What is henna?

• Henna is a plant.
• It’s ground up into powder, and then mixed with water to make a paste.
• The henna paste is applied to the skin, hair or nails as art in its own right, or as the base for other products such as dyes and tattoos.

Understanding hair.

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Basic application.

Now that you’ve collected your henna, it’s time to apply it. First and foremost: get out of the shower, brush your hair and pull it all back into a ponytail or low bun.

You’ll want to choose a section about the size of a quarter near the front of your head and rub some henna paste through the section using your fingertips. It should be wet enough to easily spread but not so wet that it runs down your face or neck. This is where we like to use gloves because they protect against staining from accidental drips but also keep our palms from getting stained (this doesn’t happen often but if you have dark skin it could happen). Now move onto another small section until all areas have been covered with henna paste! Let dry overnight (or longer if needed) then rinse well and blow dry as normal before styling in whatever way makes sense for you or anyone else wanting their own custom color!

Henna recipes.

There are a lot of recipes for henna hair dye out there, but the best one is just plain old henna powder. Henna has been used for thousands of years and it works like this: when you mix the powder with water and apply it to your hair, it makes a paste that coats your strands and stays in place until your next washing. It’s that simple!

That being said, if you want to experiment with other ingredients (like baking soda), you can do that too—just make sure not to mix them with the actual henna powder. Adding things like lemon juice or essential oils will only weaken the color vibrancy of your dye job in exchange for an unpleasant smell and some other unknown side effects on your headspace—so keep yourself safe by sticking with simple home recipes like this one:

2 tbsp ground cinnamon bark (optional)

1 tsp clove powder

Hair care tips.

The first thing to do is make sure that you’re keeping your hair clean. You don’t want to wash your hair for at least 24 hours after applying henna, but after that time has passed you should use a gentle non-sulfate shampoo and follow it with a conditioner. If you have dry hair and/or split ends, use an oil such as coconut or olive oil to help moisturize and soften the strands before washing. After conditioning, deep condition with natural products (like avocado or avocado oil) or store-bought conditioners like Aubrey Organics’ Purely Perfect Pumpkin Spice Moisturizing Hair Masque ($14), which has both pumpkin seed oil for moisture retention and aloe vera extract for shine; leave this treatment in overnight if possible!

A little planning and preparation can go a long way towards enjoying henna body art on your hair.

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