Henna may be popular for decorating hands and arms in the East, but it also has much benefit for use as hair colour. Not interested in red hair? No problem! Today, henna hair colour it is available in an array of shades, including black, or dark brown to lighter colours. The big advantage? It comes from a medicinal plant. With a little planning, the process is easy to use henna for the best of body health and especially for your hair.
Unlike commercial hair dyes that have used metals to hold the dye for effective absorption, there is no metal in the natural henna form. Use of conventional hair dye is common today even without grey hair, but is one example of how our bodies accumulate metal that can eventually be systemically unmanageable. While those metals are not noticed when gradually accumulating, they certainly are once systemic function is challenged and you begin a metal detox program. They are much tougher coming out than they were going in!
Today, Brazil provides the option of a liquid henna brand that can be squeezed onto your hair in the morning to touch-up temples, then style and leave for work. This pre-mixed liquid makes henna colouring an easy and healthy option. It has a longer list of ingredients than the natural powdered form, but includes such fruit and vegetable extracts as Genipa Americana Extract, Babacu Seed oil, Glycerin, essential oils, aloe vera, Achillea Millefolium Extract (yarrow).
Of course, henna has always been available in powdered form which is the purest form available. It has nothing but the plant in it, usually listing Indigoferae tinctoria (indigo) leaf powder and Lawsonia inermis (henna) leaf powder as the only ingredients. Both of these plants are also considered medicinal plants with antifungal and/or antibacterial properties. It does take more planning to use the natural powders due to the timing involved for preparation. While I use the liquid form when short on time, I still buy the powdered version which is currently more readily available in health food stores than its liquid counterpart. If you want the health benefits of these plants without any colour, the neutral shade is a good option.
While powdered henna is available in many health food stores, it needs at least 2 to 3 hours to ‘cure’ with the addition of water, and some people leave it cure overnight. Planning is all you need to make this an easy process! Application then is for one or more hours with your hair covered shower-cap style. If you want the colour darker, you can deepen the shade with addition of a teaspoon of coffee grinds. Those who work with henna suggest adding a bit of clove and a splash of lemon juice to speed its action and absorption.
The anti-parasitic qualities of the Lawsonia inermis plant (henna) provide antifungal and antibacterial actions whenever we apply it. Your hair also becomes soft and manageable because it is healthy and revitalized by the natural products rather than stripped of its nutrients by harsh chemicals.
Liquid henna is not as easy to find at this time as the powdered form. The most available liquid brand is called ‘SURYA Brasil”. This henna cream comes in a 2.31 fluid ounce (70 ml) squeeze bottle. To date, the only reliable source that I have found convenient for delivery is iherb.com. If you are ordering the liquid brand from iherb.com, they also stock the powdered version, so you could include a package of it to use as a comparison when you have time for the planned application. SURYA liquid henna is around $9.00 per package and the powdered henna is about $5.00 per package.
Various shades can also be ordered at www.iherb.com. Shipping is equal to the price we would pay if purchasing at a salon if you could find one that stocked it, as a hair salon in Toronto did when carrying it at a cost of $15 per bottle. The convenience of having it delivered to my door makes it an easy choice to order online via iherb.com
For a Discount when ordering via http://www.iherb.com/search?kw=surya+henna&x=0&y=0#none, enter VIR442 into the box for Discount Code upon checkout and payment.
For other natural options for common conditions, check out the Home Remedy list
What does www.thefreelibraary.com have to say about henna use?
Naphthoquinones are compounds present in various families of plants; their molecular structures endow them with redox redox (r?`d): see oxidation and reduction. properties which confer activity in various biological oxidative processes.
In ethnomedicine, plants containing naphthoquinones have been employed for treatment of a number of diseases including cancer. Lawsonia inermis (henna) is widely cultivated and used in many oriental, Middle Eastern and northern African countries. It is best known for its colouring matter contained in the leaves. Henna extract contains lawsone (C10H6O3), the active ingredient and a naturally occurring naphthoquinone. The development of new antimicrobial agents is a research area of utmost importance.
Henna, is the name for a reddish or black hair dye obtained from the powdered leaves and young shoots of the mignonette tree, or henna shrub (Lawsonia inermis)
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Antimicrobial+properties+of+Lawsonia+inermis+(henna)%3A+a+review-a0173925919
