Henna VERY Happy!!

This is going to be long timestamped entry.


I got home around 6pm, and promptly began putting together the mix for henna.

100g Henna
1 cup hot red wine
3/4 cup hot water
tiny sample of pectin
1/2 cup of honey

I used the pectin to try to make the henna more 'gel-like' since I was mixing honey into the henna to allow it to wash out better.

6:18 - Mix all put together, very warm, put paper towels on it to see when the dye released, and put it on the porch outside. Took pre-pictures of the hair - finally changed the lighting settings on the camera in order to get my hair REAL color - you can actually see the three different colors - my 1.5 inches of dark roots, the 0.5 inches of lighter orange hair right next to the roots, and the 4-6 inches of darker orange hair to my tips.

6:33 - Pulled out the 15 minute strip - a little bit of dye release, but not enough to put in. I pulled out the latex gloves and saran wrap - I suspect the 30 minute strip will have enough dye release to put on. I also mixed up some honey & water in a spray bottle to use to mist my hair so it'll be little damp when the henna is ready. While I waited, I read the 100odd page long water Only Thread.... I elaborated my thoughts on that in the previous entry.

6:50 - whoohoo!! Dye release is almost certain now, I brought the henna back inside, and put a sample dot on my heel - my usual dye release check point. THe henna is VERY thick and goopy - I think that adding the honey will make it perfectly gel like for my hair. Okay - off to spray more water in my hair so that the henna will flow better. Okay - added half a cup of honey - it made it looser, but still rather thick.

7:20 - Allrighty!! Henna is in hair - I could have made it a good bit thinner, or made my hair wetter - I smushed and squished it in as much as I could - *laughs* I CERTAINLY don't need to worry about any drips now! I hope that the pectin doesn't gel it too much. Can I say though, my head is HOT. HOT. But then, I'm in an un-airconditioned house, so maybe it just hot out here.


7:56 - Though, I have to admit, it is heavy. I can smell it a little, but thankfully, I LIKE the smell of henna. And my neck is a little sticky from the honey - but, I'll be fine!!
I'm online talking to a friend of mine, and I realized - henna looks exactly like SWAMPMUD.

It's freaking fabulous.


8:15 - Hmmm. I'm actually getting some drippies down the back of my neck. I don't know if it's from the little bit of water that was inside my showercap (or maybe condensation) because I'm dabbing at drips, and they seem to be coming out pretty clear.

10:06 - It's still on my hair, still damp, I can smell it more now. Did I mention that I like the smell of henna?? I'm glad, because I can smell it more now. I think there might me wine on my fingers - my eyes are stinging a little when I rub them - or maybe that is leftover henna. The gloves were dyed a DELIGHTFULLY bright orange color - just in the 20 minutes it took for me to squish the henna into my hair. I'm sitting under a ceiling fan, so I'm hoping that the slighty cooler air flowing over my head is slowing the dye release a little so that I can have a longer 'soak' time.
Hmm. That's interesting. These number are completely imaginary, but work with me. Let's say that a henna is cool - 70 degrees, say, when you leave it on your head. And, because it's that temperature, it takes the henna - 24 hours to demise.
On the other hand, let's say a henna is warmer - 90 degrees say, when you leave it on your head. And, because it's that temperature, it takes the henna - 14 hours to demise.
You leave both henna's on your hair for 12 hours. Which temperature will produce a deeper dye - the warmer one (that demises faster, so more of the dye leaves the henna and enters your hair) or..................................

Hm. I think I just answered my own question. I need to keep my head HOT.
Hmmm.


10:20 - Okay. I just put a dishtowel soaked in hot water on my head, put another showercap on top of it, and turned the fan down. *laugh* I know, I was complaining about it being hot earlier, but it's cooled down a lot since then.
Anyhow - following my earlier thoughts....
Henna's demising is basically the point at which henna has given up almost all of it's lawsone molecules. And - whether it gives up it's molecules to water (in the case of a henna that is left too long in the sun before you put it on your hair) or if it gives up it's molecules to your hair (which, is kinda what we want - to dye it, right?) it's going to give up it's molecules in a geometric progression based on its temperature.
So. Really, you want this swampmud to be on your hair for as short of a time as possible - but at the same time, you want it to give up the most dye it possibly can. So - the warmer, and moister (so that it doesn't dry into a clay headdress) you keep the henna on your head, the shorter amount of time you have to have it on your head in order to get the most dye out.

Hmmm. I wonder if it really works like that.

10:39 - EEEwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I just touched a piece of hair over my ear (it's a little exposed to the air) and it's hard and gooey. Like, old gum. *shudder* Old, water soluble gum (I hope). *wiggles washcloth on head* It still feels damp - I'm going to be in SUCH a hard spot if this stuff dries on my hair. *gulp* *checks other side of hair* Hmm - it's the same way over here. But - I think it's dry, but it's still softish. I think I'll be cool - it's going to take me FOREVER to rinse this out. MUST make it thinner next time.

11:00 - I have to admit, I keep touching this piece of hair on my hairline that I pulled the goo balls off of (won't be doing THAT anymore - my head is sore) and - it's amazing. My hair feels soft, flexible, and enourmously strong. *happy grin*

11:22 - Oh, it also feels MUCH straighter. Mwuaahahahaaaa!!!
Hmm. And, I can't smell the henna nearly as much anymore. *wiggles washcloth again* feels like it's starting to dry out a little. It's been what - 3 hours? No, four. *shakes head* Though, I normally only leave the regular stuff on for about 2 hours... this is natural, so. Argh. MUCH thinner next time.

11:46 - Hmmm. I'm starting to get tired, and my heads REALLY heavy. I think I'll finish the last of my wine, and go to bed.

Good Night!!


12:31 - Okay, I lied. I wasn't tired, I was HUNGRY. It's odd, actually noticing when my blood sugar drops now. I had a sandwich, and I feel EVER so much better. I'll still be in bed in a bit, but - sheee - at least I'll be going to bed comfy!


[b] The Next Day [/b]


7:40 - Oh, Rise and Shine. Or should that be Rinse & Shine?? :D I'm 'working from home' (oh, the benefits of being a computer geek) so I have to do a little work before I hop into the shower and start the VERY long (I'm sure) Process of rinsing this out. My hairline around the back is dry to this morning, but everything under the saran wrap is still damp and oozy. We shall see.

8:50 - Okay, work is at a point where I can go and rinse. Wish me luck!!

9:15 - WOW. That rinsed out AMAZINGLY easy. I ended up standing in a tub of greeny muddy water (SsswwwaaaammmppppMUD!!!!), but - it still rinsed out really easy. However, my hair is SOOOO dry. Oh my god, so very, very dry. Note to self - MUCH less acid next time - try 1.5 cups of hot water to a half cup of red wine. I LOVE the honey though - I'm sure that's what helped it rinse out so well.
Oh....you wanna know about the color, eh. It's - not NEARLY as dark as I had expected (too thick) but - I LOVE the color. It's orange as ALLL get out - I mean, ORANGE. So. Now, it's decision time. I could mix up another batch...I'm thinking that I should use 50g, and use the same amount of liquid, and honey. It'll be drippier, but, I think it'll soak in better) and use it right off, but I think I want to wait a day or two to see what color it oxides too....but I definitely know that I want to go deeper. *grins*
My hair is DOUSED in conditioner and honey right now - I think that this might REALLY prompt a bit of a trim. If I plan on doing that, I'm going to have to do it before hubby gets home.
Also!! My curl is WAYYYY looser. I mean - WAAY looser.
So, I'll leave this condish in for about two hours or so, then rinse it out and see what it looks like.

10:45 - okay, I couldn't go the full two hours, I had to start combing out my hair. Oh, my, GOD. I might lose my Napptural card for this, but the henna has SOOOO loosened my coils!! I almost have - CURLS now. *sqqqqqqqquuuueeeeeeee* Okay, I'm almost done combing it, and then I'm going to go and rinse out the conditioner. *sniffs hair* I smell henna again....we shall see what color it ends up being.

11:02 - Oh. Wow. Wow. My hair - she is soft. And loosely coily. And - it's already turning a richer, deeper red color rather than orange. My coils have SOOO been loosened up. I'm going to dry my hair a little, then spray this mister I just whipped up (honey, a lil ACV, a lil olive oil, water, and a touch of Oyin HoneyHemp conditioner (my favorite!!)) into my hair, and see how she acts.
My hair always acts like hot stuff when it's wet - the DRY state is what really matters.

11:36 - I'm in love, really. I had to grab a hand mirror so that I can admire my hair from the couch. It's sooo soft. Sooo loose. It reminds me of how my hair looked in this baby picture I have of myself. Man.... THIS hair long would be - stunning. I wonder how much the curls will return after a few days. It's interesting - now I can actually see how SHORT my hair is. Man, but it's short. I actually think that I'm going to twist it today - since I won't have to fight with my hair to put a part into it. THe color is still getting darker, so I think that I will be willing to wait til next weekend to redo the henna. I can see this being an every weekend thing for a while. Hmmm... if I use 50g each time, I've got two months worth of henna. For 36 bucks, that's not bad - esp if I can stop using other products.
And did I mention how SHINY it is?? Sheesh - a camera can't even capture this! I don't have quite so many tangles, but I still have some knots. My hair feels - slightly sticky on the ends - I suspect it might be from the honey that was in the spray (which, by the way, seems WONDERFUL). I'm going to use some of Oyins Whipped Pudding to do the twists - and then, I'm going to trim the crunchy horrid damaged hair off of the bottom of each twist - I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I just never felt like twisting my hair!

So, I guess this is the end of the Henna Happy Experiment, Part One.
I learned a lot, and I'm VERY pleased with the results - I can't wait to see how it changes tomorrow.