Talk to me about hair.

[SecretAgentMa'am]

Originally Posted by nekohl

What advice, suggestions, tips would you give someone using henna for the first time?

I've researched the heck out of the pros and cons of henna and am mostly finding pros. I haven't dyed my hair in about 6 or 7 years and its plain ol brown right now. In the past I've been pretty much every shade of red with chemical dyes. Ive read that henna is much less damaging and I have ordered my first batch.

So I'm looking for application tips and maintenance after care

I'm super excited for a little red again!

Henna is great for your hair. I always buy mine from a local Indian import store. Regardless of where you buy your henna, make sure it's just 100% pure henna leaves with nothing else added. Some henna products (especially "black" henna) include additives that can be dangerous. If you ever decide to go back to chemical dyes, bad reactions can happen if you've been using henna that includes any metallic salts.

You can use all sorts of different recipes to mix it up depending on the results you want. I mix mine with rooibos tea (to amp up the red tones a little more), olive oil, lemon juice, and lavender oil. All you really need to mix your henna is hot water, something acidic, and something oily, so there are almost endless possibilities. Different teas will give you different tones, you can use any oil that you'd normally use to condition your hair, and while lemon juice is most common any citrus juice will work. Eucalyptus oil is the most traditional essential oil to use, but I prefer the scent of lavender. Just make sure whatever essential oils you use are safe to apply to your skin.