Adventures in Henna
Dec. 29th, 2008 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorchawenchSo. I finally broke down and colored my hair. 2 inches or so of roots, not that I was putting it off or anything.
Henna is an experiment. Even if you use it constantly, like I do, every time is different and every time has the potential to bring you a new shade of wow.
Those of you who use henna might be in the know of using certain spices to help the color along. Cloves bring the color down. Turmeric gives it a golden brassy color. Paprika helps to deepen the red. I usually use Chili Powder to enhance the red, with no ill effects.
Apparently, at some point in my spice shopping, I lost my damned mind. See....the spice was reddish. I figured, why the hell not, eh? I mean, I use all those others, I use red raspberry tea as a liquid, here's a potential new red!
Why the hell not, indeed.
Because dear friends, at no point in time should one consider putting CAYENNE PEPPER on any body part as a beauty agent.
EVER.
NEVER EVER.
Most certainly never put it in your henna.
I got my henna mixed, waited for it to cool some as the tea was rather boiling hot. Gooped my head, added the plastic hair cover, wrapped the whole thing in a towel and sat down for a few hours of WoW.
Imagine my surprise when my head started burning like I had shoved it in a vat of acid and then rubbed it with fire ants.
I stuck it out though. Henna is not so easy to come by that I can willy nilly wash one batch out and go fix another. I sat there, head burning, brains slowly baking, skin feeling like it was on fire. I sat there until I lost feeling in my skin. I sat there, regretting this decision until the weight of the henna and hair became too much and started to give me a headache.
Then I got up, turned on the shower, peeled off the towel and the disposable shower cap, and went to rise out the henna.
It should be said that at this point, had you added cayenne pepper to your henna, a hot shower is exactly what you DO NOT want to take.
I whimpered like a kicked puppy. I fought with the temperature controls trying to find cool water. My head was on fire again, henna running down my cheeks, trying desperately to NOT get it in my eyes. Finally I got the water from normal hot to cool. I then realized I was taking a cold shower in DECEMBER. But it was the only way I was able to wash out the henna.
Normally I don't shampoo the mix out. I rinse it until my hair is free of lumps, and the water runs clear. I condition it, shower, and then rinse that out. I don't normally shampoo until the next day or so.
Not tonight. I shampooed like a woman gone mad. My scalp feels like it's been sanded. I was frankly surprised I hadn't gone bald, since I felt like I'd detonated a nuclear device on top of my skull.
I don't care what color this one turns out like. I don't care if I get the most gorgeous color ever. I will never, ever, do that again.
Henna is an experiment. Even if you use it constantly, like I do, every time is different and every time has the potential to bring you a new shade of wow.
Those of you who use henna might be in the know of using certain spices to help the color along. Cloves bring the color down. Turmeric gives it a golden brassy color. Paprika helps to deepen the red. I usually use Chili Powder to enhance the red, with no ill effects.
Apparently, at some point in my spice shopping, I lost my damned mind. See....the spice was reddish. I figured, why the hell not, eh? I mean, I use all those others, I use red raspberry tea as a liquid, here's a potential new red!
Why the hell not, indeed.
Because dear friends, at no point in time should one consider putting CAYENNE PEPPER on any body part as a beauty agent.
EVER.
NEVER EVER.
Most certainly never put it in your henna.
I got my henna mixed, waited for it to cool some as the tea was rather boiling hot. Gooped my head, added the plastic hair cover, wrapped the whole thing in a towel and sat down for a few hours of WoW.
Imagine my surprise when my head started burning like I had shoved it in a vat of acid and then rubbed it with fire ants.
I stuck it out though. Henna is not so easy to come by that I can willy nilly wash one batch out and go fix another. I sat there, head burning, brains slowly baking, skin feeling like it was on fire. I sat there until I lost feeling in my skin. I sat there, regretting this decision until the weight of the henna and hair became too much and started to give me a headache.
Then I got up, turned on the shower, peeled off the towel and the disposable shower cap, and went to rise out the henna.
It should be said that at this point, had you added cayenne pepper to your henna, a hot shower is exactly what you DO NOT want to take.
I whimpered like a kicked puppy. I fought with the temperature controls trying to find cool water. My head was on fire again, henna running down my cheeks, trying desperately to NOT get it in my eyes. Finally I got the water from normal hot to cool. I then realized I was taking a cold shower in DECEMBER. But it was the only way I was able to wash out the henna.
Normally I don't shampoo the mix out. I rinse it until my hair is free of lumps, and the water runs clear. I condition it, shower, and then rinse that out. I don't normally shampoo until the next day or so.
Not tonight. I shampooed like a woman gone mad. My scalp feels like it's been sanded. I was frankly surprised I hadn't gone bald, since I felt like I'd detonated a nuclear device on top of my skull.
I don't care what color this one turns out like. I don't care if I get the most gorgeous color ever. I will never, ever, do that again.
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no subject
on 2008-12-30 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-12-30 02:22 pm (UTC):(
no subject
on 2008-12-30 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-12-30 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-01-01 01:08 am (UTC)I use cayenne to keep the cats from things but this is the first time I've heard of putting it on your head for "color". Heh. Of course, if it helps, I did manage to learn that having the BF cut up jalepeno peppers for chili was great, until he decided to wake me up in a frisky way. Can you say pepper oil and mucus membranes = HOLYFUCKOW!! He now rinses with an entire lime before he's allowed into the bed after such an event. :P
no subject
on 2009-01-04 08:06 pm (UTC)