From Wikipedia.org "Henna (Lawsonia inermis, also called henna tree[1]) is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool." Henna has been used as a cosmetic hair dye for 6,000 years. In Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra and Nefertiti were known to have used it. It was commonly used for many centuries in areas of India, the Middle East, and Africa. Henna is known to be dangerous to people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD deficiency), which is more common in males than females. Infants and children of particular ethnic groups are especially vulnerable."
I heard great things about the cassia, and was tempted to buy it. But decided to go with the henna, knowing that it would change the color of my hair, but I was okay with that. So wash day came this past Monday and I washed my hair with the Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo(will do a review on this soon, and conditioned my hair with Proclaim Olive Glossing Conditioner because I needed to use it up. I then towel dried my hair and divided my hair in 2 sections and applied the henna in small parts by finger-parting my hair. I left it on for 3 hours and rinsed for like 20 minutes until it was rinsing clear. I then checked my hair to make sure it was all out before applying my deep conditioner(Herbal Essences Hello Hydration). I let the DC sit for an hour(will let it sit longer next time), and rinsed and applied the Shea Moisture Conditioner. I noticed that my hair has just a small amount of red and that my gray hairs were coppery orange. I styled my hair with flexi-rods and flat rope twist, and put on my silk cap then went to sleep. The next morning I took out the rods and my hair was so soft! I even noticed that it loosened my curl pattern, but not by much, it just made it easier to comb. As the days went on, I noticed that the red is showing up more. This is something I will most likely do every other month. The brand of henna I used was the Godrej Nupur 100% Natural Mehendi with the goodness of 9 herbs that I purchased from Amazon.com for like $4.00 a pack.
