So I haven’t talked about my henna usage in a while. I still use henna faithfully and still really enjoy it. I was doing glosses, which are lighter henna treatments, bi-weekly with Reshma henna. This month, I fell into doing full henna treatments and I don’t mind it. Sunday night, I did yet another henna treatment. This time, I used a different brand: Nupur henna.
What drew me to Nupur
Now you all may or may not know that I’m a Reshma henna groupie but I started hearing great reviews about Nupur from former Reshma ride or die chicks. I saw it had other conditioning, ayurvedic powders/herbs already added to it including brahmi, neem, and amla to name a few. There are 9 herbs total that are in it. Many Nupur users also boasted that they didn’t have to add many conditioning/moisturizing agents to it like honey, conditioner, etc to thwart dryness. One even said that she just mixed with water and her hair didn’t feel dry. Now that’s what I’m talking about.
How I Mixed Mine
When it comes to henna, I’m always playing around with my mixes and what ingredients I use, add, or take out. No one henna gloss or treatment is exactly the same. It makes it fun. Here’s the mix I used with my first go round with the Nupur:
* 1/2 Cup of Henna
* 2/3 Cup of Water-I mixed these 2 first ingredients together first before next adding:
* 1 Tbsp of Coconut oil
* A quick squirt of Honey
I like this mix b/c it made a nice thick, pudding like consistency which makes application less messy. I had left overs. I simply popped them in the freezer.
The Full Run Down:
1. Condition with Aussie Moist conditioner for 20-30mins
2. Rinse and then wash hair (w my CSM-castile soap mix)
3. Towel dry hair so that it’s damp n not sopping wet
4. Applied henna mixture and left on for 1.5 hrs
5. Rinsed out with just water first and then one application of my CSM
6. Applied Shea Moisture leave in and braided hair for braid out
Results? Thoughts????
Seriously, I’ve cheated on Reshma and got turned out. Nupur is the bomb dot com, people. I’m sold. My hair feels even softer, smoother and fluffier than my Reshma. MY HAIR FEELS INCREDIBLE. It was even easier to rinse out than my Reshma and Reshma rinses out easily. It’s ova. Nupur is bumping Reshma out of its spot in my hair care. Lol.
Comments
SanTara: After about a month, the conditioing effects of henna have generally worn out. The color that is deposited though is permanent.
I don't use henna for the color. I use it for the conditioning benefits. It doesn't really color my hair anyway b/c it's brown-black so if I get any color it's just a bit of red tint that's only really seen when I'm out in the sun. If I were to use it for color (if I had lighter hair), I would choose henna b/c it's a more "natural" alternative (to get diff variations of reds or browns just add diff things like amla, coffee or paprika etc. indigo after henna for jet black hair) to traditional dyes and when done right doesn't dry out your hair and conditions it. Don't know of any traditional dyes that do all this loveliness! www.hennaforhair.com is great place to get more info on henna.
DaJadedPoet: It will last about a month. After a month has gone by, the effects, outside of the color which we know is permanent, of any henna usually start to wear off.
Shawnystheone: Yes girl! It's the best! I'm so team Nupur now.
Tina: Play nice! No need to push me. Sheesh! LOL.
Whit: You can learn how! www.hennaforhair.com is a great site and is where I learned everything that I know about henna. Make sure you download and read their henna pamplet. You will learn everything you need to know to decide rather you want to use henna or not.
The Nupur is good too b/c the amla in it will give you more of a brown color so it tones down the fire engine red you would get with other brands. But once again, if you have dark hair, it's not going to matter either way as it's like as CurlyNikki once described it: it's like a red crayon on a piece of black construction paper.
My question is... Do you not follow up your Henna treatment with a moisturizing DC? Do you just scoop your Henna out of the bag and mix the ingredients in immediately or do you let it sit for a few hours?
I usually mix my Henna with OJ and let it sit overnight so that the color can release... and then I add my oils before I apply it to my hair...