Henna has increasingly become popular worldwide in making tattoos, hair colouring and combating face wrinkles over the last few decades. With a history that dates back to at least 12th century BC, henna, an evergreen botanical plant, is one of the most popular beauty ingredients but is least known for its many healing properties. Beauty expert Shahnaz Husain will tell you about the healing effects of the wonder leaves.
Known to be auspicious for the bride during her wedding day, no festival or wedding is complete without applying henna on hands. If we are to believe the old wives’ tale, then the darker the bride’s henna stain or mehendi, the more her husband loves her. While this may be just an interesting myth, it is a fact that intricate and elaborate patterns look best when the henna stain is dark rather than orange. It is being used primarily as a natural hair dye or a trendy ornamental form of hand and foot art by beauty therapists mainly in metro cities.
Home facial mask with henna has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and anti-ageing properties and is a perfect means to treat oily and ageing skin.
Traditionally, henna has been used to colour the hands, feet, nails and hair. It helps to add attractive highlights to the hair and contributes to its lustre and health. It imparts a reddish colour to white hair but does not colour black hair.
One of the main benefits of henna is that it is a wonderful conditioner with protective and restorative powers. In other words, henna can be used to bring back health to damaged hair and restore the natural acid-alkaline balance to the scalp. Henna does not alter the chemical structure of the hair the way chemical lotions do. Instead, henna has the ability of coating each hair shaft, thus adding strength, thickness and body to the hair.
It is also a powerful natural cleanser. It cleanses without disturbing the natural balances. This is one of its greatest benefits. It leaves the hair healthy, clean, shiny and easy to manage. One of the best advantages of using henna is that it is safe without the harmful effects of chemical lotions. Thus it is nature’s own hair conditioner.
First of all, make sure that the henna powder is of good quality. Henna leaves are available in powder form. It should be of a dull green colour. We have used henna along with extracts of amla, brahmi, bhringaraj, bael etc to restore health to the hair and control hair problems. You can test henna by the colour and the typical fragrance that henna has.
Many people are reluctant to use henna thinking that it will make the hair dry. Adding ingredients like yogurt and egg to the henna paste prevents dryness, as both these are nourishing for the hair. If the hair is dry, oil can be added to the henna paste. Also, wash off the henna with plain water, instead of shampoo as henna has a powerful cleansing effect.
The amount of henna powder you will need depends on the length of your hair. To it, add two raw eggs, four teaspoons of lemon juice, four teaspoons of coffee powder and enough yogurt, mixing it into a thick paste. It should be of toothpaste-like consistency. If you have dry hair, add two teaspoons of oil. You can add pure coconut, olive or almond oils. In fact, sesame seed (til) oil may also be added. If you wish to avoid eggs, add more yogurt to get the desired consistency.
If you wish to colour the hair, avoid adding curd to the henna paste. Amla is said to control graying. So you can add amla to henna powder. However, henna leaves a reddish brown colour on white hair as you know. It will not colour dark hair. If you would like to try it, you can soak a handful of dry amla in about 2 to 3 cups water overnight. Next morning, strain the water, but do not throw the water away. Grind the amla. To the henna powder, add the ground amla, four teaspoons each of lemon juice and coffee, two raw eggs, two teaspoons of oil and enough amla water so that the henna mixes into a thick paste. Keep the paste for two to three hours and then apply it on the hair, so that the entire head is covered. Keep it on for at least two hours and wash off with plain water.
For dandruff and oily hair, add tea-water to the henna paste along with four teaspoons each of lemon juice and coffee, two raw eggs, mixing it into a thick paste. Tea water can be made by boiling used tea leaves again in enough water, cooling and straining the liquid. Apply the henna on the hair and wash off after an hour. If you do not wish to use egg, add more tea water.
It is best to wear rubber gloves to apply henna.
Protect your clothes by putting a towel over your shoulders. You will also need a tail comb to part the hair into sections. Apply the henna on both sides of each section and wrap it around the head till the entire hair is covered. You can wear a plastic shower cap over this. Leave it on for at least half an hour and wash off with water. Weekly henna applications will help to keep your hair healthy and conditioned.
