Henna Hair (Tutorial Included)

Sorry I haven't written for a few days. I've been busy with the baby, and the weather here has been terrible. We've been having a monsoon thunderstorm, sometimes with rains that would make a dried turd float away for the past few days. And the lightning displays! There have been some impressive pictures floating around the internet of the monsoon lightning storms.

Due to the weather, I had to hold off on hennaing my hair. To make the paste and apply it is easy enough, but washing it off requires getting in the tub and holding my head under the faucet to rinse the paste off. It's not safe to do that with lightning crackling outside your window!

But earlier in the week, there was a break in the storms and I was finally able to make my henna paste.

I'd encountered henna for the first time when I was in high school. My two best friends were sisters whose family was of Indian descent, and they introduced me to the stuff, but it was another friend who I would meet here in Arizona who really taught me all the specifics of henna and its practical applications.

First of all, what is henna?

Henna is a paste made from the dried leaves of the henna plant, which is native to India and Pakistan, but can be found growing in the Middle East and North Africa. When harvested, the leaves are dried and then ground to make a fine green powder, which is then mixed with lemon juice or water, sugar, special essential oils (referred to amongst henna artists as "terps", thanks to certain alcohol components in the oils), and left to sit for a time to let the liquids break down the cellulose in the dried leaves and release the dye. After the dye is released, the paste is given a final stir and then squirted into cellophane or mylar cones for application on the body in intricate patterns, a practice known as mendhi. Natural henna produces a stain on skin ranging from light orange to brown to deep red, depending on location and body chemistry. Unscrupulous henna companies will often mix chemicals into their pastes to give an artificially dark stain or longer shelf life.

In addition to body art, henna has long been used to color and treat hair and nails. It's a natural antiseptic and fungicide, and makes an excellent conditioner. Like on skin, henna will stain hair and nails orange-red. How deep the stain gets varies based on color of hair (if applying in hair), how long its left on, and if there are any additives to the henna (indigo and cassia can be added to henna to darken or lighten the resulting color of hair. They will not work on nails). My natural hair is light brown, so when I henna my hair, it turns a deep mahogany red (see pix below).

My roots

What color it becomes with henna

So now that you know what henna is, where can you get it and how can you make the paste?

I buy my henna online. I use body art quality (BAQ) henna, as it is the most pure and safest sort of powder. My preferred source is Henna Lounge, as I've found her powder (both for hair and body art) to be of excellent quality. If you are unable to shop online, you can look to see if local Indian grocery stores carry henna powders, but they tend to be stale or chemical-laden. I will provide links to a few henna suppliers as well as some further general info at the end of this post.

To make and apply henna hair paste, you're gonna need a few things

I use that ice cream tub for mixing both hair and body art henna

• a non-reactive mixing bowl of some sort (I use a plastic ice cream tub)
• a 100g bag of dried henna powder 

  

  My preferred brand of henna. The package is a bit dirty cuz one of my body art cones leaked

  
  

  

  What henna looks like once the foil pouch is removed

• lemon juice
• gloves
• plastic bag grocery bag (not pictured)
• time

Step one: Open henna bag and pour into mixing vessel

Better shot of color

My cat, Pest, just HAD to check out what I was doing before I shooed him away. Don't let your pets (or yourself) eat henna. It's not good to ingest.

Step two: Add lemon juice, and mix with your gloved hands until the paste is uniformly dark (no light green powder patches) and is the consistency of thick mashed potatoes

It'll look and smell kinda gross, but this is the consistency you're looking for

Step three: Cover paste with plastic bag, and seal with lid if your vessel comes with one (like an ice cream tub) for added protection against oxidation.

Press down on the plastic bag to get all the air out. If you're not using a lid, you're ok

All sealed up

Step four: Place in warm spot, wait 4-24 hours, test spot occasionally. You'll want a stain that's bright orange

If it's nighttime when I make my paste, I put it on my dresser. Otherwise, I put it outside in the sun

Good to go. Time will vary depending on temperature (warmer=faster dye release)

Step five: Remove plastic cover, mix the paste again to redistribute the released dye (if you like your paste a bit thinner, add more liquid till the paste's consistency is like yogurt), and apply to hair like a leave-in conditioner.

Dye is now released

You can see the difference between the released brownish dye layer, and the green goopy plant matter underneath

Make sure you get all the way down to the scalp. You can also put vaseline around your hairline to prevent stains from the paste on your face

Step six: Cover hair with plastic, wrap head with towel or a hat to seal in body heat

You can use plastic wrap, but if you're poor and/or ghetto (like me!), plastic grocery store bags will suffice

Let set for at least 4 hours, but I recommend overnight for best results

Step seven: Rinse out the paste. Shampoo and condition as usual. Note: it may take a few rinses and shampooings before the water runs completely clear when you wash your hair

Step eight: Let hair air dry. Try not to wash it for a few days (like 2-3 days max) so that the henna will oxidize and darken. It'll be shiny and feel stronger/thicker in the meantime too

A day's worth of oxidation. It smells better too-more earthy, less gross

And, you're done!

Is hennaing hair time consuming? It can be. If you make it fresh like I do, it is time consuming. But, you can make the paste ahead of time and freeze it, thawing out only what you plan to use.

As for how much henna is enough, 100g is sufficient for most hair lengths (short-medium, or long but thinner hair) and touchups. 200g (two of those 100g packages in the pictures above) is sufficient for long hair (like for an initial color job or significant amount of roots between dye jobs). Use 300g or more for longer and/or thicker hair

I henna my hair every few months, when my roots start becoming really obvious. My hair does not grow very fast, so it buys me time between colorings. While I don't typically do this, I have used body art henna cones that lost their staining power in a pinch. Even if the color doesn't take, the conditioning properties are still there, which is the main reason I use henna in my hair in the first place. And because it's natural with no added chemicals, I was able to safely henna my hair all throughout my pregnancy and now as a nursing mother.

Thank you for reading this tutorial. I hope you find it useful and easy to understand

For more information:

Where to buy:
http://hennaguru.com/
http://hennacaravan.com/shop/hair.html
http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hairhenna.html

General information:
http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hennahairbook/index.html (Free downloadable PDFs filled with useful information about henna and hair. No need to download anything special to read them, just click on the links and read in the browser)

The Ghetto Guide to Cloth Diapers, Part III

Welcome back to the last and final installment of this short series, The Ghetto Guide to Cloth Diapers (read parts one and two here). This concluding portion addresses the question of affordably laundering the cloth diapers.

The first thing to keep in mind is that your water usage will increase due to the baby. This is an unavoidable truth, whether you use cloth diapers or not. But, you do have some control over how much it increases.

If you have a washing machine, you will be needing to do a load every two to three days, depending on how much volume the diaper hamper will hold (my diaper hamper is a small/medium size trash can with a lid. The max I can go is three days before overflow and mildew set in. See picture below for reference). If you don't have a washing machine but can access laundry facilities without issue, plan trips accordingly so as to maximize washing (not to mention fiscal) efficiency. If for whatever reason you are unable to access the laundromat, handwashing cloth diapers is your most viable option and the one you have the most control over the water usage on.

My diaper hamper, with my husband's sippy cup and the rocking chair for scale

Regardless of what laundering options are available to you, there is one thing you will absolutely need: laundry soap. Laundry soap comes in the form of a large brick-shaped soap bar, and can be found with names like Zote, Lirio, Fels-Naptha, etc.  You can find them in retailers like Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc. They are not expensive and depending on where they are sold, can retail for less than a dollar a bar (Walmart sells Zote for $0.97 a bar). I highly recommend Zote, not just for cost reasons, but also for purity and effectiveness too. If you can't find laundry soap near you, Ivory soap works well as a substitute or you can make your own if you have the time and materials to do it. Once you acquire the soap, simply cut off a chunk from the bar and set near where you will be rinsing off the diapers. Store the rest of the bar in a cool, dry place until needed.

My preferred brand of laundry soap. I've only used white Zote, but I do plan on trying other colors and brands in the near future for comparison. Picture found here

So, you've changed the baby and now have a soiled cloth diaper in your hands. What's next?

First, go to the toilet and shake the poopy part of the diaper into the water in the bowl. Do this to get as much of the crap off as possible, flush, and then toss the diaper into either a designated bucket or into the sink. Fill the vessel with water to cover the diaper, and then rub your chunk of laundry soap into the poopy stain. Stick the diaper back into the water and rub the sides of the cloth together, using the friction and lather to get the stain out. Rinse the lather, then repeat soaping and lathering as needed. When you've reached desired cleanliness, dump the bucket or drain the sink, rinse the diaper under running water, squeeze out the excess water and then hang the diaper to dry either in the shower (or tub) or on the edge of the sink or bucket. Pissy diapers don't need a toilet dunk and can be just thrown into the designated laundering vessel. For pocket diapers, remove the liners first before proceeding to launder the diapers, and then the liners. All-in-one diapers can be laundered as they are.

And, you're done!

If the idea of shaking a diaper into the toilet bowl gives you the heebie-jeebies, you may want to consider a special attachment to the toilet so that you can hose the poop off the diaper directly into the toilet. Some places sell specialty diaper hoses (they resemble mini shower heads), but they tend to be pricy so if you want one, I'd recommend getting someone to buy it for you. The other option, depending on your skill level, would be to rig a hose up and attach it to the toilet like a bidet (see diagram below). Unless someone were to give you a bidet, this would be your cheapest option, as you can cut an old garden hose down to size and get the necessary valves and hardware at home improvement stores like Home Depot.

Reference guide

For those individuals opting to machine-launder the cloth diapers, just soap and rinse to get the bulk of the crap off, and then put the diaper into your designated hamper. Even though the diaper is not clean, this preliminary wash cuts down the dirty diaper smell till laundry day. When I do a load of diapers in my machine, I combine the load with other whites or set the water level to run as a small load if there's nothing else to add to the diaper load. I also throw in a 1/2 cup of bleach and a 1/2 cup of Borax detergent booster in addition to the detergent in the load. Bleach and Borax are excellent disinfectants, as well as cheap (bleach can go for as little as $1 a bottle and be refilled by mixing swimming pool chlorine with water to desired concentration. Borax can go for anywhere between $3.00-$4.00 for a four-pound box) and are readily available at most low-cost retailers. I have no recommendations for detergent, so use what works for you (commercial or homemade).

This stuff goes a long way

I would always recommend letting the laundered diapers air dry. They'll last longer and it's far less costly than using a dryer to dry them (both in the laundromat and the resources needed to operate a home dryer). Living in Arizona, I had my husband string up a clothesline in the yard so the diapers (and our laundry in general) can take advantage of our plentiful heat and sun to dry. If it is not possible to set up a clothesline outdoors due to climate or housing restrictions, an indoor drying rack is a worthy investment. You can also temporarily string up a clothesline indoors if needed, using whatever materials you have on hand (when we first got married, my husband used string lights and clothes hangers to hang our laundry inside our trailer until we could afford to get proper clothesline and a washing machine).

The Ghetto Guide to Cloth Diapers, Part I

Before Darija was born, my husband and I debated about whether to use cloth diapers or disposable ones. While disposable ones are readily available and have the perks of convenience (not to mention keeping pee off of baby's bottom better), the costs of buying packs and boxes of diapers every other week adds up pretty quickly. Cloth diapers, while notable for their eco-friendliness and long-term austerity due to being reusable, have a higher up-front cost and are guaranteed to result in higher water/utility bills due to the frequent laundering required of them.

So, what to do?

While we landed on a compromise of using disposables while out and about and cloth diapers at home, living in poverty has a way of educating you to take advantage of whatever life hacks you can find to stretch your limited resources further. I've found that the use of cloth diapers has been an essential part of keeping our baby care expenses lower than the average.

Like alot of millenials, especially ones with a conservative background like myself, I initially scoffed at the idea of cloth diapers. In my mind, cloth diapers had a stigma in that it was only for hippies, granola yuppies, and rich/middle class suburban stay at home mothers, while "real", hardworking, and/or impoverished people like me used disposables. But, after doing some research, I found it actually WAS more beneficial in the long run to use cloth diapers, environmentally and financially. Some of my mommy friends who'd used cloth diapers at church also encouraged me to use them as well. That, plus help from my husband who'd had experience in both childcare and cloth diapers, convinced me it actually WAS possible for a low-income mother like myself to keep my child adequately diapered and not go broke in the process!

But then came three big questions-what kinds of cloth diapers to acquire? Where do I find them? And can I afford to launder them without breaking the bank?

With those questions in mind, I've come up with a practical guide to cloth diapers for the low-income individual. Each of the three questions above will be addressed in a separate entry for this short series I'm calling The Ghetto Guide to Cloth Diapers. Cloth diapers shouldn't be something associated with the affluent segment of the population. They're for everyone regardless of income levels, and I can help you decide if this is a truly practical option for your wallet and your baby.

Let us begin.