie 3 minutes miracle deep conditioner to infuse some moisture back into my hair.

I really loved the results. My hair was strong and well moisturised and also very shiny. As regards colour, my grey strands are now copper red i think? was so happy. Grey strands are gone. My normal hair colour is almost jet black so I know it will take a while and several applications for there to be a significant colour change. I see highlights of red when I'm in the sun though especially my roots. Unfortunately, I couldn't get this in pictures, tried so hard but finally gave up.

There you have it! my first henna experience. Will there be a second? definitely! I'm officially a henna-head and I'm loving it. Going  forward I plan to apply henna once a month. My next application is later this week. 

What are your thoughts and experiences of henna and/or other natural dyes? Are you a henna-head? Please drop a comment.