Jamila Henna Results


I tried out my Jamila Henna Friday night. If I didn't know any better, I would swear that there is more than 100g in each of those packages lol. I mixed 200g (2 boxes) and it seemed like waaaay too much. I almost feel like what I had left over and stored in the freezer is 100g mix. Idk.....


But anywho, I love love love my results :) The color is more noticeable indoors....at least in my bathroom; when I hold up my table mirror to look into the bathroom cabinet mirror, I feel like I'm looking at two different people lol. The red color is sooo pretty. I can't wait for people to notice it in the sunlight. But then again, it might look very different the next time I'm around people. Henna coloring oxidizes over a few days after the initial application so Idk what my hair will look like tomorrow, and the next day, etc.


For all my 4a/b ladies out there, henna at your own risk if you have not yet fully come to terms with caring for extremely kinky coils. If you have a thick head of hair, henna will not make it change textures (i.e jumping from 4b to 4a or 4b to 3b, etc). It DOES increase thickness...at least from my experiences and others that I have read on natural hair forums. Although still thick, it doesn't kill me when I try to comb through on dry hair (at least yesterday and today that wasnt the case lol). I guess you would only be able to know what I'm talking about if you've hennaed more than twice and know the feeling of thick and kinky but still comb-able (is that a word?? lol)


My only problem is that with this increased thickness I haven't got the slightest clue as to what to do with this mane of mine now. I think I am going to twist again b/c wash-n-go pony's are a pain for me to do. Always have been. Besides....I wanna be cute for my fireworks venture tomorrow and whatever else comes up this week.



Happy Hennaing and Styling!!


Oh yes, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there :)







My Henna Mix:

200g Jamila Henna Summer Crop 09 (from Butters N Bars)

Lemon juice (estimated 1/3)

Orange Juice (estimated 2/3)


I just dumped the powder into a medium sized plastic bowl and added the last potion of lemon juice that was left; it was a very small fraction of the bottle I used last time (see older henna post....I cant remember at the moment the bottle size). I used that corner of lemon juice and made up for the rest of the moisture for the mix by using orange juice. I didn't use official measurements; I just kept ading until everything was moist and made sure to mix between add-ins. When I was done mixing it had the consistency of mashed potatoes or really thick lumpy oatmeal. I let my mix sit for almost 19-20 hours because my schedule changed that Friday; I didn't get home until maybe 6pm so thats when I washed my hair and then applied my henna.


My mix was obviously darker than the night before (indicator of dye release) and still as lumpy as ever....maybe even a little more. I applied a tiny bit more orange juice to make it less lumpy and proceeded to wash. Some naturals clarify with a clarifying shampoo of some sort or skip actual shampoo and just co-wash or something. Since I have sebhorreic dermatitis I have to wash with T-Gel shampoo---might as well be a clarifyer, its that cleansing lol. After I washed, I conditioned (dont remember if I did that during my last two henna sessions, but I felt it was necessary this time b/c T-Gel shampoo makes my hair feel weird and dry-like afterwards. I was scared the henna directly after shampooing would do horrendous things to my hair i.e fall out or break off ) with a couple of Suave Naturals conditioners that I've had for a while but never finished using (making good use of my (and my mom's...RIP honey) product junkyism lol). I believe it was the Sea Breeze one with algae and vitamin E and the Mango Peach. After rinsing my condish, I sectioned my hair off and went to work.


Applying henna is tiring as heck, especially when its late at night. I will NEVA do that again, unless I plan on sleeping in that ish. Wheeew! I was done applying by 7:30 but given the day I had, I was tired. I didnt even want to let it sit in my hair for 4 hours but I did it anyway to see the color deposit (although thats not why I henna...its just a fun bonus lol).



And presto! Henna session number 3 for me:




Obvious auburn/red tint in certain lighting.

Jamila Henna

SO....my new stash of henna has just arrived fresh in the mail and I cannot wait to try it! I haven't done a henna treatment in months (about 4 or 5, eeek!) so you can imagine my excitement lol. The BAQ henna that I used before was from Yemen and was supposed to have a very superior dye quality. Idk what would have happened if I kept using that instead of switching to the Jamila Crop; would the orangey-reddy color have gotten deeper orange or red? The world may never know....lol But I have heard great things about the Jamila brand and have seen some amazing results from it.

Like I said in my last post, I am going to make the most of my time at home before I head down to Florida. I'm sure my tresses will thank me for treating and protecting them prior to 5 more months of heat (90 degree weather, here we come! lol).

Well, I have a few more things to do today (shopping for Disney! :) then I will be able to mix it up and enjoy my henna.

Hasta Luego!

It's Henna Time......Yet Again

Hello world!

In an effort to keep this dear old blog of mine updated, I have decided to embark on a new challenge. This challenge will be tweaked in the coming days but as of now I just know it as my Glow and Grow Challenge. I just ordered 500g of Jamila Summer Crop BAQ Henna; from a different site too :-\ I used to order my henna from mehandi.com but earlier this year I became aware of Butters N Bars through the CurlyNikki network. Well, over at Butters N Bars they have a little sale going on (15% off ayurvedic products) and my trusty Yemeni Henna from mehandi has gone up in price (its like $9 per 100g now....yikes!!!).

With things being the way they are right now I can't afford to treat my tresses to superb burgandy tones and such with more applications of the Yemen henna so I snatched up the deal on Jamila henna :) I should receive my new stash sometime next week so I will def have pics and reviews to the best of my ability (my comp hates when I try to upload pics to blogger....works better from a campus comp smh)

Anywho.....as I said before my new personal challenge for my hair is gonna be called Glow and Grow. I am going to regularly use henna in my hair care regimen to retain length and also see what type of henna glow I can maintain in the process. My hair is already naturally dark but in the sunlight and rare movements of indoor lighting my hair glows a pretty reddish/orangish color. Its so pretty that my sister has asked me to hook her up with henna! I want to henna my hair more than just once every 2-3 months. I am going to see what happens if I henna my hair every other week. Since the effects of henna build up with each use, I should see results fast--being that these next few applications would be my 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Obviously there wouldn't be a dramatic change in length overnight, but I'm sure the added strength from the new applications will have a great effect on my length retention. My hair is about an inch or less away from being APL and just last summer my hair was barely grazing shoulder length.......

2 Henna treatments and many protective styles and such later, I'm at APL.
Let's see what 3 consecutive henna treatments (more may be in the works, depending on funds and such), buns, twists, DC treatments, improved nutrition and exercise regimens, etc have in store for my hair this summer. Who knows, my hair may grow alot more by the end of the summer than what's normal for me lol

Goodnight :)
~Lena

Summer Hair Affair

Aaahh, it feels good to be back!

My apologies for the unintentional hiatus. Everything just turned into one big whirlwind of events overnight....so it seemed. Ah, maybe it did lol. Between my last post and this post, I have aced more exams, discovered new hairstyles, and graduated from college. Yay me!! lol.

I played with the idea of wearing my hair in a natural/curly style for graduation but unfortunately that didn't materialize. I decided to stick with what I was used to (judge if you want, I really don't care lol) which is my slick straight press. My hair was banging and it lasted a good while through all the heat and anti-heat and everything. Well almost everything; it didn't outlast my sebhorreic dermatitis! Argh!! I had to wash my hair even though I didn't want to (wanted my money's worth of flaunting my length lol).

Flash-forward to today which marks a full month since I graduated (yay!!) and my hair is in twists. Cute twists might I add. I have been slacking on my posts and taking hair shots....and posting them.....but I promise I will make that all up this week. I have soooo many pics to share from graduation and before graduation when I experimented with a style I hold dear to me. I am going to name my hairstyle soon enough but it fits me so well that I may just name it after myself :)

Sooooo many things to come. Pics, pics and more pics!
Stay tuned!

~Lena