Iranian henna

Black eyes, velvet skin and luxurious waves of strands, accessible only to a beloved man - this is how a woman of the East appears to us. Having a constant competition in the form of other wives, she invariably watches herself, taking as a basis the natural means sent to her by nature itself. Iranian henna is one of the main and centuries-old weapons of oriental beauties.

Henna - Persian name of Lawson. Morocco, Egypt, India and many other countries with a warm climate are considered the birthplace of such a plant. No one knows the exact place, as they do not know the time of appearance. One thing is certain: they used henna for medicinal and cosmetic purposes even before our era.

Today, Iran has huge plantations of lawsonia, bringing to its residents a good profit from sales all over the world. It is worth saying that not only leaves are valued, but also flowers. Dry leaves are ground into that henna we are used to, the stems are the basis for making colorless henna, and the flowers are processed into essential oils and are actively used in cosmetics.

Application options for henna:

• tattooing (mehndi);
• hair coloring;
• strengthening curls;
• anti-dandruff;
• remove excess sebum;
• main ingredient in hair masks.

The possibility of such a wide use lies in the numerous healing properties of this tool. Acid in henna combines keratin in the hair, thus making the damaged curls healthy and strong. In addition, Lawsonia has a lot of essential oils and tannins, which provide noticeable shine to the hair.

Natural henna is one of the few really useful dyes. It does not destroy the already existing natural pigment, but only covers each hair follicle, making thin hair bulky and thick hair - more luxuriant. Hair painted with henna is not afraid of aggressive sun and sea water, never ceasing to breathe health and shine with natural shine.

There are quite a few henna manufacturers today. Producing countries are also different, and this means that it is important to understand if there are differences in the law, collected on different lands.

Although India and Iran are saturated with sunshine, their climate is still somewhat different from each other. Changes from this plant. I must say, Indian weather conditions make them more diverse in terms of color palette. The golden hue here turns into chocolate and chestnut, and ends and does black. Iranian henna has no such abundance, hair is painted in a copper tone. However, by mixing Iranian henna with other natural ingredients (coffee, cocoa), you can get a wonderful variety of colors.

Although the palette of Indian lawson is even brighter, natural Iranian paint has another significant advantage. The cost of henna from Iran is significantly lower than the price of a competitor’s products, which makes it very popular and affordable.

Indian Lawson found on the shelves of shops is quite difficult. If the purchase is still made, women remain its adherents forever. Henna from India deserves such confidence due to natural aroma and fine grinding. The smallest particles of powder form a velvet mushy mixture when combined with water, easily fall on the hair and wash away from them just as easily, which is not the case with products from Iran. Using Indian means is much easier and more pleasant.

Making conclusions, you can safely saythat the difference between henna from different countries really exists. The title of the best may belong to each of them, depending on the opinions of users. The Iranian product is rightfully considered the best budget option, Indian by quality.

The action of this natural component directly depends on its freshness and proper storage. Before buying, it is important to familiarize yourself with the shelf life and date of issue, as well as to assess how well the henna was stored in the store. An open glazed counter filled with solar heat greatly reduces the shelf life of the product. A dark and cold place is the perfect henna environment. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find such conditions in ordinary cosmetic stores, and therefore a reasonable solution may be to purchase through an online store, where the product from the manufacturer’s hands immediately falls to you.

When buying it is important to pay attention to the product category. It is divided into:

• top grade;
• medium grade;
• lower grade.

The difference is in the moment of harvest. Lawsonia, dried in summer, is valued above all. Drying leaves occurs under the scorching rays of the sun in the shortest possible time, which allows you to keep as part of the maximum amount of chlorophyll, indispensable for hair and their persistent dyeing.

The average grade gathers and dries in the fall. "Slow" drying kills the proportion of chlorophyll, which significantly affects henna. The lowest grade and does designate plants collected after the rains and not incorporating chlorophyll. Because of this, the color of the lower grade powder is close to brown, and the highest grade pleases with the juiciness of a light green hue.

Classical henna of the highest grade is an excellent choice for hair coloring, it also makes them stronger. It should be said that henna is colorless, which is a powder from lavsonia stems, exclusively for restoring hair bulbs. With it, you can not be afraid to accidentally dye your hair in a not very suitable tone.

Despite all the advantages, any herbal dye has the ability to dry hair with frequent use. To avoid this, some manufacturers add additional ingredients to henna. Henna with burdock oil, produced in the form of a finished mixture, intensively nourishes the hair and accelerates their growth. Algae remedy is also aimed at moisturizing and strengthening curls.

Continuing the theme of the producers of Iranian henna, experts and users select the best firms. Among them you can see the budget means from Artcolor, as well as diverse products from Phytocosmetics. The latest manufacturer produces both tint balsam "Henna" and ready-made compositions (henna cream) with useful ingredients.

Products of domestic producers are very worthy, but experts advise when possible to buy henna from Iranian manufacturers. Its naturalness does not cause doubts, and the freshness and shelf life show the best values.

As mentioned earlier, Iranian powder is famous for its coarse grinding, and therefore it is important to sift it through a fine sieve before use. This step will accelerate the application and washing of the mixture from the hair. When all the particles become uniform, it is possible to determine their number. Short hair will be enough 50-70 g of a dry plant, long - up to 300 g

An equally important step is to prepare the water for mixing. Its temperature should be on average 70 degrees to release the coloring pigment. Warm and cold water will not reveal henna, and boiling water will worsen the coloring properties. A sense of measure and a thermometer for water will help you choose the right temperature.

The powder is brewed with hot water and left for several hours. Water is needed a little, because too much liquid pulp will drain from the head, requiring considerable effort and patience when painting. Slightly darkened henna after soaking is a sign that the paint is ready for use.

So, thick gruel insisted, and it is diluted with products such as:

• kefir;
• vinegar;
• dry wine;
• lemon juice.

Coloring pigment in an acidic environment increases its ability to persistent staining. Supplement can serve a few drops of essential oils (ylang-ylang, rosemary). A good base will be coconut and burdock oil.

So, when the paint preparation is finished, it's time to start preparing the hair for coloring. They need to be washed with shampoo and a little dry with a towel. Forehead, ears and neck are abundantly smeared with baby cream, preventing their staining.

The method of applying the mixture is quite easy. The finished mixture is applied to the hair with a special brush or sponge (with a small length of curls). Having wrapped the head in polyethylene, it is covered with a towel. To keep the dye on the hair can be from 40 to 2 hours - depending on the desired color saturation.

Sifted henna is easy to wash off with the help of shampoo and hair mask. If the first step is ignored, then the flushing procedure will take a long time, because the removal of unmilled plant particles from the head is a very laborious and laborious process.

When getting too bright color it will help to neutralize the vegetable oil rubbed into the curls. It neutralizes the coloring pigment, making the shade more calm and restrained.

Soak henna on the hair is necessary depending on its type. With the least amount of time, the ready-to-buy mixture is happy, and it should be kept for only 10-20 minutes. Coloring with an ordinary product will take from 40 to 2 hours.

A big plus to using henna isthat it can be used both on natural hair and dyed with chemical dyes. The color in both cases falls well and pleasantly, shimmers in the sun. The color of the use varies considerably (depending on the result of the previous dyeing).

By applying the product to dark curls, you can get a light copper tint. If henna is mixed with cocoa or coffee, you get a darker shade, perfectly matched brown-haired. It should be said that even the maximum aging of the composition on dark hair will not bring fiery-red tones, because the dark tone is very strong, and henna can’t kill him. However, she is able to give him “languid” redness when mixing Iranian henna with wine or beet juice. The burgundy hue is quite popular today.

Blondes should be wary of this type of coloring, because with a strong concentration and a long exposure time, instead of a beautiful tone, you can get a red carrot color that matches the units. In addition, henna girls with dyed blond curls should be treated with even greater caution. Damaged with paint, they can "clog up" henna and display a clear green tint. If you know the measure and mix the product on chamomile broth or lemon juice, you can get a delicate golden tone (without a hint of red notes).

More accurate shades can be obtained by dyeing hair with ready-made mixtures from the manufacturer. They added some synthetic dyes, which means that the color will be quite predictable. However, after such funds, the hair is still exposed to chemical attack.

Reviews of Iranian henna are very positive. Users love it for low cost, naturalness and long lasting coloring. Red-haired beauties saturate their natural shade with brightness, and owners of light brown hair get a completely new tone for themselves.Having tried once, many girls remain henna devotees for many years.

Women, for the first time using the tool, note some dry and brittle hair. Experienced users saturate the product with such nutritional supplements as oils, algae or kefir. The beneficial effect of the use increases significantly.

In Iranian henna add not only nutrients, but also other dyes. Basma, cocoa or coffee have a positive effect on imparting dark chestnut tones to hair.

Some girls have a negative attitude to the smell and grinding of the powder, considering it coarse. When applied, they encounter complex and long-term flushing. The smell also responds to many chemical notes.

Some skepticism causes the uncertainty of the resulting shade. There is always the risk of getting a more or less saturated tone and miscalculation with the desired shade. Girls who have found their ideal color are afraid not only to change the dosage, but even the henna manufacturer.

There are certain disadvantages, but henna is really loved and widely used, replacing chemical coloring. With reasonable use and dosage, it not only does not spoil the hair with synthetic dyes, but also improves their appearance, filling it with volume and natural radiance.

The process of staining with henna, see the following video.