hair dye, henna, breastfeeding, etc!

[mynetname]

So I haven't used henna in years (um decades almost) and it was just leaves and we had a recipe for cooking it, adding egg and olive oil.

Problem is I simply can't remember and where I live this particular henna brand is not available. I believe I have seen henna in Whole Foods so there we go.
However, do the henna products in North America involve cooking? do you suggest a particular brand?

Also, does a regular smelly dye like L'oreal would that get into my milk as I am breastfeeding? I don't know if I could handle the smell though.

Suggests re: henna brands, how to dye with it are welcome.
And suggestions about regular dye and breastfeeding.

Thanks!

[Sadystar]

Dying your hair during pregnancy is not recommended so I guess that goes the same for BFing. Henna should not be a problem though.

Just about to do mine for the first time in years - I'm pregnant too, but I can't use regular dye anyhow because I get severe reactions to the PPDs in it. I'm using a brand to which you just add water, Radhye Shyam, it's available all over Europe don't know about north america but I have just noticed that on the packaging it uses the word "color" rather than "colour" so maybe.

Otherwise The Body Shop (yeah I know) and Lush.com do henna.

[annran]

Just to mention - some of the henna come with added dyes, which arent safe (like all dyes) - so do look at the ingredient list.
The asian stores generally have them, and I dont think you can get leaves in the US!

[lucyem]

I just used henna again for the first time in years. I purchased online here: http://www.hennaforhair.com/
The web site has instructions and information on how to buy & use pure henna even if you do not buy theirs. A lot of the stuff you find in the local drugstore is a mix of stuff you do not want that has given henna a bad name. There is a ton of information there about that. I do know a couple other websites sell pure henna and youtube has helpful videos on using it.

All I did was mix the pure henna with orange juice as instructed, let it sit overnight, had DH coat my hair, let it sit for 2 hours and wash. The web site had tons of recipes and photos and orange juice seemed as good a place to start as any. After the first 3-4 days the hot orange glow faded and now I get daily compliments on my hair. I am so glad the web site warned me about the orange glow cause I was a little the first day. Now it is a lovely red and I am ecstatic with the results. I grew up a strawberry blonde and this is the more redder version I had always desired and had never been able to get via a salon color. The best part is that I can truthfully say "yes it is natural"

[shanniesue2]

another vote for www.hennaforhair.com

I've read that some of those "henna" dyes that you buy in the store can have metallic ingredients that can really damage your hair and put you in a situation where, if you try to fix it with oth dyes... that you will end up with a really awful hair situation

the recommendation is to use body art quality henna

[buttercupmama]

I prefer http://www.castleart.com/ over hennaforhair. i never received a dud from CastleArt, their customer service is wonderful, and their shipping is incredibly fast. They sometimes even send extra in my order.

Regular dye contains carcinogens. Don't use them period. Use only body art quality henna. You're looking for crop names, not brand names. eg. Yemen, Jamila, Rajasthani. These don't contain filler or chemicals.

Henna doesn't need acid. It's acidic all on its own. I use strong chamomile tea because it's conditioning and henna can be a little drying even with just water.