If you see a shop or stall while abroad, or even at a festival or fair in the UK offering black henna tattoos, do not be tempted to get one. The black paste in these temporary tattoos may contain a high level of chemical dye so powerful and toxic that it is illegal to use on the skin in this way. The risks of black henna lie in the paste’s ingredients – specifically, a chemical called paraphenylenediamine (PPD). Although PPD…
No, henna isn’t bad for your hair, and for many people provides strengthening and conditioning properties. Many cosmetologists think it’s bad because they don’t know much about it and don’t know that there’s a difference between pure henna (BAQ=Body Art Quality) and henna that’s been mixed with other things that may be bad for hair. The henna itself isn’t the problem in that case, but rather the other chemicals that have been added. Some people will experience some dryness after…
Indigo powder is from the ground leaves of the indigo plant which contains a deep blue dye used for centuries for textiles including the original blue Levi Strauss jeans, and is still used to dye the beautiful flowing blue robes of the Berber tribes in Northern Africa/Morocco. The leaves are harvested, dried, and ground into a powder for use in textiles, arts, and as a natural hair colorant. People have used indigo alone or in combination with henna to dye…
Real henna is NOT black – Never has been and never will be The popularity of black tattoos and the specialist skills required to apply traditional henna body art (also known as mehndi) have led to many body artists around the world to use alternatives to natural henna – i.e. to gain a darker colour than the traditional mahogany colour and to enable a more straightforward application. Very sadly the alternative of choice is black hair dye, usually containing a…
Introduction to bad henna All sorts of horrible things can be added to bad henna paste for several reasons: It is supposedly ‘traditional’ It is what you have been taught to do A misguided attempt to make up for shortcomings in henna powder or technique by adding compounds that are not designed for use on human skin PPD The worst offender is ‘PPD’ or P-Phenylenediamine a very allergenic chemical added to hair dyes, especially those on the black / brown…
Introduction Rachel runs the spinster net facebook page, and has been dying her hair with henna and indigo for some time, and she gets a great blue / black colour. I’m delighted that Rachel has agreed to share her recipe here, and it is outlined below. If you are inspired to try henna and indigo on your hair check out the pack available at hennacat (always do a strand test). Henna will dye hair red with tones from auburn to mahogany…
This is the recipe that I used to get the good henna colour shown below in a larger size than elsewhere on the website: Dot number 1 (top dot), central spiral and first circle of small petals in the centre of the flower = Hennacat Bohemian Blend Henna (coming soon) Dot number 2 (second dot down), and two outer circles of smaller petals in the centre of the flower = Hennacat Organic Rajasthani Henna…