Which henna is reddest/most orange/most [ whatever ]?

You may read claims that (for example) Moroccan henna stains more brown, while Rajasthani is more ruby red, and Jamila more copper. And while that may be true to some extent, the problem with this sort of generalization is that there are a lot of variations in how to prepare henna that can affect the end stain, potentially much more so than the type of henna. I had done this experiment once before, back in 2007 on mohair, but wanted to give it another go with human hair. By popular request you can now download a PDF of this experiment here!

It’s all lawsone

Keep in mind during these experiments that all henna is henna: Lawsonia inermis. It is the same plant, with the same dye molecule (lawsone), and that dye molecule stains orange. There is no variation in the composition of the dye molecule itself, so what we’re exploring here is the amount of dye or the potency of dye that a specific region may have compared to another.

Factors that affect henna dye content

The main factor that affects how dye-packed henna leaves are is moisture, or lack thereof. Ideally, a henna plant needs enough moisture to grow, but the more dry a henna plant is, the more lawsone it produces. There is, however, a fine line separating the two, and too little moisture can affect dye content, too. How the henna is grown, harvested, dried, and its conditions during transport and storage can affect how much the dye does or does not break down before it even gets to you.

Preparation

A whole host of preparation variables can also affect the outcome and stain of henna. Water quality, water temperature, the addition of other herbs, how long it dye releases for (and at what temperature), how long it’s left on hair for (and at at what temperature). In this experiment, I controlled all these other factors, leaving the type/region of the henna the only variable.

Experiment Setup

Top Row: Bulk Rajasthani (2018), Organic Rajasthani (2018), Red Raj (2018) Bottom Row: Jamila (2018), Moroccan (2018), Yemini (2016)

I used 6 different types of henna from 4 different suppliers in this experiment, noting the crop year with each. Yemini is the only crop not from 2018 because the political climate made it impossible to acquire with any surety I was getting Yemini henna.

There’s a common misconception that the greener the powder, the fresher, but fresh henna powder has a natural range in color from green, to greenish-brown, to something almost rust-colored. All of these are natural variations, usually resulting from the region and environmental conditions in which the henna plant was grown. Color is not a reliable indicator of the freshness of powder or the potency of the lawsone within.

Types of Henna

Henna is most often identified by the region in which it was grown, harvested, and packaged. Some of the most common types include:
• Jamila– Originates in Pakistan, with new crops harvested in June and July.
• Yemeni– From Sana’a, Yemen and their best crop is harvested in the summer.
• Moroccan– From the western Sahara or Morocco and is harvested in spring.
• Rajasthani– India’s Rajasthani Region with new crops harvested in the fall. For this experiment I used a bulk Rajasthani I get from a direct supplier, Organic Rajasthani, and Red Raj.

Some henna suppliers assign names to their various henna batches based on dye content, the region it comes from, and what they feel will resonate with their target market. These names are entirely subjective, and a good henna supplier will always state the origin of their henna, no matter what name they’re calling it. A supplier calling a specific crop of their henna Radiant Raj is still supplying you with ground henna from Rajasthani, and it may not be any better than another Rajasthani henna from a different supplier that doesn’t have a catchy name.

Experiment Controls

It was critically important to keep each step the same and to ensure that each crop was treated the same.

• Water: Distilled waterWater that has been boiled into a vapor and condensed into a liquid in a separate container, removing impurities such as chlorine, bacteria, and minerals. More was heated to 180 F (82C) and then added to each test batch.

Top Row: Bulk Rajasthani (2018), Organic Rajasthani (2018), Red Raj (2018) Bottom Row: Jamila (2018), Moroccan (2018), Yemini (2016)

• Containers: Each strand test was stirred with a non-reactive wooden stir stick and kept in its own glass vessel that was clearly labeled. There was no cross-contamination.
• Hair: Each lock of hair was made to be as close to the same thickness as I could make it (there is some slight variation here, but they are very close). It is human hair donated to me from a customer after a trim, and the same hair I used in my strand testing for the various red NightBloooming blends.  Each lock was slightly dampened with distilled waterWater that has been boiled into a vapor and condensed into a liquid in a separate container, removing impurities such as chlorine, bacteria, and minerals. More prior to being put in its respective container of mud. Locks were also labeled as they were removed from each dye bath so they could not be mixed up.

Top Row: Bulk Rajasthani (2018), Organic Rajasthani (2018), Red Raj (2018) Bottom Row: Jamila (2018), Moroccan (2018), Yemini (2016)

• Dye Release Time & Temperature: Each pot of mud was allowed to dye release for 4 hours, held at a constant 100F (38 C) before the test locks were added. It was interesting to see how different each looked at this point in the process.

Top Row: Bulk Rajasthani (2018), Organic Rajasthani (2018), Red Raj (2018) Bottom Row: Jamila (2018), Moroccan (2018), Yemini (2016)

• Test Lock Soak Time & Temperature: Each pot had a lock of hair added to it and was set back to soak for 6 hours, held at a constant 100F (38 C) for the entire duration.

Presenting the results

This was a challenge for me because just the order that the locks were in, the distance from the camera, etc. made them look different. One would appear more orange, or more red, but when I shuffled them around, a new lock would appear more orange or more red.  Each time I took a picture for the results I took it twice. Once with the locks in a constant order across all pictures, and a second one in the same setting with the locks mixed up. My goal is to try to present the results in such a way that each viewer is not aware of which lock is which right away.

The reality is that each of us suffers from a tendency towards confirmation bias, the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. Which means that if you spend a lot of money on henna that is ‘the most red’ you will tend to decide that you get more of a red color because you are expecting to. Or if someone tells you that a specific type of henna looks ‘more orange’ you might look at a labeled picture of it among other strands and go “yep, that looks more orange” when you may not have thought so otherwise.

Each picture is shot twice. The first is with the strands in a random order. I edited out the text on the tags in these images, and you’ll be able to see which is which in the caption below. If one is truly ‘more red’ or ‘more copper’ then it should appear so across multiple pictures, regardless of its location in the lineup.

The second picture is with the strands presented in the same order every time, across all lighting conditions.

Freshly Rinsed Indoors

Left to right: Jamila, Red Raj, Organic Rajasthani, Bulk Rajashani, Yemini, Mooccan

Some of the coloration variation here is due to which ones were still more damp or not. This was at about 3am and I hadn’t come up with the idea to take multiple pictures with them swapped around yet.

Pre-oxidization

Henna goes through a process called oxidization, and during this process, the lawsone molecule permanently binds to the keratin in the hair and the color deepens to its final shade. The test locks were rinsed out around 11:30pm, and I took these next pictures in the early afternoon the next day.

On mossy stone in partial sunlight

The little patch of shade wasn’t as apparent in person, so my apologies for its inclusion here.

Left to right: Jamila, Red Raj, Organic Rajasthani, Bulk Rajashani, Yemini, Mooccan

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Direct sunlight garden wall

Left to right: Jamila, Bulk Rajasthani, Moroccan, Organic Rajasthani, Yemini, Red Raj

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Left to right: Jamila, Bulk Rajasthani, Moroccan, Organic Rajasthani, Yemini, Red Raj

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Braided together

Then I took all the strands, clipped them to my pants, and braided them together to see if any one strand stood out from the rest. None did.

Pardon the henna residue/staining under my fingernails. Experiment note: wear gloves next time.

Waiting

Then I hung the strands up and let them oxidize for 5 days. I checked on them often, but nothing noteworthy happened during this process (i.e. no one strand seemed to oxidize in a way that was different than the others and they all deepened at about the same rate).

Post Oxidization

After oxidization, each strand had settled down to its final color. I then repeated the process of shooting them in different types of light. The weather was a hair more overcast than the previous shoot, but I, sadly, can’t control nature. I also added a couple more types of light as the oxidized state of the strand tests was ultimately what the verdict of this experiment was judged on.

On mossy stone in partial sunlight

Left to right: Moroccan, Bulk Rajasthani, Yemini, Jamila, Red Raj, Organic Rajasthani

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Diffuse Sunlight Garden Wall

Left to right: Jamila, Red Raj, Bulk Rajasthani, Yemini, Moroccan, Organic Rajasthani

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Pond Patch of Sunlight

Left to right: Jamila, Bulk Rajasthani, Moroccan, Organic Rajasthani, Yemini, Red Raj

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Indoors

Left to right: Jamila, Moroccan, Bulk Rajasthani, Yemini, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj

Left to right: Bulk Rajasthani, Organic Rajasthani, Red Raj, Jamila, Moroccan, Yemini

Braided

And as before, I did a couple shots of them braided together, looking to see if any one strand stood out from the rest. None did.

Conclusion

It’s really, really, REALLY close. Close enough to declare any variation to be more an effect of positioning, the way a strand had light shining down its length, or a passing cloud. So close that I can honestly say that if I didn’t have these labeled I’d have mixed them up during the course of this experiment.

My take away from this, which my henna experiment doing something similar on mohair years ago also validated, was that good henna is good henna, and any variations between them are only one variable among many that can impact the final color. Enjoy experimenting with different types of henna, but realize they’re all the same plant, with the same dye molecule and, if treated the same, produce nearly identical results.

Compare this to these other strand tests, which were from the same braid of human hair as these strand tests:

Left to right: Control, Rusalki, Fire Genasi, Kitsune, Enyo.

I am able to get much greater, and more distinctive color variations by diluting the henna with other herbs, like senna and indigo, in scaling ratios. If you want a henna that is “more red” or “more copper” focus on buying quality henna and then dilute it, or push the color with other herbs. Those variables, in the end, matter much more than which type of henna you buy (assuming it’s pure, and of high quality).

Coloring Hair Naturally with Henna & Other Herbs

Some of this content is excerpted from Coloring Hair Naturally with Henna & Other Herbs, which has tons of information if you’re hungry for more! More than 300 pages of text, pictures, charts, diagrams, and recipes make Coloring Hair Naturally with Henna & Other Herbs the definitive resource for natural hair coloring. With it, you’ll be able to give yourself the hair you’ve always wanted, naturally.

Thoughts?

Whew! This was a long one! I hope you all enjoy it 🙂 I’d love to see your comments and questions below.