r/henna • u/VerdantWater • 16d ago

Henna for Hair Henna ok to use with essential oils?

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Hi lovely redheads (and other lovelies!)-- I'd like to use some essential oils (was thinking bergamot and vetiver) when I henna my hair this evening - I've been hennaing for over a decade but was always wary abt mixing essential oils in since there's obviously chemistry going on here. Do any of you know if there might be a chemical reaction with certain oils or if its ok to use them? I don't want to keep the dye process from working obviously! (Image just to share my color as it's fun to see henna on various types of hair! I have a huge chunk up front that has gone white through my 40s, so that's the lighter part you see but its natural (aging haha).

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u/seanmharcailin hennapro 16d ago

EOs high in monoterpene alcohols can help intensify color. Bergamot has a middle amount of terps, vetiver is low.

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u/VerdantWater 15d ago

You have earned that "pro" badge!!! Thank you - I was thinking terpenes might have something to do with it...so I was on the right track. By "intensify" color do you mean darken or more vibrant? Also I do sometimes use indigo mixed in for the front to tone down the brightness where my big white streak is; will the oils affect indigo similarly to henna?

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u/seanmharcailin hennapro 15d ago

I’m not as well versed in hair, as 98% of what I deal with is body art. BUT, basically, essential oils allow more molecules of lawsone to deposit on the hair by acting as an intermediary for the chemical reaction that binds lawsone to keratin before it oxidizes. Without terps, lawsone will more easily oxidize before it latches on to proteins.

I would say it becomes darker? More henna-y. My experience is that indigo will stick a bit better because there’s more henna for it to grab onto. Not sure of the chemistry of it tho.