My Henna Routine

Posted by Sarah Tennant Jul 9, 2009

I've been hennaing my hair for about three years now, and during that time streamlined the basic hennaing method into a lazy version that works for me! Firstly, I don't henna my whole head. I have hair long enough to sit on, and it's the colour I want; so repeated hennaings would only make it too dark (as well as taking up far more time and considerably more henna). Instead, I just henna my roots, usually a few weeks after they start to annoy me.

When I started hennaing I enjoyed pottering around with different additives, tossing in a bit of this acid and that spice in the search for the perfect colour. Now I know that additives really make very little lasting difference to the final result, and the most important thing you can do is use pure body-art quality henna. That doesn't mean expensive - mine's $2.49 from my local Indian grocer, and one packet lasts for two sessions.

Mixing My Henna

I pour the powder into a plastic tub, add a good slosh of red wine vinegar, and pour boiling water on it until it goes mashed-potato consistency. Then I cover it with gladwrap to wait for dye release. That's it - no terping, no herbal tisanes, no beetroot juice or paprika or rosemary. In a pinch you can even leave out the vinegar, but I like the acid for quick dye release.

Applying My Henna

Once the dye has released a couple of hours later, I assemble a plastic bag, plastic gloves and a hair elastic in the bathroom. (Actually I often don't, and have to creep around the kitchen semi-naked with green goo on my head hunting for a plastic bag; but I don't recommend this.) I then boil the kettle again and water down the henna until it's more of a runny yoghurt consistency. Warm henna feels much nicer on the scalp!

I then strip down to avoid my clothes getting stained, don the plastic gloves, pray that no housefires or home intruders should occur for the next few hours and start scooping henna onto my head. I just dip my gloved finger in the mix and apply it little by little to my roots, starting with whatever partings I usually use to ensure that they, at least, get plenty of coverage. I pay particular attention to my hairline and the hair behind my ears, and work in small sections; occasionally I still miss bits, but it all evens out in the end.

Once I'm covered I smear a little henna on my eyebrows for good measure, twist my hair up into a huge knot on the top of my head, and secure the whole glamorous 'do with a plastic bag and the hair elastic. I don't cover my eyebrows, so the henna dries out fairly quickly on them and only leaves a faint reddish tinge - but that's fine, because who wants flaming orange eyebrows?

Washing It Off

I usually leave my henna on for 3 hours or so. Once you've gotten to the root-touching-up stage, overnight is overkill. And it destroys your pillowcases.

Rinsing henna out is never fun, but I have a vague if unscientific technique of water-blasting my head under the shower and violently attacking my scalp with my claws. I don't use cold water, being a wimp; and I don't use shampoo or conditioner, because I'm into natural haircare. Usually I use an apple-cider vinegar rinse once the water runs clear, and the next day follow it up with an oil or honey treatment to restore moisture to my poor hair.

And that's it! I wouldn't go so far as to say "No muss, no fuss", but I'm a lot more efficient at the process than I used to be, when I cajoled my husband into helping. I re-gladwrap the plastic tub and chuck the henna back in the freezer for next time, too. They say it slightly reduces the quality of the henna, but again, as I'm just doing a centimetre or so of roots each time I know it'll even out with the next batch.

So what's your method? There are a few things I haven't tried, such as piping the henna like icing or mixing it with conditioner for a henna gloss. Let me know your tried-and-true tips - the lazier the better!