Wash Day - Henna!

After my last roller set got completely destroyed by the humidity, I decided I was going to go ahead and put my hair away in a protective style for awhile. I knew I wanted twists, but I wasn't sure what kind. Anyway, I like to henna my hair right before I install a long-term protective style to give it an extra boost of strength and deep conditioning. I have been doing these treatment about every two months, but decided to push this one back some because I wanted some more new growth. 

{1} I used the same steps from my last henna treatment to prepare the mix. (Here's my henna gloss recipe) I did this first to give it some time to marinate before I was ready to use it, although I wasn't very concerned about dye release this time. 

{2} Finger-detangled and divided my hair into three sections.

{3} Pre-poo with PM Tea Tree Moisturizing Conditioner and a mix of safflower & grapeseed oils. I put on a plastic cap and a scarf for a couple hours while I did things around the house. 

{4} Towel wrapped my hair for about 20 minutes to soak up the excess water. This is also the step I added the extras (honey and Tresemme Naturals conditioner) to my henna mixture. 

{5} Applied the henna to my hair, section by section, from root-to-tip. I apply my henna standing in the bathtub for easy clean up if I make a mess. I put on two plastic caps once I was done. 

{6} I left the henna in my hair for about an hour - 20 minutes of that was spent under my bonnet dryer on low. 

{7} Rinsed thoroughly in the shower. Once the water started running close to clear, I added a very generous amount of Tresemme Naturals to my hair with a plastic cap. This helps get any leftover henna rinsed out. I rinsed after around 10 minutes. 

My hair felt so mmm mmm good at this point I didn't want to deep condition. I told myself to just do it anyway to ensure I didn't experience any drying effects from the henna so I got out the shower at this point. However, my hair made me change my mind back to the original thought. 

{8} Towel wrapped my hair to soak up excess water. 

{9} My hair still felt so good that I decided to forgo my usual moisturizing deep condition and ACV rinse. My compromise was using Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative conditioner as my leave-in. I used this with Elasta QP H2 leave-in, grapeseed oil and my shea butter mix. Detangling was a breeze like it always is on henna wash days and my hair felt ah-mazing!! I hope my love affair with henna never ends. 


left: attempt at capturing the color; right: air-drying method

{10} I wanted my hair to be stretched to make it easier for me to twist it up. I ended up just letting it air-dry ponytailed in the same three sections, which worked surprisingly well for me. 

Even though it was more work than my typical wash days, it was such a great one! I cannot boast of my love of henna enough. My hair seriously thanks me every. single. time. It just feels so good that it's worth the work the smell and the mess to me. I got a slight brown tint to my naturally black hair this time. I'm not even sure how noticeable it is. After much indecision and trial & error, I went for Senagalese Twist/crochet braids. I ended up running out of hair at the the very end so I will be finishing it tomorrow and then posting about the style. Here's a blurry sneak peek until then! :)




How was your wash day this week? Be sure to check out other wash day experiences over at SavingOurStrands and JustGrowAlready!

17 comments:

  1. Hey Melanie...Can I have your Senagalese Twist/crochet braids...like just for a day or two? They are so gorgeous!

    I can't wait to see the final results!

    Thanks for sharing your #washdayexperience chica!

    KLP | SavingOurStrands

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haven't henna'd yet, but after reading this, I am convinced that I need to!
    Your twist are looking good!

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    Replies
    1. Yesss! If you do, I would love to know what your results are. Thank you!

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  3. I've always wanted to try henna, you make it seem so easy though. Looking forward to your braids finished.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tomes! I think I just have gotten it down to a science at this point so it is much easier than it was the first time I did it. But it's definitely still messy and can be time consuming. I think it's worth it though!

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  4. I love your braids, but I try to keep mine shorter.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I understand that, Nerline. I would like to try some short ones like shoulder length. But I would have to do crochet braids for that since my hair is too long.

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  5. I always henna before a long term PS install too! your twists look lovely!

    ReplyDelete
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