APPLYING HENNA MIX TO HAIR

What you need?
Henna (you can choose the color and type of your choice)
Tea leaves
A mixing bowl
A spoon
Some petroleum jelly
Some olive oil
Hand gloves
A shower cap

Note:  Make sure you do not wash your hair for a minimum of 1 day before henna application, and also, you can only apply henna mix on chemical treated hair until after six months of application

How to mix? 
1. Boil tea leaves for about 10 minutes, and then strain the water.
2. Add about 5 tablespoon of pure Henna powder in your mixing bowl and pour the strained tea water into the powder to make a fine paste, mix very well for a great consistency. You may increase or decrease the Henna quantity depending your hair length and volume.
3. Leave it to soak overnight.
4. You can also add various additives such as Amla that makes hair lustrous. To add some fragrance you can also add different oils such as cinnamon, ginger, lavender or any that you prefer. For moisturizing your hair, you can also add yogurt, eggs or olive oil.
5. Next day add a big tablespoon olive oil. If your hair is oily you may add juice of half a lemon into the mixture and blend nicely.
Now your henna mix is ready for use. 


Applying your henna mix
1. To prevent the color from transferring to your forehead, rub a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the sides of your head.
2. Moisten your hair a bit, remove any excess water that may remain in the hair.
3. Wear your hand gloves.
4. Apply the henna mix taking a small portion of your hair. Wind it in one direction (say clockwise). Make sure it sink deep into your scalp.
5. Take another portion of hair and then wind it anti-clockwisely and apply the henna mix. Remember to wind the portions alternately – firstly one portion in one direction and then the other portion in the other.
6. Keep doing this and pile it up on the top of your head. This will help your hair stay in place without any clips or pins.
7. Cover with a shower cap and leave it for 2-4 hours depending on whether you want to condition or color your hair. The longer the Henna soaks the richer the color of the dye.
8. Wash off the Henna from the hair with hot water and without using shampoo. Apply coconut oil to your hair and leave overnight.
9. Next day, wash off your hair with a mild shampoo.
And you are good to go, try it and let's hear your experience first hand.


Tips that work! -from Khadijah (henna sooq) 
•Putting henna (and any herbs) onto damp hair really helps it go on much easier. Also applying indigo onto damp hair (with a dash or so of salt) has gotten the indigo to absorb better and give even darker, richer black color results.
•Adding sugar to your recipe makes the henna paste smoother.
•Pre-oil your hair, if you tend to get really dry when using henna, and herbs in your hair. This will give you the moisture boost you need. This also helps prevent dripping when dyeing your hair. Some of the best hair oils to use are olive oil, coconut oil, argan oil, and camellia oil.
•In order to get deeper, richer red results use a good, fresh henna powder that is known for giving rich red results (such as yemeni henna). After 2-3 applications, the color will deepen further.
•Wash your henna, and herbal hair treatments out really well. Use a lot of conditioner to help with the process. If you don’t wash it all out well, then your scalp will feel itchy, and gritty.
•Rememeber to always be opened minded, and if needed, adjust your recipe to suit your hair. Just because someone else does it, doesn’t always make it right for you.
•Keep your recipe simple. Don’t get overwhelmed with a lot of the other ingredients that are added to recipes.