What is Cassia? What is Amla?

Senna italica,(= Cassia obovata), often called "neutral henna", is used as a hair treatment with effects similar (conditioning treatment) to henna but without the red color. The active component is an anthraquinone derivative called chrysophanic acid, which is also found in higher concentrations in rhubarb root. It can add a slight yellow color.
Cassia when used for hair is a powder made from the dried leaves of senna plant and used as a great conditioner adding softness, shine and bounce.

The Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica, syn. Emblica officinalis) or Amla is a deciduous tree of the Euphorbiaceae family. It is known for its edible fruit of the same name. Amla reportedly has the highest vitamin C content of all food stuff.
Popularly used in inks, shampoos and hair oils, the high tannin content of Indian gooseberry fruit serves as a mordant for fixing dyes in fabrics. Amla shampoos and hair oil are traditionally believed to nourish the hair and scalp and prevent premature grey hair.

What is Henna and how is it made?

The technical bit:

Henna or Hina (Lawsonia inermis, syn. L. alba) is a flowering plant, the sole species in the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia in semi-arid zones. Henna is a tall shrub or small tree, 2–6 m high.

Henna, Lawsonia inermis, produces a red-orange dye molecule, lawsone. This molecule has an affinity for bonding with protein, and thus has been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool.

And how is henna made into a hair dye or tattoo stain for skin?

Whole, unbroken henna leaves will not stain the skin or hair. Henna will not stain skin or hair until the lawsone molecules are made available (released) from the henna leaf. Fresh henna leaves will stain the skin if they are smashed with a mildly acidic liquid. This will stain skin within moments, but it is difficult to form intricate patterns on the skin or to apply to hair from coarse crushed leaves. Dried ground, sifted henna leaves are easily worked into a paste that can be used to make intricate body art or to dye hair.

Commercially available henna powder is made by drying the henna leaves and milling them to powder, then the powder is sifted. This powder is mixed with lemon juice, strong tea, or other mildly acidic liquids but can be mixed with water alone.
Essential oils with high levels of "terps", monoterpene alcohols such as tea tree, eucalyptus, cajeput, or lavender will improve skin or hair stain characteristics. The henna mix must rest for 6 to 12 hours so the leaf cellulose is dissolved, making the lawsone available to stain the skin or hair. The longer henna is left on the skin or hair the darker the shade achieved.

What effect will henna have on brown hair?

Depends on the shade of your original hair colour really.
If you have light brown hair then you'll end up with a vibrant shade of reddish/orange. If your hair is darker then you could end up with reddish highlights.
Henna creates a reddish colour - what if you don't want too much of the red tones? In this case your best bet is to add indigo to your mix. Indigo, when mixed with henna, darkens your hair into a rich brown. Using more indigo creates a darker shade and more henna brings in the reddish tones. Any grey hairs will become red/orange unless you add Indigo.

Henna & Indigo can both be used as often as you like with no damage to your hair.

Henna & Indigo (sold at LoveHennaHair)are natural products with no added chemicals so an exact shade cannot be guaranteed.

Is henna safe for use during pregnancy?

According to regular users of henna as a hair dye henna is fine to use during pregnancy as there are no chemicals. They and their babies have had no side-effects from henna use.
As long as it is Real Henna and not a compound mix. Any henna that is sold as black henna or blonde henna is generally a mixture of some sort - sometimes with metallic compounds added.  It is the chemical Para-phenylenediamine found in some chemical hair dyes that everyone is now being advised to avoid - especially pregnant women.


At LoveHennaHair we only sell the pure plant products with no chemicals or metallic compounds mixed in. Indigo (again as long as it's pure indigo) is also fine - so if you were wanting darkish brown hair then pure 2/3 indigo mixed with 1/3 pure henna is probably your best bet.


However, there have been no chemical trials to indicate whether any form of hair dye - natural or chemical - has any effect on your unborn baby.  Personally if I were to dye my hair during pregnancy I would choose a natural rather than chemical method.

Does henna have metallic qualities?

No, pure henna powder is made from a plant which has no metallic qualities.

However some Henna dyes used in Europe and America in the late 19th century had metallic qualities as they added iron sulphate, copper sulphate and a whole host of other ingredients to create various colours.

"When diplomats and travelers went abroad, they often took a painter or
photographer with them to record the exotic world, which they did …
richly embellished with their own attitudes and fantasies.  The
opulent (though hardly accurate) depictions of Turkish harem life by
Ingres and others caught the imagination of Europeans in the 19th
century just as science fiction motion pictures catch the imagination
of people now, and created demand for products.
When European and American women went to purchase these Oriental wonders: they were sold boxes of “black henna”, “red henna” “blonde henna” and “neutral henna” (also called “white henna”).  These were “rastik”, henna, indigo, and cassia for their hair. The westerners had no idea what was in the boxes, nor was precise labeling required at that time.

The term “to henna” became synonymous with dying one’s hair, no matter what plant was used.  “Henna” was the universal term for hair dye at the beginning of 1900, and was the safest, most widely used, most reliable hair dye until the technology of
para-phenylenediamine dye was transferred from the textile and fur industry into the cosmetic industry in the late 1930’s." History of Henna - Catherine Cartwright-Jones

Henna Dyed Helen

Dyed my hair again yesterday (last time was just over a month ago) using pure henna powder, water, lemon juice and a teensy bit of indigo powder.
Wrapped my head in clingwrap and three hours later...



Loving it! It has so many different shades of brown, auburn and even a little bit of orange highlights - depending on the light. My hair feels so smooth - I was telling my 7 year old son how soft my hair was and he stroked it, said "wow" and then continued until I had to tell him to stop. Seems to have become richer/deeper since the last time I used henna - so looking forward to seeing what it will be like over the next few years.

You can see more photos at our website Lovehennahair

Simple Henna Recipe

Instructions:

100g of Henna/Indigo/Amla/Cassia powder for every six inches of hair - in whichever proportions you’ve decided.
Approximately 300ml water per 100g powder(many people add 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 water which is reputed to help “fix” the dye)

1) Cover everything in newspaper
2) Decide on the proportions of henna and indigo - remember every person’s hair will react slightly differently.
3) Mix powder in a bowl with warm water to make a thickish paste. Leave for at least 4 hours.
4) Apply the mixture onto your hair using plastic gloves.
5) Wrap head in clingwrap. Keep it on for at least an hour and up to 8 hours. The longer it is left on, the darker the colour.
6) Rinse the mixture off with water and shampoo as normal. The colour will change over the following 4 days - deepening and becoming shinier.

Before and after

Thought I'd show you a before and after henna dye example.

Before




and After




Joyce's grey hair was dyed a lovely auburn colour by mixing 20g of indigo powder with 50g of henna powder and water to create a thick paste. We left the mixture on for 2 hours and rinsed thoroughly with water.

Bleaching with henna?

Not possible, I'm afraid.
Henna is a dye, a natural dye, and as such cannot lighten hair. I have read about people rinsing their hair with lemon juice which seems to lighten gently but there doesn't seem to be a non-chemical way to lighten hair.
Amla and Cassia are neutral hair dyes and will brighten hair, sometimes giving a lightening effect.
Using pure henna you can become a stunning redhead and by mixing henna and indigo you can deepen your hair to a stunning dark brown. Pure indigo will give a bluish tinge to your hair - so unless you fancy a blue rinse I wouldn't advise.

I have created a "social network" - an area that hopefully, along with Lovehennahair will give people the opportunity to discuss natural beauty products and make friends with like-minded people.

Why Use Natural Hair Dye?

When you dye your hair with chemicals not only are you putting chemicals on your hair and scalp but you are also then washing those chemicals down the drain afterwards.

Henna, Indigo, Amla & Cassia are all powders created from plants with no added chemicals, so you are using a gentle natural product on your hair and scalp (perfect for people with allergies to chemical hair dyes) and when you wash the powders out of your hair after dyeing you are not flushing chemicals.

Welcome

This is the beginning of LoveHennaHair.
I'm hoping to blog about the benefits of natural products.
I have created a website www.lovehennahair.co.uk and the plan is to use this blog and the forum on the site to convince everyone to buy natural products - starting with Henna & Indigo as a hair dye.