why your stylist hates henna

Having finally "refreshed" my hair yesterday, I feel predisposed to write a post on henna for hair. I've been henna-ing my hair for the past...5 years, maybe more. When I visit a new stylist, the reaction to my hair is invariably the same: an initial enthusiastic comment on the "incredible" colour followed by an uneasy and/or negative response to my explanation on how that colour is achieved. Yes, it's likely your stylist hates henna, and while it's annoying for those of us who use it, upon reflection it's really understandable why they might. So the topic for today is:

Top 7 Reasons Your Hairstylist May Hate Henna

They Were Not Taught About it in School

...Because really, growers from Rajasthan are hardly going to be sponsoring classes at the local beauty college. Most hairstylists have no reason to learn anything about henna. The vast majority of their clients won't use it. They themselves almost certainly never will. Outside of ethnic communities, henna is still somewhat of a "fringe" product.

When They Are Taught, They Get Misinformation

I had a stylist tell me that product buildup was due to the henna I used months prior, because henna "coats" the hair. Henna does not "coat" hair to dye it any more than it "coats" your skin in mehndi applications. Stories about henna being bad for hair, turning hair green, and causing hair to "melt" after subsequent chemical treatments abound. While it is true that it is difficult to impossible to remove the red from hennaed hair, for the most part high-grade, Body-Art-Quality (BAQ) henna will not damage your hair and will not preclude many other chemical treatments. Which caveat leads into my next point:

Poor Henna Products Lead to Henna Horror Stories

The "henna" you see at the Natural Food Store, promising a wide array of colour results, is not anything remotely resembling BAQ henna. Neither is the grey, dusty stuff in the bulk bin at Whole Foods, or the box on the "ethnic" shelf of your supermarket. If you're lucky, it's just henna that is old and has lost its staining power. And if you're not, you don't just have inferior henna powder. You've got a host of additives as well, including the dreaded mineral salts that cause many of the problems referenced above. When people have problems with adulterated products, or try chemical treatments on top of them, it's the stylist who gets to attempt to salvage the resultant disaster. No wonder they shy away from henna: they never know what you may really have in your hair.

Even when you have good henna, though, it's not really a very salon-friendly product:

Henna Gives Transparent Colour Coverage

With chemical colour, what you see is essentially what you get. With henna, what you get is a red/auburn overlay on top of your natural colour. Black and dark brown hair will never get more dramatic than red highlights. Light blonde, grey, or white hair, on the other hand, will go a bright neon orange (take a look at this Google image search to see good examples of the effect of henna on white or grey hair). Not being suitable for all hair types, and often requiring experimentation, henna is therefore of limited use in a salon setting.

The Initial Result is Not the Final Result

As it does on skin, henna on hair starts out bright and brash and mellows over the next few days. Pictures from my first henna application are a good demonstration of this effect. The first photo was taken the evening I rinsed out the henna paste; the second, 2-3 nights later:

Safe to say, that anyone without prior experience would not be happy with a change this drastic. Especially if they had to leave the salon not knowing what the final result would be. Henna-ed hair results also change after multiple applications--after years of use, my hair colour is now much different.

Even with Good Products, Results Can Vary

Again, personal experience can illustrate: when I repatriated to Canada from the UAE, I had to find a new place to get my hair supplies. I ordered the same, well-known brand I use successfully for body art. Due to my familiarity with the product and my personal relationship with the seller, I know I got quality powder. Yet no matter what I did, this henna never started out with better than an anemic gold tone and didn't develop into the colour I knew and loved. My next order, I went with a different brand and got back to the bright-orange-mellowing-to-red that I was used to. Why did the first brand not give me the results I wanted? Who knows? It simply seems to have not liked my hair. And again, salons cannot deal with that kind of uncertainty.

Finally, Henna is Time Consuming

Once applied, henna has to sit on your hair for up to 4-6 hours. Which is fine if you are spending a day at the hammam, or hanging out at home, but not ideal for a business that needs to consider space and turnover.

Justified or not, I doubt that salon stylists will be changing their opinions on henna very soon. However, if you understand why they are leery of it, it's easier to start a conversation about it--and to come to agreement on the best care and treatment of your hair. Any questions about henna for hair? Let me know in the comments!