light mountain henna
It’s been overcast or raining pretty steadily since I did my hair, so I don’t have any true-color pictures to show. It’s definitely redder than it was, but still fairly subtle. These pics give you an idea only of the comparison between Zia’s and my hair, though both have a richer, less-goldeny-red in real life. Mine is with henna, and hers, as she says, “already has hair color”. It definitely does.
I used Light Mountain Natural henna in Red. They also have light red, bright red, auburn, burgundy, mahogany, dark brown, black, and maybe other colors, too. Henna is semi-permanent and completely natural; it changes the color of your hair and can darken light hair, but can’t lighten dark hair. It begins to fade after a few weeks, but I like that about it because as it grows out there are no roots to cover.
I only used 1/2 packet, and it seemed like plenty. I’ve used henna before, but it was Surya henna, which is already mixed and ready to apply. This was a lot more fun! I got to mix in whatever I wanted for different effects. I put in some lemon juice for highlights, allspice and ginger for fragrance, yogurt for conditioning, and kombucha tea just to see what would happen.
For 1/2 packet I needed to add 6-8 oz. of boiled distilled water or other liquid. I used 3/4 cup water along with 1/4 cup of a mixture of kombucha, lemon and ginger juice, and homemade plain yogurt. It’s important not to use metal pans or utensils in the process. After mixing, I let it sit covered for 3 hours, then did a sensitivity test on my skin and a strand test on my hair. When I was finished, I shampooed my hair and towel-dried it (no conditioner), then packed on the mud. Gloves are REALLY important at this stage!
It took about 15 minutes to apply it well, then I covered it with the cap and let it work its magic for another 25 minutes. So including the application process, it sat 40 minutes. I think I’ll let it go a little longer next time. I was a little scared it would be too bright, but it wasn’t.
I washed it out with Dr. Bronner’s soap and baking soda and conditioned it with apple cider vinegar, which is my normal washing routine anyway.
Overall, I really liked Light Mountain, and I’ll use it again. Some of the other colors might be fun to try, too!
Only then, of course, me and my girl wouldn’t be matching. And that would be hard to give up.
“I washed it out with Dr. Bronner’s soap and baking soda and conditioned it with apple cider vinegar, which is my normal washing routine anyway.”
I’ve never heard of Dr. Bronner’s before. Is it good for all hair types? Do you mix it with the baking soda before applying? Where do you find it? I’m looking for a good wash solution.
hello honies……………..i WAS looking for a job; then dad said, aren’t there any new pix? SOooooo, we spent 45 min. looking at your beautiful pix and went all the way back to the “garden gloves”. dad enjoyed the pix of the garden – it is HUGE….. it could be a community garden?! we spent Sun. at the railyard park with Makayla and their community garden is pretty tiny, compared to yours…….now i am going outside for awhile – for AIR 🙂 BE VERY HAPPY GETTING READY FOR YOUR TRIP 🙂 luv u/MOM
Hey Susan!
Dr. Bronner’s is just a pure liquid castile soap; no detergents or fillers. You can find it at Whole Foods, Amazon, or Vitacost.com (http://www.vitacost.com/Dr-Bronners-Organic-Pure-Castile-Liquid-Soap-Peppermint-8-fl-oz/?csrc=PPCADWLT-dr_bronner-s&mtp=sSit1fL9m%7Cpcrid%7C4293000011). It has a zillion uses! We have used it for shampoo, body and face soap, brushing our teeth, household, laundry, dishes, and even a natural pesticide/bug spray! (In a pinch, you can slap some on for a natural deodorant, too!) You can mix it with water or use it full strength. I don’t always mix baking soda with it for my hair…sometimes I just use either/or, but I always rinse it or condition it with vinegar…it cuts through the minerals in the water to help rinse out the soap, but doesn’t strip your hair of its natural oils the way shampoo does. Hope this has helped!
Hey Mom,
Glad you like the garden pics, and I wish you were here to help us eat our produce! Hope you guys are well, and don’t look TOO hard for a job…you might need a little break one of these days!
Hi!
Just came across your website after doing a search for henna colors. Your hair is gorgeous! I’m sitting now with the henna in my hair hoping it comes out to your color.
Thanks for posting photos & inspiring! 🙂
Cindy from New Brunswick CA
Hi Cindy,
Glad you liked the hair! I still use the same henna now (several months later), but I’ve been leaving it in longer, about 2 hours, and I love the effect. Hope yours comes out great!
Hi Mia!
Mine turned out a bit different from yours, however I love it!!! My hair is wildly naturally curly so it’s a reddish brown now with the red highlights. Henna is the bet thing since sliced bread. 🙂
Awesome, Cindy! Henna IS the bomb!
I’ve never died my hair before and I’m super scared. I have really long curly hair, brownish strawberry colored hair. I’ve seen some scary pics on the Internet of henna turning out way too red and too dark. Yours looks beautiful. I want to basically achieve something a little more blonde brown red..if that makes sense. (which is my natural, current color) can you email me step by step tips and instructions so I don’t mess up? I know that everyone has different results. 🙂
I love this color so much! What was your base color? I’d like to get to that same shade but not sure what color henna to go for!
Hi Ella! My hair was a faded copper to begin with. I think to really get the color you want, you’ll need to experiment. You could try a piece of hair underneath where it won’t show. Just remember the color will fade a little soon after. Make sure not to let metal touch the henna when you mix it, and use distilled water. Let me know how it goes!