Excellent product
I bought the henna together with Indigo, after reading around that I would need both to achieve the color of my dark brown hair. I primarily needed both to cover my gray, but since this was my first time using Henna, I did an all-over application just to see how it came up. I mixed all 200g gram of them, and with my chin length hair, I had a lot of leftover. Note to self: next time use 1/2 a packet instead. Luckily you can freeze leftover henna in the freezer so I ziplocked the leftover henna mix and stuffed it in the freezer. The good news is, since the leftover is already mixed, I don't have to wait for the dye to release next time. Anyway, so I mixed the henna with fresh squeezed lime juice and water. The lime juice provides the acidity that henna needs to release its dye (so I've read). You can probably use bottle lime juice, I happened to have some limes in the fridge so I used those instead. I made a mistake of making the mix too runny - like a thin yogurt consistency - and didn't realize the mistake until later. After mixing the henna in a bowl, I covered it with saran wrap and left it on my bathroom counter for almost 24 hours to allow the dye to release. When I opened the bowl 24 hrs later, I could see the reddish dye floating around in the surface, which I quickly mixed in. Then I started applying the mix to my hair, starting from the back to the front. You will need gloves and 2 old towels, one to wipe and the other to cover your hair with later. Once my hair was fully covered with henna, I covered it with saran wrap and then put my shower cap on top. Remember what I said about mixing it too runny? This is the part where things go tricky. Originally, I planned to sleep with the henna on my hair overnight, as has been suggested by many people I read online. But, because I mixed it too thinly, the henna dripped like crazy: at first it was dripping every 5 minutes or so, then as time progressed, I literally had to wipe the drips from my hair continuously every 2-3 seconds or so. I didn't dare go near my bed as I didn't want my bedroom to have henna drips all over. Finally, after wiping non-stop for maybe 70 minutes or so, I decided I had enough. I threw away the saran wrap and jumped into the shower to rinse my hair. I rinsed it first with just warm water, then used conditioner to get rid of the gunk and grits. Then the moment of truth, standing in front of a mirror, I could see a hint of beautiful deep red burgundy highlights on my darker hair, but brash orange on my gray hair, right on top where the hair parted. Yikes!! I knew the chance of this happening was kinda big, given that white hair (my gray is definitely white, not gray) absorbs whatever color you put on them much easily than healthy hair. But it was still a shock to see such orange hair on me. Luckily, I anticipated such happening, that's why I bought Indigo together with Henna, and boy am I glad I did, as I needed that Indigo to correct the orange color from henna. You can read my review on Indigo separately. Bottom line, if you're Asian with dark hair like me, or simply have a lot of white / gray hair to cover, definitely use Henna AND Indigo, either mix them together as a 1-step application, or separately as a 2-step application. I used mine as a 2-step application because I wanted to see how it came out individually. Next time I'll try the 1-step application for experiment. Henna does not lighten my hair, instead, on my healthy hair with natural dark brown color, it gives a nice deep red burgundy coating that is only visible under sun shine. Very subtle and pretty. Also, now that I know that leaving it on for only 70 minutes or so was enough to let the henna color my hair, I don't know if I would leave it on overnight as many have suggested. I think it'll depend on whether I get the mix right. Next time, I would mix it thicker, like mashed potato rather than yogurt consistency. I mixed my indigo on the thick side and it didn't drip at all. One last thing, I read on another review that her hair kept leaking orange days after rinsing. Mine didn't. I washed it very thoroughly, until the water ran clear, and then some more for good measure. I used my old towel to dry my hair immediately after that, then waited for 48 hours before washing it again. On the first wash after that 48 hours, I used my regular towel and didn't see any color leaking on the bathroom floor or the towel. Henna and Indigo are the only two I'll use to cover my gray from now on. Read more