The recipe....

It is time for me to start hennaing again. My roots are shocking and that embarrassing gray hair or two are showing at the front.

I have taken a few photos to try to show what I do to make my henna.

You will need to get your stuff ready the night before as henna will need a good few hours so to dye release. This is where the molecules of henna colour are released and the dye becomes active. This is why you need an acid and some heat, it encourages the dye molecule to release.

So, gather your things and give yourself some time..

The day before you will need:

A wooden spatula
A large plastic bowl
plastic gloves ( if you want)
some henna - 200g will easily do my bra strap length, medium to fine hair.
Acid (I used lemon juice but white vinegar works well too) about 100ml
olive oil about 100g
hot chamomile tea - in a jug pour 500ml of boiling water and 4 chamomile tea bags, leave to soak for a few minutes.
red paprika powder

It is really important to avoid metal products when using henna. It goes nasty and should be avoided at all costs.

Right, henna in the plastic bowl. You will notice how lovely it is, super fine, like corn flour, this is what will go on your head, all silky smooth and lovely.

Add the olive oil. I put in about half a cup (4oz, 100g or so) That might seem a lot but your hair will thank you for it, give it a good mix.

Add the acid, you might have to adjust the amount you put in to get the right consistency.

This is how it will look, well, it looks like poo doesn't it. Don't worry, if it looks like poop, its normal.

Add about a tablespoon full of paprika. This is to get extra red in it. I don't know if it works, but I seem to get a nice red so it doesn't hurt.

Now you need to start adding the tea. Add it a bit at a time, until you get to a good consconsistency. Think pancake batter. It needs to be poorable but not too thick. Too thin, and it will be a complete dripping nightmare. The mixture should have changed colour by now to a slightly lighter poo colour.

Now all you need to do is cover it with cling film (allow the cling film to touch the henna, this stops it crusting over and drying out) and leave it somewhere warm - airing cupboard or I l leave it by my woodburner overnight - not too close or the bowl would melt.

Go to sleep safe in the knowledge that in 24 hours, you will have beautiful hair

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog.

As you might have guessed, I love henna. I can often be found hennaing my hair and I try to get the brightest, proper red possible. A lot of people have been asking me for advice and help about henna, what sort to buy, what is the ideal mix etc etc that I wanted to share my knowledge, successes (and failures!) with interested folks.

I was looking for a product that would give me a lovely rich red, that was free of nasty chemicals and not tested on animals. Henna for me, fitted the bill. I started with lush caca but I got failure after failure. The quality isn't brilliant and it is a nightmare to wash out. It is very gritty and greasy, not nice at all. This started me on my henna search. My current favorite is Jamilla from 2008. It is very close to the rolls royce of henna. It is so smooth and beautiful to use its like icing sugar, it washes out a treat and gives such lovely results. I will be posting pictures of my hair and of the stages of making the goop. I hope you find it useful and please please add comments and questions

Happy Hennaring!!

Jo (Henna Girl)