Rename and Henna (Indigo) part 1

To fill the hour -- that is happiness.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi everyone (took me 2 days to post - What a Monday!!!! - Will post pictures as soon as I can)

So lets get to it. I was all Henna'd up on Sunday and decided to do a three part post about. My recipe, the goop'd up process and Day 4. This gives me a chance to really get to examine, if you will, my hair.

Firstly, let us say goodbye to Nico. He didn't make it, I am heart broken about it, but such is life. My mom was gracious enough to give me her camera which I have decided to rename from Rocky to Rocco. I like the way it sounds .....RRRRRRROOOCCCCO. Anyway, at this time, Nico is laying safely away, until I figure out what to do with him, perhaps during the summer, I can look at having him fixed.

Onto the Henna (Indigo).

Please note:

The Henna that I bought was written ' Black Henna' after consulting the sales lady, she assured me that what I had was Indigo (with no chemicals or PPD) and after reading up on Henna for hair I also came to the same conclusion. Therefore I decided not to let it release dye over night, I choose instead for a few hours. However the next time, I choose to Henna my hair, I will buy both normal Henna powder and Indigo power and do the whole mixing overnight process.

I did quite a lot of reading (blogs, forums and Henna for Hair) and watching YouTube videos and I came too a few conclusions.

1) It doesn't really matter if your hair is dry or wet (I honestly think its a personal preference)

2) Find a good recipe and tweak it to your liking. I found a basic one with just water, Amla oil and honey (I didn't have chamomile tea - I just choose to add more oils).

3) It's time consuming. Plan well, have enough time.

4) Clean up, clean up, clean up. Clean up as you go along, don't think to clean up afterwards, that wont work.

5) Don't wear colorful clothing. Wear old clothes that you wont mind getting dirty. Wear Black.

What I used was:

100 gr Black Henna (Indigo)

Amla oil

Jojoba oil

Argan oil

Honey (which I mixed in only when I was ready to use my mixture)

Gloves (I should have kept them on when I was washing my hair, now I got black nails)

boiled water (2 mugs but I ended up only using one)

bowl, wooden spoon (couldn't find a plastic one - as long as its not metal its fine)

wide tooth comb, hair claws, hair clips and shower cap.

I mixed:

Henna (Indigo), 2 tablespoons of Amla oil, 15 drops of Jojoba oil, 20 drops of Argan oil and gradually added water until I got to a smooth mashed potato consistency. Then I cling film/saran wrapped it for 3 hours and went about my day. The reason I used so many oils was because, since I was anyways, going to wrap my head (cling film and shower cap for a few hours) I would 'deep condition' using Henna (Indigo) and everything else. You know, really work the oils into my hair follicles and whatnot.

I read that if you leave the Henna either over night or for a few hours this process releases the dye which was why, I wrapped it and just left it. After 3 hours it was a dark green, blue/black color which was what I was after. Just before I applied it, I added 2 Tablespoons of Honey (this is apparently makes it easy to wash out)

Also, I choose to Henna (Indigo) my hair dry for the simple fact that I had flat ironed and roller set a week prior and I really just didn't want to wet it again and then re wet after the Henna(Indigo) was on top of it. I read that it doesn't make a difference weather its dry or wet. Also since I am going to Henna(Indigo) again, I figured the next time, I could do it on wet hair (that way, I see for myself which way works best or if it really doesn't matter) I like to test things out for myself sometimes. As for dry hair, I found that much better, I could tell which parts were Henna'd up and which weren't.

Please do research on Henna and also when buying anything, please please please ask what exactly you are buying, whats in it, whats it made from etc. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting/buying. The reason why I noted it like so ---- Henna (Indigo)----- is because when I next do it, I will use both Henna powder and Indigo powder, whereas here, I only used one kind, Indigo powder.

Look out for part 2.

Blessings, Peace and Rock on Rocco