gluten-free Henna

[raisin]

A lot of people talk about and have tried henna here, as an alternative to hair dye, but I searched, and there was no specific thread for henna product reviews.

Many pre-made henna products have hidden additives, so I am hesitant to pick one to try without the input of fellow celiacs.

Which brand have you tried and how was your experience (+were they a dedicated brand)? - If you mixed it yourself, can you point out simple and easy to fallow direction (as opposed to the many "youbtube tutorials" that are unscripted, undetailed, or confusing.)

One interesting brand is "Light Mountain Henna" which is labeled Gluten-free.

And, hennaforhair.com seems to sell pure henna you mix from scratch.

[caek-is-a-lie]

I have only ever used Light Mountain with excellent results and no problems. I have somewhat longer hair so I use 2 boxes at a time.

2 boxes of red

1/4 cup honey

enough hot water to make it a medium-thick paste (you don't want it too dry or too runny...think mud!)

[remember to use only wood and plastic -- NO METAL!]

I apply it to my roots with my hands (wearing gloves of course) then put whatever's left on the ends of my hair (because they've already been dyed many times...for a first-time dye you want to cover all your hair). Then I wrap my hair in saran wrap, cover with a towel, and let sit for 2 hours. Then I wash it off in the shower, shampoo and conditioner so that I can brush it out because it gets tangled. Don't worry, the shampoo won't wash any of the color off your hair. It will just help get rid of the extra residue that comes of for a few days after coloring. The color will be bright at first (and kind of orange) but it will darken and mellow out over the next week or two. I only have to color about 4 times/year because I don't mind some roots showing. My hair color never fades.

Light Mountain has a lot of great colors both light and dark, and I had a friend who used to mix different color powders together to make her own hues (always different each time of course.) I enjoy just sticking to plain ol' red...it's exactly the color I like.

[brigala]

And, hennaforhair.com seems to sell pure henna you mix from scratch.

This probably won't be very helpful, but I have used the "sample" of hennaforhair's henna to test-color a lock of hair, and I had no difficulties with it; but I am not one to go by because I don't have difficulty with gluten in products I'm not eating. My shampoo has wheat germ in it, and it doesn't bother me.

On the other hand, I do have VERY sensitive skin (which is why I'm not shopping for a new shampoo; once I find one that doesn't make my scalp bleed and fall off in chunks, I'm sticking with it unless I am FORCED to change!). The fact that I didn't react to the henna bodes well for sensitive-skin types other than gluten-sensitivity. My sensitive skin/scalp is the reason I decided to do the pure henna instead of one with additives; at least if I know exactly what's on my hair, if I have difficulty with it I'll know what caused it!

-Elizabeth

(I still can't bear to fork out the money to buy enough henna for all my hair, even though I really want to. It made the test-hair a very pretty color.)

[raisin]

Wow! Great to hear both are at least theoretically safe and work well.

It comes down to which is cheaper, Light Mountain Henna. Or higher quality, hennaforhair.