Thursday, May 5, 2011

Henna, Cassia & Bentonite Clay-What's the difference?


Reader email from Tamara:


Hello,
I am new to your blog, as I just found it today.  But you have a lot of useful information, thank you.
I have a question about the difference between Henna, Cassia and Bentonite...As in what they do for your hair and or the pros/cons of each one.  Also I have hair that is just beyond twa length and im not sure when to start adding any of those that I named to my hair because all the people who seem to be doing it already have longer hair.

Thanks for reading out blog Tamara! Glad you find it useful. And for folks who have been checking us out for a while, you know that both SP and I are henna users (although I haven't in a while) and I love Bentonite Clay. Neither of us have used Cassia yet but I actually have been interested in trying it. So here's what we know:

Henna: is said to strengthen and condition hair. It has a reddish dye content, but if you have dark hair the color may show up more like a rinse.  These posts will bring you to SP and I's henna experiences as well as information about henna. We both love it and have very different hair types. 
Pros: shiny hair, some color deposit, strengthens your strands
Cons: may curls to loosen (temporary), hard to rinse out, can be drying

Bentonite Clay: great for hair and skin. It removes build up and acts as a clarifier and there is no dye content. See these posts about my experiences and results
Pros: removes build-up
Cons: perhaps drying. I don't really have any complaints

Cassia: Is yet another conditioning treatment like henna. It's referred to as 'neutral henna' and has a golden-yellow dye content (so again, makes no difference on dark hair). As I mentioned, neither of us have used it yet but feel free to check out info from Mehandi.com. I'm actually interested in using it as well. 

To address the second part of the question about length, it doesn't seem to matter. SP has shorter hair and did henna treatments and other naturals use these treatments on their TWA. And while we both love these treatments, please remember that we all have different hair and what works for some may not work for others. Experiment if you'd like, and research!

Good luck Tamara! Let us know your outcome!

Have questions/comments? email us at yais(dot)nyc (at) gmail(dot)com. (yais.nyc@gmail.com)



2 comments:

  1. Little off topic, but I just used J/A/S/O/N's Biotin shampoo and their conditioner (I bought them at www.puritanspride.com , really cheap and they are fast. I buy my vitamins from there, and their service is really great.

    The shampoo is AMAZING. For the first time without leave-in conditioners or treating, I can move my fingers through my hair wet! WET! I have never been able to accomplish this!

    The biotin is from plants, so it's not an animal product one. That's a plus for me. I can feel the shampoo really expand and fill the follicles, and spreads really well and I don't need a lot in my palm to spread it around. Conditioner, I sorta put more than I needed (I assumed it was going to do like all other conditioners in the past) and that too spread really well. It immediately softened the hair, it felt light weight even before the rinse washed it out. It didn't sting my eyes that much, just irritated them a little, which is a plus.

    DEFINITELY recommend.

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  2. thanks for the review dan! It's on my list to try. I'll prob pick it up the next time I wonder into whole foods

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