Step by Step Henna guide for Gray Hair

My goal was to make my hair a medium brunette, I never really loved the orange shade my hair turned into with plain Henna, but I like the idea of my gray hair being a little lighter than my naturally black hair. I added Amla to my mixture, as I heard this herb is beneficial for tightly curled hair and helps with deep ash tones.

gray coverage with Henna and Indigo After and Before

Tools and Products Used

I have been using Henna/Cassia/Indigo from Ancient Sunrise lately. The founder/owner of Ancient Sunrise has a Ph.D. in Henna and has a lot of free information about Herbal Hair Color that has helped me craft my Henna color mixture. This is my referral link if you are interested in trying them out and receiving a discount.

Choosing the Herbs to Color my Grays

125g Cassia
75g Henna (Rarity)
75g Indigo
50 g Amla

I used Amla because it is supposed to help with Indigo uptake and make the resulting color less warm. The recommendation is 25g per 100g of Henna or Cassia. Since I was using a combined total of 200g I added 50 g of

My Process for Dying Grays

Always, Always keep Henna Mixes simple and ALWAYS ALWAYS dye release. Ancient tradition and science tells us dye release is necessary. I explained what happened when I did not dye release Henna Damaged my Hair.

Infusing Henna in teas, oils, and conditioners is ineffective at best, at worst many people complain of dryness and breakage(check the comments section of some of these Henna challenges). Using Henna in such as casual way has no basis in tradition or science.

Dye Release the Henna and Cassia

My goal is to dye release Henna for a minimum of 12hrs…in this case it was probably around 20ish hours. I weighed the Cassia, Henna, and Amla, and mixed with distilled water to form a thick paste. I covered it with cling wrap and stored it in my linen closet.

Hardwater Treatment and Clarify

I used the Malibu C hard water treatment to prepare for color. I followed the instructions on the hard water treatment.

Shampoo with Hydrating Shampoo
Hard Water Treatment
Condition
Clarify with Clarifying Shampoo
Prep for Henna Treatment

This was a lot of time preparing for Henna, but I guess this is similar to prepping for a traditional hair treatment. In the future I might do the first three steps (Shampoo, Hardwater, Condition) the night before. Day

Mix the Indigo

Indigo needs to be mixed just prior to application because it dye releases much more quickly than Henna or Cassia. I mix the Indigo with distilled water and then add it to the dye released Henna/Cassia mixture. It has a much quicker dye release than Henna & Cassia.

Apply the Henna/Cassia/ Indigo Mix

I start applying Henna at the top of my head creating a bun at crown at my head. After all the Henna is applied I use Saran wrap to cover my hair

Process with Heat

I sit under a dryer for about an hour under a hooded dryer on medium/high heat. Heat raises the cuticle and helps the hair accept the color. After I come from under the dryer, I allow my hair to cool off, I am for at least 15 minutes. This time I went and took care of some chores around the house until the mixture started to drip and the weight of the herbs on my hair started to bother me.

I kept the Henna on for two hours total, one hour with heat and one hour without heat.

Shampoo with Hydrating Shampoo

Yes, I shampoo yet again. I am not a fan of the scent of Henna, so I wash thoroughly to ensure all of the grit from the powders has been removed. I chose a hydrating shampoo because I wanted to get rid of the Henna without drying out my hair.

Rinse out Conditioner

I apply a rinse out conditioner and do a gentle detangle. Rinse…then proceed to styling.

Next round of color I will dial back the Henna, as I want the color a little less red and a little browner. Once I have found the color that works for me, I will only apply it to the first inch or so of hair as a root touch-up. If my hair starts to get too coppery I will probably do a whole head application maybe 2-3 times per year

How Often do I Henna

For the last three months, I have been Hennaing once every four weeks. I try to Henna during the week of the full moon. I like this rhythm right now, the color and condition of my hair will determine how often I use Henna moving forward.

Untwisted