by Liz Henry

Even though henna is used primarily as a hair dye colouring, it has some great beneficial ‘side effects’, including strengthening and thickening of the hair while giving it great sheen and lustre. You have to bear in mind though that the beneficial type of henna is of the pure variety but you have to make sure that before applying it to the hair you need to perform a strand test to determine firstly, that the colour you have chosen is suitable and secondly, how long the henna will take to actually dye your hair that particular colour.

Henna dye usually produces the best results in dark blonde and brunette colours of hair but it can generally be used with most hair colourings. Beware though- while henna may be wonderful for hair, it doesn’t mix well with other chemical treatments, so if you have recently dyed your hair using conventional dyes, have permed your hair or even if you are planning on perming your hair in the near future, you may want to re-think using the henna. A good rule of thumb would be to wait at least thirty days from your last perm or hair dye before applying any henna product.

As far as henna colours are concerned, red is the most popular choice and you will find that this particular colouring not only has the least amount of additives but can be used confidently and safely as well but obviously the purer the henna the safer they tend to be. Black henna is also fine to use as long as it’s made with indigo, but a word of warning- avoid PPD (Para-Phenylenediamine) black henna as the dye it contains can be very harmful.

Some hennas also contain metallic salts which can leave your hair dry and brittle so make sure you look out for these on the list of ingredients on the henna packaging and try to avoid them. If there is nothing on the packaging to indicate the presence of metallic salts, carry out a strand test to see how your hair reacts. If the colouring takes quickly or the hair brittles up as mentioned above, do not use it!

Buying henna products poses a problem in itself due to the confusing (and sometimes misleading) nature of the packaging and listed ingredients. You will normally find though, that the safest form of henna to buy is the body art variety. Henna doesn’t last too long either but it can be frozen and stored in a freezer where it usually lasts up to fourteen months without losing too much of its potency.

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