Hippy hair science, also known as putting mud on your head.

[cupcake_goth]

Over the past couple of years, I'd been reading up on using henna and indigo to achieve glossy blue-black hair. It sounded interesting, but I never got around to trying it. Then vorona started posting about using indigo (but no henna) on her hair, and how it resulted in a deep black-ish cool brown. Her posts re-triggered my interest, and I did some more reading and searching.


This past Saturday, minim_calibre was kind enough to spend the day with me and help me put glop on my head. First was the henna, which actually felt nice on my head after we were done applying it. Kind of cool and tingly, and it seemed to help ward off the sinus migraine that had been lurking at the edges of my brain. Bonus! We left the henna on for about an hour, with 15 minutes or so spent under the bonnet dryer. I rinsed (and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed) the henna out, towel-dried my hair, and discovered that my roots were now a color I associate with alexiarnps' hair, not mine. Wacky! And there was a faint overlay of red on the rest of my previously-dyed hair.

After mixing & applying the indigo, that was also left on for an hour. The indigo was not as nice of an experience as the henna, because indigo smells like mushy peas and will trickle blue droplets down one's neck and forehead. (The blue droplets wipe off easily, but it's still a little disconcerting.) After an hour, it was back to the rinsing rinsing rinsing, and then ... my hair was mostly black. The crown and the bangs were reddish-black. The rest of my hair? A wonderful blue-black. minim_calibre and I decided that I probably needed to leave the indigo on for longer, and possibly apply it from front to back, instead of from the back of my head to the front.

At that point, minim_calibre went home, and I made dinner. After dinner, I mixed up more indigo, applied it only to the front of my head, and then sat around watching SPN episodes. Sometimes with the bonnet dryer on my head and the TV volume cranked up. After three episodes, I decided I was done with wiping blue trickles off my forehead, and went back for another exciting round of seemingly never-ending rinsing. Ah-ha, success! My hair was now shiny shiny blue-black!


Pro:
- The henna & indigo are not possibly full of carcinogens, unlike regular black hair dye.
- Henna is also supposed to be good for hair health, scalp circulation, and for headaches.
- Wow, did I get a good blue-black from the whole process.

Con:
- Time-consuming, omg. All day, what with the henna needing to sit, and then the extra-extended dance mix indigo routine.
- Messy. Mud! On my head! Amazingly, stroppy_baggage did not point and laugh and/or shriek at the sight. I fully expected him to do the full-on Invasion of the Body Snatchers -type reaction, because I have to admit I looked pretty funny with my head cocooned in plastic.
- Did I mention time-consuming? Yeah. Very much so.

But, I'm really happy with the results. So I guess I'll just need to declare one day a month Mud On Head day.

Comments

[theblackdeer.livejournal.com]

Well, you can do all your other spa stuff while the mud is on your head. Facial, nails, toes, body wrap, you name it...make a day of making yourself awesome. :-D

[minim_calibre]

Darn you, Henna! You've won me back!

I need to Mud On Head tonight. All I did last night was Mud On Hands.

[leenerella]

Were you the one who said quality-grade henna is okay over dyed hair? If I can get that great rust-red action with henna, I'd give up dye altogether!

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I would happily come and help with mud on head day as well. And we could send our boys off to play together as well. It is all manner of win/win. ;)

I should pick up some more henna soon, and slap on some of my own mud. Where did you pick yours up?

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I've seen this color done with Henna before. I just am not sure where to procure it these days.

[corwynofamber.livejournal.com]

"Mud On Head day"

Hmmmm sounds like it could become a much celibrated holiday.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Body-art quality henna is completely safe over previously-dyed hair. www.hennaforhair.com has lots of good info, and links to suppliers.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I ordered my henna and indigo from here: http://www.mehandi.com/shop/shopindex.html

Plei said that she found good quality body-art henna at Zenith, too. So I may start picking up my henna from there, and ordering the indigo from mehandi.com.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Next time, I mix the henna with red wine. ::nods::

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I am all kinds of interested in that woading kit. ooooo aaaaah... *droool*

I should get back to doing Henna again. I just haven't really had anyone to draw ON.

[minim_calibre]

I'll give a thorough report on it once I've used it tonight, in fact.

[water-of-fire.livejournal.com]

Oooo. You know what? Thank you for posting this. I have contemplated and contemplated doing The Indigo Thing but it's seriously all I can do to sit with highly toxic purpleblack dye on my head half an hour a month. I'm going to stick with my chemicals, but that does not mean I am not happy for you that you've found a process that works!

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

red wine?

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

and I will be watching for it!

[alexiarnps.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm...may have to rethink this.

How careful did you need to be to not get your skin and what is the rules for too many layers now. Back in the day you weren't supposed to layer it too many times or the saturation changed the colors.

I'm also concerned that I will have a tonal change between henna over dye and henna over just my hair.

:::ponders:::

[burrell.livejournal.com]

So tempting to go back to henna... thanks for posting this. I am unhappy with the texture of my hair these days. Henna might give my hair a nice break from the dye.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I wiped the henna off of my skin after we were done coating my head, and I didn't end up with any orange stains.

I don't know what the rules are for too many layers for henna or what sort of tonal change there might be between your grow-out and your previously-dyed hair, but I suspect the tonal shift might not be as sharp or clearly-marked as you might think.

[cass404.livejournal.com]

You do drawing on people stuff???

drawing on people

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

er... yes.

quite a bit of it, off and on. Generally I use makeup pencils (liners, etc), but I have been known to use henna as well. :)


(this is the part where you note I have an *icon* for DRAWING ON PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY - which is my Not-so-subtle clue)

[javagoth.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

[javagoth.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if wrapping a string of cotton around your head (outside of the hair line) like they have at salons would help with the dripping issue and make the process a little more pleasant. That's what my hairdresser does with me when I get my hair done...

If nothing else it sounds like you might get some relaxation out of it. :)

[zenkitty-714.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this! I'd been contemplating using henna, but I was told that I couldn't use it on chemically-dyed hair or noxious colors would result. I wasn't keen on having to grow my hair out gray before I could use it. Is there any color choice between henna-red and blue-black? I love the blue-black, but I don't think I can carry it off.

[sheistheweather]

I heard from caliban1227 that you were cool, so I friend you, and that's why I'm here.

I love the phrase "Mud-On-Head Day". I giggled, rather a lot. :)

[minim_calibre]

Conclusion: overly sandy, inferior stain.

Have gone ahead and just ordered the good stuff.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I had only tried the henna at Zenith once, and assumed that I had just gotten the wrong color. It was overly sandy, and had an inferior color.

I will be ordering the good stuff soon enough then, as well.

[keridwen.livejournal.com]

I was eyeing the henna at Lush the last time I went down there. Have you (or anyone) heard anything about how well their stuff works?

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

The reviews that I've seen seem to be that the Lush henna stuff is so-so. If you're going to try henna, I really recommend just using body-art quality henna.

Re: drawing on people

[cass404.livejournal.com]

Draw on me sometime?

Re: drawing on people

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

when will you be up again?

and you bet!

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

excellent!

Re: drawing on people

[cass404.livejournal.com]

Whee!

We're talking a few days after the Halo 3 release. The last weekend of September. So most likely then.

Re: drawing on people

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

you can get your order then too!

and... while i am not opposed to peeps around when I draw on someone, if'n you want to be somewhat nekkid for it, you might. But I can make time for drawing that weekend, if you have time to be made then. :)