Back to Henna

So what have I (CFC) been up to? I haven't posted in nearly four weeks! Longtime readers know that there are patterns in terms of how often SP and I update. While we usually stagger our posts throughout the week, when there's only one of us doing most of the posts it usually means the other is putting in overtime in our work life - during fashion weeks SP is m.i.a and in my case when film festivals or major industry conferences (since I work in entertainment) come up, I'm swamped!

What has that meant for my hair? Nothing of note. I've played with my flatiron a couple of times; one time was going all out with blow-drying included while the last time was just a pass of the flatiron over hair that had been washed, conditioned and braided the night before which gave me a big wavy look:

My hair last week

I've noticed this weather has made my hair react all sorts of ways, and that I have more gray hair then I remember! Coupled with the fact that my ends were feeling a little stale I was looking forward to some gentle TLC for my hair. While packing over the weekend (I'm in the midst of moving) I came across a pack of henna that I recall buying over the summer. Since I knew damn well one box wouldn't be enough to cover my entire head, I opted to do a henna conditioning treatment (otherwise known as a henna gloss). This just means I add conditioner to my henna amongst other ingredients, and for those who experience severe dryness after henna or do not want too much color this is a great alternative to a regular henna treatment. I used Herbal Essence Hello Hydration and added about a tablespoon of raw honey. Since I did want some color, I let the henna sit over night and used red wine for dye release because I didn't have any green tea, which worked just as well. I was tempted to use apple cider vinegar instead, but I read that it really stinks up the mixture.



















I left the mix in my hair for about an hour or so, then rinsed it out with the help of a Suave Conditioner and wrapped my hair in a white t-shirt to dry. I have to say, my *naked* hair felt really good. My curls were really defined and felt silky smooth. I apologize for the crappy phone picture but I hope you can see what I mean

So that's that! I actually washed my hair again today just to be sure I got all the henna out of my hair, and it's now set in bantu-knots. I have a holiday party to attend tomorrow so I have to make sure my hair looks nice and big!

Reader Question: Transitioner Learning how to Style

Sietta (Not Pictured Above) said...

I'm looking to transition from wearing sew-ins to wearing my own natural hair again, but I'm lost about how to go about styling it :( I haven't worn my own hair for more than a week in almost 5 years and I don't have a perm so as you could imagine it is very difficult to work with at this point and I am concerned about styles because of this. Also, my coils are SUPER tight and idk what to do with them at this point because my hair has never been this untrained so I know I have a job ahead of me lol. Do you have any suggestions for styles until I can get my coils to loosen a little?

Hi Sietta, 
Thanks for asking and we're glad to help =)
For starts, I would say it'll be a little hard without a few extra details (Hair length? What look you would like to achieve? What do you mean by trained hair and coil loosening?)but I will give you the best advice possible for anyone in your situation or anyone who needs help learning their new texture and how to care for it.

Part 1 - Moisturize, Detangle & Stretch!!!
As a professional hair stylist, time and time again I've seen women trying to go natural after wearing weaves for quite some time, but feeling discouraged about their "rough, dry, hard" manes. They think they have this horrible texture of hair because it is usually dry and malnourished, and because of this, their hair may also be a lot more shriveled and shrunked up.

Start with a spritzer bottle with water, get some of your favorite slippery conditioner, take your hair in one section at a time, moisturize, detangle from the ends up, and either braid, twist, bun or band the little section to keep the moisture in and your hair from shrinking up again (You can also do this in the shower if it's easier/faster for you). 

Part 2 - Washing
Don't be afraid, moisture and water are your best friends :)
After detangling and moisturizing it should be much easier to deal with your hair now, and if you have a lot of hair you may want to leave it in those sections during your wash. If/when I wash in sections, I will bring a few hair clips in the shower with me so as I wash one section at a time, I can twist and pin it back up so it stays stretched and detangled and I won't need to comb through my hair again....or at least bring a scrunchie to throw it all in a ponytail.

Part 3 - Styling
When it comes to styling natural hair, it's all about knowing the look you're going for, and understanding what your hair will and won't do. Henna and other natural products like coconut milk have been known to cause a little curl loosening, but usually on looser textures. The way we usually go about loosening our curls usually is by way of chemicals or heat damage, as a lot of hairstylists will call burning your curls out "heat training." Know that this is not an accurate method (not a method at all) ladies.

I love the curly look and my hair is curly but shrinks A LOT so I live in twist outs as it lets me have the look of my own curls, minus all the shrinkage. Doing twist-outs, braid-outs, banding, or any other kind of Set that will stretch the hair, should help with your feeling of wanting to loosen your curls. When I want a curlier, froey-er twist out I will do it on wet hair or re-twist an old twist out, and if I'd like my hair to be a little silkier, I'll first rollerset my hair and do my twist out on that. 

Here are some links to help you along your journey:
Tips For Naturals
Creating Textures
Creating a Regimen

I hope this helped, and please, don't ever feel like your options are limited, And Haircare above all else!!!

The Mystery of My Henna Fail

I was so excited to do a henna treatment this past weekend, but I don't think this was a successful application. Based on SP and I's previous henna experiences, I must say I was disappointed to have no color deposit, I'm still shedding something awful, and I cannot tell if it's conditioning benefits actually reached me (my hair is nice and shiny but was it the conditioner?) I used the Jamila brand which is one I've used before. I think that my application may have failed because of the following:

1. Didn't let henna sit long enough
2. Used too hot water when I mixed it with tea - caused the dye release to happen too quickly

Jamila Henna

Henna powder

Allow me to explain the second point. To get the coloring benefit of henna (red or red-orange, depending on the crop) you have to mix the powder with a slightly-acidic liquid for dye release. When this happens, henna will turn from green to brown. I use green tea for dye release which usually works - and this time as soon as I added the tea my henna just went brown. I tested the henna on a paper towel and there wasn't really a stain. So I wonder if it's because the water was way to hot (which I've read you shouldn't do) and/or I just didn't let it sit too long #ponders.

But I did use a new shampoo. I'm not sure how I like it yet but it smells amazing and it touted as paraben and sulfate free, and can be found locally. Try and guess what it is YAIS readers, while I scratch my head with this henna situation.

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)

Back to the Basics...

So i took my braids out Tuesday night because I've been kinda sick with a head cold that had my head so sensitive each braid felt like it weighed a ton!
I really wanted to keep these for another 2 weeks but at the same time I'm glad to have my hair and my head back!

1st thing out the braids, I detangled and was careful with removing dirt and shedded hairs, so as not to break my own hair. Once my hair was fully detangled I washed with Yes! To Carrots shampoo, rinsed and shook out the excess water to get ready to apply my Henna treatment! I LOOOVVVEEEE HENNA!!!!
I let the Henna sit for about 2 hours and then rinsed about 7 times with Suave Natural Coconut condish (the cheapie stuff), the last 2 rinses i used HEHH for a little extra conditioning and slip. Here's my hair a few minutes after rinsing out all of the Henna.

I put my hair in random twists and flat twists going in all directions, with the front twists twisted forward for more of a curly bang and all the others basically going outward from the middle of my head. I looovvveee my twist out actually and i'm totally loving my hair, and especially what Henna does for my hair. It really defines my curls and keeps my hair strong, not to mention i do like the little reddish tint that i get from it.
I used only my fingers to separate the twists coated with a little bit of Jojoba oil to prevent too much frizz. I separated and separated until my hair looked full enough to me and tried my best to lift at the roots with my pic to cover up the parts. This was one those perfect hair days for me, which always seems to happen on days when i'm just home in the house.
My hair did grow a bit but i'm going to wait to do my length check in February. Otherwise... i am going to need to trim sooner than later... so probably after my Feb length check because i do not want to keep these split ends and they get worse. My hair styles also don't look as good when i have split ends.

Long time no...

I know... I know... i've been gone for quite some time so we definitely have a lot of catching up to do!

Where do i start?

Well for 1 I henna'ed my hair again last Wednesday and I must say, my hair really loves it! This time i left in on for 4 hours and got a little reddish tint too. (Being silly with the Henna there :p

My curls are soft, bouncy, and i have noticeable growth now. My curls are starting to hang once again and i must say, this is the healthiest my hair has ever been, probably in it's life (or my life, lol). My edges are coming in nicely, slowly but surely,  but i have noticed major improvement.

Since cutting my hair again i see the overall difference in how my completely natural hair is healthier, thicker, shinier, silkier, and more moisturized as opposed to my dyed natural hair which was dryer, getting split ends at a ridiculous rate, and had caused some curl loosening/relaxing. My hair seems to be growing right some where close to half an inch, if not that, a month so i am trying my best to keep it in the healthiest state possible. That being said... i guess i sorta have a regimen.. lol (I'm laughing to myself because i'm definitely not the kind of girl who sticks to a regimen) Okay. So, low manipulation styles are the way to go for me for the rest of the winter to i am going to stick to twists, flat twists, and twists-outs on a weekly basis, Co-wash twice a week, shampoo once a week, Henna on a monthly basis, and yeah... that's pretty much my regimen. (See what i mean? lol) I have a lot more to share so i'll be back soon!

My Henna Process

Last weekend, I henna'd my hair using a different brand from the BAQ (body art quality) Jamila and Dulhan I've used. This one was a store brand and naturally I was hesitant but it turns out that it did my hair well. Henna can be very drying to the hair, but I found that this brand wasn't particularly that way.

Kulustyan's Henna-Indian grocery store in Manhattan

I mixed this henna with green tea and let it sit for a few hours to let the dye release. The henna powder is green but turns brown when the dye releases.

fresh henna

Some time elaspsed, mixed with green tea

I heavily coat sections of my hair with henna and then wrap my head in saran wrap and then cover my head with a scarf or an old t-shirt to keep it moist, or else the henna will dry up and crumble. Turns out this henna colored my old hi-lighted strands a really nice red. I used Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut Conditioner to help with the rinsing of henna (lots of mess and gunk!) and was pleased with the results. Remember henna doesn't "lift" dark color, but in the light the henna shows up hi-lighting dark hair...

Freshly henna'd hair

See the reds?

Henna can be very drying, but mine felt awesome. Even though my hair felt even silky and moisturized, I decided to DC overnight with the last of my Renpure Organics My Hair Is Parched Conditioner just in case and put my hair in four braids. I rinsed out Monday morning (my day off!) and my hair still felt awesome. Then I preceded to style. I'll go into detail with my little experiment in my next post...

Henna: The application

My previous post was a brief introduction to Henna which you can read here. I'm breaking up these henna posts because it's a lot of information. This one will be about my experience with the application.


I have put henna in my hair twice already. I ordered Body Art Quality Jamila Henna from Butters and Bars. It comes in 100g foil packs and is a green powder. I did a simple mix: two boxes with about a cup and a half of green tea to make a thick paste....

When the dye releases, which takes several hours, the henna turns brownish. It's supposed to be left in a warm dry place. Some people leave it over night or 12 hours, and others just put it in their head right away and let the dye release there. To get the full effect of a henna treatment (color, conditioning, strengthening) it takes about four hours. I actually let mine sit for a couple of hours in front of a heater to make it brown, and then started applying it to my freshly washed, damp hair. Note that I am using gloves...

The more henna on your hair the better, I mean they suggest for it to be caked on. Two boxes was just enough to cover my hair, but not enough to cake my strands like I wanted. I applied the henna and then wrapped it with saran wrap. The first time I did it, I actually had errands to run so I had to put a big ass hat on my head and go to the store, but I left it in my hair for about 5 hrs.

NOTE: Henna is quite messy. I would recommend putting newspaper down and having paper towels nearby. Don't freak out if it gets on the skin, it's not a big deal just wipe it off. If you don't wipe it off right away, it'll stain your skin an orange color but will go away after a few days. Also, if you are hestitant about trying it, be sure to test a shed hair (from your hairbrush or something).

Henna

I made a decision to start using Body Art Quality Henna for my hair after reading about it for the past 6 months (yes, that's how long I was researching it!). I wanted to find a way to add some color to my hair without it being damaging. I have colored  my  hair with box dyes mostly with browns and reds but I even had gold and orange hi-lights. The colors were nice and weren't tacky (as outrageous as some  of it may sound) but my hair wasn't being taken care of so it dried out and broke off. (I'm not against using commercial dyes, fyi.) So I started reading about pure henna. Some facts about it:

- Henna is a plant that grows to about 6 meters high. Found to grow in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

- the leaves have red-orange dye (lawsone). There is no such thing as pure "black" henna or "Blonde" henna, they are probably mixed with other compounds that can even be harmful

- Body Art Quality henna comes in a powder, mix it with a slightly acidic liquid (lemon juice, tea, ect) to release the dye 

- Safer to use then commercial dyes. Can also be used over commercial dyes, chemically processed hair (relaxers etc) and natural hair

- doesn't lighten dark hair; rather it gives a shine. Best explanation is CurlyNikki's when she said it's like coloring with an orange crayon on black paper.

-Strengthens and conditions hair.

So since I am a little addicted to color and want to have healthy hair, I gave it a try. I'll write about my experiences with it in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. In the mean time, you can read more information about it here, and check out the results from bloggers who use henna (CurlyNikki, The Feisty House, or Tia )