Loss of Curl

You can do an amla treatment on its own (not mixed with dyes) for 15-30 minutes. You may find moisturizing treatments helpful in restoring curl as well.

Hey Megan,

when you used the amla in your last mix, did you notice any color differences? Did you not see much curl come back the first time?  just curious, i am curly too and have a bag of amla waiting because i've noticed my curls are flattening but i'm afraid to try it cuz i don't want my red to tone down...

My curls have flattened out considerably since I began my henna adventure - going on 2 years now.   For me, I mixing henna + alma the diluted the red.  a lot.

I'm going to add the alma-only treatments & will post if  I see any changes.

@ jackie/mgibf415- that's good to know, and i'll keep checking 2 see how the amla only treatments do for you both! I want to know if the volume-shine benefits outweigh possible red-dulling?  notice any dryness?  On the flip side, henna has allowed me to let my hair air-dry with less frizz and it makes my previous tight curls looser, which i like, but i wonder how much more it will change- i've only done 2 apps...

 Ok I have the same issue.  I had soft natural ringlets and over time I noticed they began to soften and flatten and though I love henna I really didn't like the results it had on my curls at all.  I tried the amla and wasn't really too impressed.  I mean I didn't see much of a change after using it once in a henna mix and another time by itself on my hair.  That being the issue, I have been using henna only on my roots and doing a whole head treatment every three months and this has helped somewhat BUT it hasn't completely restored the original curl. So unless there is a solution to have your original curl and henna loveliness, you have to decide what's more important, if you want to use henna once a month you will find that the curls will be dramatically loose over time.  If you do what I do you will (whole head every three months and only roots once a month) you will find that there is a little more curl and bounce but not as it was so to speak.  

There is another option I am considering which is to only henna the roots every two months (or maybe 6 weeks) and using henna on the whole head every four (or 3 1/2 months) but I haven't gotten around to trying that as yet.  I have some grays and so that keeps me using henna but I think I will try this method and see how it goes.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how to continue using the henna and keeping ones original curls I will be happy to hear it.  

 I have pretty curly hair and just tried henna for the 1st time just last week.  I used a henna/amla mix and my curls still look great (not crazy about the color though - too orange, not dark enough -but that's another story).

Before henna though my hair was losing some of it's curliness and someone recommended Lorraine Massey's book "Curly Girl".  I followed her advice - no shampoo, no conditioners with "-cones" in the ingredients list (I use a cheap Suave conditioner) and my curls came back and looked great.

As a cosmetologist, I'm a bit confused why anyone loses curl.  Natural curl or straightness in hair is due to the shape of the diameter of the hair.  Straight hair is a round diameter shape, whereas the more oval to flat (like a ribbon) is more wavy or curly.  Understanding that henna coats & fills in the hair, it would seem that it still does not change the diameter of your natural hair.  

I recommend the following to upkeep & style NATURAL curls:

- Use GOOD, moisturizing shampoo & conditioner.  I use Alaffia's Shea & Henna Moisturizing shampoo & conditioner.  THe first ingredient IS Lawsonia inermis (henna).  

- Comb out your hair BEFORE rinsing the condtioner out, less tugging after gives more curl.

- After rinsing, start scrunching & squeezing the extra moisture out with your hands, but DON'T pull, tug, or yank at all, just squeeze out the water.

- Use a diffuser to dry curls.  Gently continue scrunching as you dry, I sometimes use pin curl clips to hold curls in place instead of using a dryer at all.

Hope this helps!

 How curly was your hair before?, how many times did you use the henna to lose the curls, this is very interesting to me, I just hate my 3b curls, lol, what type of henna did you use

Thanks a lot

 I've been using henna for over 15 years, but after using it 5 years straight all of my curls have disappeared! I had beautiful ringlets and I loved it, but henna got rid of them.  I too am happy that my hair is shiny and strong, but I VERY MUCH MISS MY CURLS!!! I can't stop using henna because I'm 80% gray, but to be honest, your curls will not come back unless you stop applying henna to your hair for a long time.  You see, henna penetrates your folicle (not like chemical hair dye which only covers the surface).  Henna is a deep conditioner & it covers your gray entirely.  You must either live with your curless hair or stop using henna.  That's what I'm doing :(

 Hi,

I used to use henna (different brands) for years...I always had really nice curls (and got compliments all the time).  The henna's I used never effected my curls in any way...rather they just gave my hair a nice healthy shine and feel (had zero grays then)!

One day I stopped using it altogether (henna was too time consuming and messy)!

Fast forward...I wanted to get back to henna, found this site, purchased different brands of henna and started using it again.  I found that after 2-3 applications my hair went FLAT!  I'm talking 'Asian Hair' flat!  Not sure what happened.  

I did try Alma, moisturizers, and etc...but nothing brough it back.

I know I'm not a pro. like some of the ladies on this site (Jen, Carrie, etc.) as I only have personal experience to go by...however I can tell you that your curls will not come back using alma, moisturizers, etc.  

I don't use henna as often anymore (once every few months - mostly bcz I've become allergic to henna- massive headaches that last days), and I can assure you that none of my curls are back as of yet.

If you find a solution that you try and works, please share with all of us.

Regards,

FOR CARRIE:

I am a curly girl also and I was wondering if you could post a recipe for the Henna Gloss.

Thanks,

Cynthia Maxine

 A slightly acidic rinse (i.e., cider vinegar and water, or lemon juice and water) will help tighten up your curls. Do you have hard water? Hard water is often somewhat alkaline.... I used to have very curly hair; unfortunately as it goes gray it is getting less curly and more fuzzy/frizzy. I've also noticed that if my weight is up my hair gets straighter. Fat produces estrogen-like compounds and the straighter hair is also what happened when I was taking birth control pills. I went off them and my hair started growing in curly again. Ditto losing weight--all it took was about 15 pounds (hard to keep it off, though!).

Question: where are you ladies buying amla? I don't see it for sale on this site....

Thanks!

Andrea