Candice S.One of the best discoveries that I’ve come across in my 25+ year natural hair journey is ayurvedic herbs. My favorite: Henna. So, today I’m sharing my henna gloss routine as well as a recipe tutorial showing you how to make your own henna gloss mix to strengthen your natural hair.
Why henna? Well, besides its ability to create beautiful body art, henna is also a great natural color enhancer and protective conditioning treatment for hair.
If you are brand new to the world of henna for hair, be sure to check out this post first.
It takes a few hours to see the results of a henna gloss treatment but the wait is totally worth it. Some of what you’ll experience are subtle color changes, strength, thickness, softness, curl elongation, or a slight relaxation of texture.
I’ve been doing henna treatments for years because they help strengthen my fine natural hair and reduce breakage. I also love how henna covers my gray hairs and boosts my all-over shine.
With henna, you’ll find that the benefits increase as you stick to a consistent routine. I like to do a treatment every 3 months. Once a quarter seems to do the trick for me.
If you have problems of breakage, thinning or stagnant growth, I highly recommend that you give henna gloss treatments a try.
Here’s my recipe and routine!
Henna Gloss Recipe + Freezing Leftover Henna
Conditioning Henna Gloss Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup BAQ Henna
- 1/2 cup Indigo Powder
- 1/4 cup Generic Matrix Biolage Conditioner (Sally Beauty)
- 3/4 cup Herbal Tea
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 1 Tbsp. Oil
You’ll also need
- Gloves
- Plastic Bowl or container with lid
- Small rat tail comb
Freezing Your Henna Mix
Yes, you can freeze it! If you should happen to have some leftover henna from your conditioning treatment or if you’d just like to make this ahead of time for a later session, it can easily be frozen. Just thaw it out when you’re ready to use it.
All you need is a good plastic container with a lid to keep things fresh. I like to use plastic popsicle molds. But you can also use things like ice molds, Tupperware, and Ziploc bags to hold your mixtures.
My Henna Gloss Routine + Tutorial
For my henna gloss routine, I prefer to start with freshly washed hair. I find that the application is smoother and my hair performs better to the color process and deep conditioners. You can still do this on damp hair that hasn’t been washed but it’s best not to compete with heavy product buildup.
I sometimes leave my henna on overnight and rinse in the shower in the morning. *shower is best* You need a minimum of 4 hours to get the full effects. So, if you’re going to attempt this plan accordingly. I highly recommend rinsing your henna out in the shower to reduce the possibility of staining any surfaces.
If you prefer to watch a video, here’s a quick one showing how I mix up my gloss.
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Steep your tea
Steep 3 herbal tea bags in hot water. For my latest henna gloss, I used a chamomile, honey, and vanilla tea. But feel free to use whatever one you like. Some good options are green tea, chamomile, or black tea. It all depends on what your end game is.
Mix your henna base
In a plastic bowl or container, combine henna, indigo, and tea. Mix well until you get the consistency of cake batter.
Add in conditioning
Add conditioner, oil, and honey into the mixture and mix well until it becomes smooth. I like to use the comb end of a rat tail comb to get all of the lumps out of my mix.
Apply to damp hair
Using gloves, apply to damp detangled hair in sections.
Be careful to clean up any drips onto your surfaces or skin as it can stain once the dye begins to release.
Cover your hair
Place one or 2 plastic bags over your hair and secure it well. Heat helps the dye to release quicker.
Depending on what your needs are you can then put on a conditioning cap, a cute headscarf, or head wrap.
Remember, you need to keep the henna mixture on your hair for a minimum of 4 hours to get the full effects.
Rinse
Rinse your hair well using warm water and a slippery cheap conditioner to help in the removal process.
Leave-in & Style
This is an optional step. After rinsing thoroughly, follow up with a no-protein deep treatment or leave-in conditioner, and then style your hair as usual.
For more information about the benefits of using henna, Henna Sooq has been a highly regarded resource of mine for information on herbal hair care, using henna for coloring, and more.
What are your thoughts about henna or using a henna gloss?
Candice S.
