LIGHT MOUNTAINHenna Hair Color & Conditioner, Color the Gray - Medium Brown Hair Dye for Men/Women, 2-Step Chemical-Free, Semi-Permanent Hair Color for White, Gray, and Blonde Hair, 7 Oz (Pack of 2)

The following method works effectively to dye 100% gray hair with this Color the Gray product plus unflavored gelatin and xanthan gum (essentials) and cassia obovata (optional). It even works on dye- and stain-resistant hair.If you would rather be a blonde or a honey-blonde, skip to the bottom.Ready for henna?After dying my hair with chemicals for 18 years, I decided to switch to henna to be healthier. Honestly, I was a bit terrified to do so because I had seen some women with naturally gray hair (like mine) whose hair turned orange after they used henna. Obviously, they didn't use indigo ...I didn't want to deal with all the granules in my very thick-and-coarse curly Caucasian hair, so I experimented and made GEL. It works very similarly to the chemical dye - no excessive dripping, no drain-clogging, no problems rinsing it out easily, no green tinge. It took me 4 experiments and some serious study of henna and dye release online, but I finally figured it out. Try it! It's super inexpensive, too! (You only use 1/4 the amount that the manufacturer's instructions call for.)This recipe works for shoulder-length thick, coarse, 100% gray, curly, frizzy hair previously commercially dyed and having 1" gray roots showing. The result is a very solid medium brown withOUT any reddish hue. The previously-obvious "root" line is gone. GREAT gray coverage. (If you've never used henna before - and if you have a lot of grays showing - you may need to do the henna / indigo TWICE for full coverage - like I had to. From here on out I plan to do the henna once every 3-4 weeks and the indigo once every 2-4 weeks as needed. This definitely keeps the gray roots from showing too much.I added cassia obovata from to the powders that came in the "Color the Gray" medium brown box to tone down the redness of the henna. AND - very importantly - I added unflavored gelatin (essential to make the indigo stick to my coarse hair) and xanthan gum (essential to make the gel).Henna and Indigo Gel- doesn't clog your drains- uses only 1/4 of a box of Color the Gray powders- is as easy (or easier!) to apply as commercial hair dyeMaterials needed:Color the Gray box of powderscassia obovata (buy from amazon or mehandi.com)unflavored gelatin (buy from a grocery store in the jello section)xanthan gumdistilled waterorganic black teanon-metal mixing bowlsstick blender or wire whipplastic spoonold clothes (that will get stained)old towel (that will get stained a little)paper towelsnewspaperrubber gloves (to use instead of the flimsy plastic gloves provided in the box)2 plastic sacks from the grocery store (to use instead of the flimsy plastic "hat" provided in the box)old conditioner bottle with a flip top to put rinse water (distilled) in4-cup glass measuring cup (big enough to put your hand inside)Henna (and Cassia) and Indigo Geltwo-step applications covers 100% gray roots with solid medium brown color (NO red)* If you have gray roots, they will be orange if you try to combine the two applications. Don't do it!* To cover gray, you MUST do two separate applications! Henna-cassia first, then indigo.* If you have dye- or stain-resistant hair, you must use the unflavored gelatin to make the indigo stick!* If you want it darker and blacker, add 1-2 Tblsp. more indigo (Packet 2) in Step B.* If you want it lighter and redder, use 1-2 Tblsp. less indigo (Packet 2) in Step B.* If you don't have gray roots, or if you want your gray roots to be bright orange (e.g., red hair), you can combine the henna liquid with the indigo liquid and do one application instead of two.Step A: 7-9 p.m. day #1.1. Mix 1-2 Tblsp. henna (packet #1) + 1 Tblsp. cassia obovata + 8 oz. warm strong black tea (made with distilled or filtered water in a glass pan) in a ceramic or glass bowl; let sit 8-12 hours. (If the caffeine in the tea bothers you, use 6 oz. warm distilled water + 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar or whey instead.) The cassia tones down the redness of the henna so that it's more of a dark strawberry blonde color rather than a fiery red color as the undertone.morning day #2:2. Wear rubber gloves. Stretch the foot of a nylon stocking over a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Pour the henna through the nylon stocking. Squeeze the liquid out; throw the granules away.3. Mix 1 Tblsp. unflavored gelatin in 2-3 Tblsp. filtered water (room temperature).4. Add 1 tsp. xanthan gum and the softened gelatin to the henna-cassia liquid. Whip with a hand blender it to make gel.5. Remove rings, earrings, anything metal. Rub olive oil on face, ears, neck. Be careful to not get any oil on your hair. Put newspaper on the floor, sink, etc. to protect the bathroom.6. Use rubber gloves to apply to hair: cover the gray roots. Smoosh through the hair and into the roots. Cover with a plastic grocery bag. Cover with a towel for warmth. Leave in 3-4 hours.7. Rinse under the shower faucet. Do NOT use conditioner. (You won't need it anyway.)8. Towel dry. It will be reddish-orange, but don't worry! This is just the undertone.Step B. Same day. Immediately after you rinse the henna-cassia out.1. Mix 4 Tblsp. indigo (packet #2) + 1/4-1/3 tsp. salt + 8 oz. WARM (half boiling, half room temperature) bottled or filtered water in a ceramic or glass bowl; stir; let sit ONLY 15 minutes until the dye releases and the edge of a paper towel dipped in turns blue/green. (Add 1-2 Tblsp. more indigo if you want it dark brown or black. Use 1-2 Tblsp. less indigo if you want it redder.)Important: Don't let the indigo sit for longer than 15 minutes before you start to use it!!!! This wasn't clear in the manufacturer's instructions.2. Mix 1-2 Tblsp. unflavored gelatin in 3 Tblsp. room temperature water. Stir to soften.3. Squeeze the INDIGO through a nylon stocking foot into a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Throw the granules away.4. Add 1 tsp. xanthan gum + the softened gelatin to the indigo liquid and whip with a hand blender it to make gel. Keep it in the 4-cup glass container.5. (optional: Rub olive oil on face, ears, neck but don't get the oil on your hair.) Put newspaper on the floor, sink, etc. to protect the bathroom.DON'T worry about the color of the gel!!! At this point your hair is red-orange. The indigo gel is green/blue. Remember the color wheel? orange + blue = brown. Relax - your hair will be a nice shade of brown when it's finished. :-) Enjoy the process! LOL!6. Use rubber gloves to apply to hair and scalp in small globs. Smoosh into the roots and smoosh into the length of hair. Cover with a plastic grocery bag. Cover with a towel for warmth. Leave in 2 hours. (More will not be better. Less will cause it to last a shorter period of time and/or to not stick as well or to not be as solid brown.)7. Rinse in the shower. Condition with as much hair conditioner as needed. Do NOT add any oil to the conditioner. Rinse.8. Towel dry. If your hair is dry, rub a little leave-in conditioner in the ends and middle of the hair (avoid the roots). Style. Voila!Leftover henna and henna-cassia can be frozen. Leftover indigo cannot (it's useless). I understand that if you freeze the henna, it may be a little darker then next time you use it (e.g., the red in your hair will be a little darker).Henna conditions hair. Indigo dries it out.If you find that your hair is still too dry when you've completed the whole process, BEFORE Step A, super-moisturize your hair by leaving a combination of olive oil + vegetable glycerin or honey + conditioner + dissolved gelatin in your hair for an hour. Rinse. Then do the plant dyes (Step A and Step B).The gelatin adds keratin to the hair. The henna, cassia, and especially the indigo stick to the keratin / gelatin. Don't worry - the gelatin absorbs into your hair and rinses out nicely. It won't be sticky. (You do have to cover your head with a towel to keep it warm to aid this process of the gelatin absorbing into your hair.)If you don't have coarse hair, you may be able to omit the gelatin. In my experience, the indigo wouldn't stick very well or last very long until I used gelatin and then it stuck VERY well. Hurray!If you want to lighten your hair after you do the indigo (Step B), I believe you could put some olive oil in conditioner and leave that on for a few minutes. In my experience, that caused the indigo to strip off after it was freshly applied.I don't ever shampoo my hair (haven't for 2+ years), so you might try going poo-less, too. Just use conditioner from time to time. Google "shampoo-less" and you'll find lots of blogs and ideas from others.Very important: In order to keep the indigo on the hair for as long as possible, I have to mix softened gelatin in my conditioner EVERY time I use conditioner on my hair. This has the added bonus of making my naturally dry/coarse hair softer!More info on plant dyes: http://www.mehandi.com/how_to/brunette/index.htmlBEFORE you do this, though, consider these options first:1) Take up to 6 capsules (750mg each) of TMG (trimethylglycine) every day and make sure you get enough B5 and B6 vitamins (you could eat ¼ tsp. of rice bran / day to accomplish this). If you do this and if you have a reasonably healthy diet, you may find that your new hairs will grow in your normal brown instead of gray. I've been doing this since July and I'm definitely getting some brown hairs in where I used to have white ones. Since I've been going gray since I was 19 years old, this is quite the amazing thing! about TMG here: http://www.drlwilson.com/ARTICLES/TRIMTHYLGLYCINE.htm2) Make gel out of cassia obovata (it's a plant powder like henna) and use that to dye your gray hair blonde. It won't lighten your brown hair but it will make your white/gray hair yellow. I think I'm going to do this eventually because the henna + indigo process is rather time-consuming. Just doing cassia would be easier (and less expensive). It will just mean being a honey-blonde instead of being a medium-brown brunette. But it will happen slowly and I'll gradually get blonde as the hair that is dyed brown grows out. I recently got a cute shorter haircut, so I think it will work. Read more about cassia obovata here: http://www.mehandi.com/shop/cassiaobovatabuy.html Read more

I ONLY USED DISTILLED WATER AND THE PACKETS.So previously I had dyed my hair with a semi-permanent medium brown color I wanted to try something that was more natural.I DID PERFORM THE STRAND TEST:- I gathered hair from my hair brushes and even some on my bathroom floor since I wanted a good sample to test.- heated up the water to Next Step One according to the instructions I covered the bowl with Saran Wrap and then a lid I let it sit for 1 hour. (I used distilled water like it said)- I put the paste on my freshly washed test strands that I towel dried and left it on for 1 hr (it was wrapped in plastic wrap. I did not add heat- I rinse the strands and you can see by the above photos the color change. I could see that some of my white/Grey hair didn't grab the henna completely so this information allowed me to make alterations when it was time to color my hair- I mix Step 2 with room temp distilled water (even though it said to use boiling water). Originally I left this sit for 20 minutes but it didn't have the blue sheen that I read online it should have so I let it sit for another 5 minutes then I applied it to my test strands and let that sit for 1 hour.- when I rinsed it I could see a green tint to it and wasn't happy with that color as I was Googling online trying to find answers by the time it went back to look at it it had dried to a dark brown.... I re-wetted it to see if it would turn green again but it didn't.TIME TO DYE MY HAIR- I washed my hair with shampoo and really got up a lather. I rinsed and toweled it dry (I knew it would dry before the paste would be ready but I did this to make sure I had no left over product in my hair which I could tell after it aire dried (later I would rinse it again before applying the henna)- I mixed up one like I had previously only this time I let it develop for an hour and a half instead of an hour- I generously put it on all over my head I probably used more than I had to but it made me feel better doing so. I put two layers of Saran wrap around my head I didn't care that I got Hannah on my ears or the bottom of my neck I rather have everything died and figured it will wear off my skin in a few days time. I then put a shower cap on top of the Saran Wrap and a towel on top of that and I let that sit for 2 hours.- I rinsed with warm water and I did pretty well covering all my hair. My hair was super snarly after rinsing but I knew it would be because I had trouble putting the henna on and knew I had made a terrible rats nest! Oops. Without conditioner my hair easily snares...- I added slightly warm water to the Step 2 mix instead of room temperature this time and it seemed ready after only 20 minutes.- I applied the step two paste to my hair and did the same wrapping process as mentioned above. I left this on for 1 hr then rinsed.RESULTmy hair is a deep deep brown. I left it in longer than was recommended my advice is if you don't want to go so dark then leave the Indigo in for 20 to 30 minutes it's always easier to go darker the second time than trying to go lighter. I washed and conditioned my hair about 40 hours after application.

I have been using this product for 12 years. It covers the grays without damaging the hair. My hair is super shiny and so get a lot of compliments on how healthy is my hair. 100% recommended

I would recommend this product as it gives the desired colour and glow to your hair. It’s natural so no side effects! I have been using this regularly with complete satisfaction.

I was very delighted with this product..........I had always used Henna to cover my greys, and for some stupid reason I decided to change to Chemical dyes because I could go back to my natural dark brown colour....!!Big mistake!! I've had nothing but problems with chemical dyes, inflammation of the forehead, unbearable rash on scalp, swollen eyes etc. With the henna/Iodine I can enjoy safe hair dyeing with brilliant results. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has the patience to apply this product which although might be a bit messy and takes longer to apply, BUT IT IS WORTH IT.

This is the first henna that works perfectly for my hair. The mixture wasn't gritty at all, and was easy to apply. Covers pretty quickly and gives volume to the hair. I will keep using it, as I'm very happy that I found the right natural product for me.

My wife became allergic to the regular hair dyes three years ago. She looked for an all natural product and found Mountain Natural Colour. It works perfect in covering the gray and her hair is in the best condition ever. The process takes a little longer to do but the results are worth the time.