Henna is a hair dye for all the people who want to have wonderful red hair and are not afraid of a bit of mess and a bit of imponderability (not sure about the right word..) Henna is the right choice to dye their hair.

Imponderability because this stuff is part of a grown plant and nothing out of a lab. So changes in quality are given. And also the results depend a lot on your personal hair colour and the structure of your hair

I started using Henna to dye my hair about 12 years ago.
My natural colour is a medium blond and the structure is rather flimsy
.
About 3 years ago I was kind of fed up with all the red and decided that it was time to see my natural hair colour again.
That turned out to be a mistake as I couldn't get my hair as shiny and manageable as all the previous years.

So last year I started to dye again and today is the day to renew my colour :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henna

Step 1: What You Will Need

- powdered Henna (Lawsonia inermis) Quantity depends on the length of your hair, I use about 100g which is plenty

- rubber gloves ( you don't have to bother about them but then you will get nice copper coloured hands and, especially, fingern nails :)

- old clothes

- a washcloth

- hot water (you could also use black tea or diluted apple juice, in this case I used black tea)

- a bowl large enough

- spoon or fork to mix the dye

- plastic bag to cover your head

- a towel which should not be too new and certainly not white ;)

- about 2h of time

Step 2: How to Start

1. put on old clothes

2. mix together Henna and hot water (tea , juice) until smooth

3. wash and dry your hair, comb it

Step 3: Now Put on Your Gloves

and start to spread the mixture on your hair.

(You might want to put some cream on your forehead, ears and the back of your head. I don't do it anymore as I don't think it makes any difference.)

I think it works best when you try to knead it down to your skin ( my hair was never longer than down to my shoulders so I can't tell you anything about applying Henna on longer hair)

Try to reduce the mess to a minimum and don't panic stains on your skin will be washed away after a few showers.

After you finished the spreading and kneading use your washcloth to clean the skin on your forehead and in your neck.
Then cover your hair with a plastic bag and wrap your head in a towel.

Clean up the mess, it might stain the tiles if left on for a longer time.

Now get yourself a nice cup of tea/coffee and let the Henna mixture steep on your head for about 1 hour.
You can leave it on your head for much longer, even over night, but I'm not very patient and so I usually rinse it down after 1 hour.

Step 4: The Result

After 1 hour or longer rinse your hair well to get all the Henna out.

The colour first might come as a shock but it will be already much darker when your hair is dry and it will darken over the next 1-2 days.

The colour will bleed a bit when you wash your hair and you should seriously think about putting a towel on your pillow during the night.

Have fun with your "new" hair :)