Dear Heather,

I’m having trouble getting my henna batch to stain like I’d like.

I’m a professional artist, and have been doing this a while – I know how to mix a good batch of henna. I’m also quite confident that I’ve got excellent henna supplies – I bought them from a reputable supplier, and see others getting good results with the same supplies. But I just don’t see the same sort of color from my own batches as I see others getting.

Please help me figure out what’s going on so I can get great results from my henna!

Sincerely,
An Enthusiastic but Puzzled Henna Artist
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Factors That Affect Your Henna Stain Quality

Time for Some Henna Science!

Dear Henna Artist,

Thanks for writing! While the basics of mixing henna are pretty simple, and often people will have pretty good luck on their first try, or even for a whole season or two or three with no issues, there are actually lots of variables to consider that go beyond the basics that may change, covering a wide range of different sorts of factors. So let’s go through as many of them as we can to help you get this figured out.

Also, before we get too deep into this, a quick note. You probably found this article because you’re a bit frustrated with your current henna batch, and are trying to get things figured out. To help make sure you are well stocked for your next attempt, here’s a coupon code for 10% off henna powders and essential oils at our supply site, ArtisticAdornment.com: BATCH20
It will work for any henna powder and essential oil order over $25, to help you with a new experimental batch that includes both fresh henna powder and fresh essential oil.

Dye Release Time

Dye release time is how long it takes for a batch of henna to release the lawsone dye molecule from inside the henna leaves. This varies based on a lot of factors, some of which you can control, and others which you cannot. The big overarching things to consider are the specifics of the henna crop, the liquid you’re mixing with, and the environment where the henna batch is sitting while you wait for dye release. Doing scientific experiments, such as this one showing the result of leaving Mohana 2014 at room temperature for different amounts of time, will help you determine how long your particular crop, recipe, and environment need to achieve peak dye release. As you can see here, the dye release of Mohana 2014, mixed with lemon juice and cajeput essential oil and kept at 69 degrees Farenheit, did not have strong dye release until well after 12 hours, and seems to have continued to get stronger even 48 hours later. The test did not extend beyond this time period, but it is possible that peak dye release came even later. To fully, thoroughly test for dye release, you’ll want to mix a batch, and then freeze small samples of it at different times. Ideally you would have enough samples that you can see when peak dye release was achieved (and the test stain is darkest), as well as when demise started and was eventually nearly complete (when the stain gets very, very light again).

You’ll want to make sure your test spots are uniform in all ways – diameter, thickness/depth, area of the palm (all along the pinky edge of the palm tends to be the most thick and uniform, with the least palm creases. Apply the dots all at the same time. Remove them all at the same time.

So, what are some of the most important factors can affect dye release?

1. The Specifics of the Henna Crop You’re Using

a. Crop-to-crop

Since henna is a natural product, it varies year to year, as there are differences in rainfall, temperature, and other environmental factors where it grown. So you can be using the same henna powder brand, from the same region, but still have to consider that that region may have had some environmental changes from year to year. The concentration of lawsone in the henna plant will generally be higher in a dryer, hotter year, and worse in a colder, wetter year. But also, changes in environmental factors year to year can also have an effect on how long the dye takes to release from the leaves themselves.

This is why if you absolutely love the results you are getting from a particular henna powder, and want to keep your mixing process the same for a good long time, it is a good idea to stock up on enough of that powder to get you through a couple of years – as a way to know you won’t have to tweak your timing/recipe at all, and also an insurance plan in case the following year is not as great. Suppliers offer discounts on kilos of henna for this reason – to help their fellow professional henna artists stock up at a low cost, and help them have a steady supply year to year.

b. Region-to-region

Each region has its own climate that stays relatively stable from year to year, and thus there are some fairly predictable differences between henna powders. In general, Moroccan henna is known to have a quick dye release, Rajasthani henna has a pretty average time release, and Pakistani henna often (but not always) has a much slower dye release.

2. The Liquid You’re Using to Mix Your Henna

3. Environmental Factors of the Area Where the Henna is Resting

Your Ingredients

1. Issues with the Powder in your Henna Batch

Some factors with the powder itself in your henna batch could include:

• Crop quality – is the crop itself of high quality? Was it a wet year, or a dry year?
• Powder packaging – is the henna sealed well, so that air and moisture do not get in and cause the powder to degrade?
• Powder storage – has the henna been stored in a cool, dark, dry place?

2. Issues with the Essential Oils in your Henna Batch

Some factors impacting the usefulness of the essential oils in your henna batch could include:

• choosing oils for scent reasons, rather than monoterpene alcohol (terps) content. Some with high monoterpene alcohol content that have been deemed safe by many henna professionals include:
  • cajeput essential oil
  • tea tree essential oil
  • lavender (specifically lavendula angustifolia) essential oil
• oil is too old and has expired
• oil was stored improperly and has expired

3.Issues with the Liquid in your Henna Batch

Which liquid you choose to use to mix your henna has a huge impact on how long you need to let the paste sit for dye release, as well as how long the paste will remain good before it demises. Here are some tips:

• Real Lemon brand bottled lemon juice is what we at Henna by Heather use, as it has a very consistent pH level, and its mild acidity results in a paste that stays nd is good at room / outdoor temperatures longer than any other skin-safe liquid. For Mohana brand henna, in most crop years, a lemon juice batch will hit usable dye release at 24 hours, and peak dye release around 48 hours. It is recommended that you freeze it at 24 hours, as the difference between the 24 and 48 hour mark is not very noticeable to the eye – but the longevity you will get from the paste at room temperature is superior.
• Some artists keep things incredibly simple and simply mix their henna with distilled water. These batches hit dye release VERY quickly – a matter of a few hours, never days.
• Many artists do something in between, using black tea, a combination of lemon juice and water, a fancy concoction of brewed tamarind pods, or another less-acidic liquid, to get henna that hits peak dye release much more quickly than a lemon juice batch – but this paste will also demise much more quickly as well, so proper care must be taken.
• The heat of the liquid you’re using matters. If you use hot water, you will get dye release VERY- probably too- quickly. Room temperature liquids are generally advised.

4. Issues with the Sugar in your Henna Batch

Sugar has a LOT of different impacts on henna paste – mostly textural. Honestly sugar doesn’t really impact dye release time, but since all the other ingredients do, this was the place it best fit in this list of “what could be wrong with my henna batch?”. The actual main trouble with sugar is that – get this – sugar is not henna. For every bit of sugar in your paste, that’s a bit of paste that is not made up of lawsone-dye-molecule-containing henna leaves. Adding too much sugar is essentially weakening your batch. There are artists who will swear this isn’t true, because they still get good color from their sugar batches. Many scientific experiments over many years, however, show that even if a sugar batch does get good color, that same batch with the same type of sugar in lower concentration, kept on just as long, would get EVEN BETTER color. More lawsone, better color – it’s that simple. And sugar ain’t lawsone.

Other Factors

There are so many other factors other than the mixing of the henna batch itself that can have an impact on how the color ultimately turns out!

1. Photo Timing

One of the very most basic things to know about the most stunningly gorgeous henna photos you see online is that they are taken at the absolute peak of the desirable color factors the henna artist taking / highlighting that photo cared about. It may be darkness, or it may be redness.

Dark color in henna photos comes only after the stain has FULLY developed, which typically takes a full 72 hours. Yes, the henna looks great at 24 hours. It looks even better at 48 hours. And even though most untrained eyes really can’t tell and don’t care about the difference, it gets even better than that at 72 hours, before it remains strong for a few days and then starts slowly fading back out.

Reddish tones in henna photos are strongest around the 15-24 hour mark. 18-20 hours being the absolute best combination for redness and darkness for most people. Also, the reddish tones are by FAR the most noticeable on the palm of the hand – if you want to get a gorgeous reddish henna stain like the palm photo you are most likely staring at in envy and wonder how they got such beautiful color, you MUST do the henna on your palms, and you must get the photo in that 15-24 hour (probably 18-20 hour) window. If you are REALLY trying to get the BEST henna photo, you’ll want to take a photo of the same design at different times, in the same and also in different lighting.

2. Stain Placement

As mentioned above, where the design is placed has a huge impact on the depth of stain. Palms of hands and soles of feet are best. Fingers and toes are next best. Backs of hands and tops of feet, next. Then, color generally gets lighter the closer you get to the center of the body. This has something to do with a combination of skin thickness, blood flow, and quite possibly some other factors that we haven’t really figured out yet.

3. Your Own Skin

4. Aftercare

This Is a Lot to Consider

Keep a notebook. Track your experiments.

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First published May 7, 2018.