Many women with natural hair are choosing to try henna as a conditioning or hair dyeing treatment. Some naturals have expressed concern that their curl pattern seems loosen since starting their Henna journey. Is this true?

What Is Henna?

Henna comes from a flowering shrub. Once the leaves have become dry, they get ground until you end up with a fine-textured powder. You can use this powder on your skin and hair to dye it temporarily.

Henna shouldn’t get mixed with any other chemicals or pollutants. It is a natural substance with a red-brown tint that can dye hair different colors ranging from auburn (burnt orange) to maroon, mahogany or burgundy.

Why Use Henna?

There are a few reasons that you may choose to give dyeing hair with henna a try. Aside from being safer than standard box dyes, it’s fun to see which color you end up with when you want a change.

You have to be okay with knowing you’re not getting a wide variety of colors. Any color will be between a shade of red-orange to mahogany or even bright red. It depends on the color you’re starting from.

If your hair is dark, you may notice that it doesn’t look much different when you finish the treatment. In the sunlight, you’ll see that your hair looks deep red.

Your hair will be stronger after you use henna. It’ll also be healthier and shinier since it helps fill in broken areas of your hair strands, making it an excellent conditioning hair treatment.

Will Henna Make My Curl Pattern Loosen?

Yes, henna can loosen your curl pattern depending on your curly hair type. Different hair types react to henna differently and so does the loosening. For some hair types, henna can loosen the curl pattern more and for some, it might not loosen it at all! Even if the curl pattern loosens because of henna, it’s temporary.

Henna is safe when applied to your hair. Although henna is not changing the chemical structure of the hair, it does change the weight of the individual strands through plant deposits. Moreover, henna also fills any rough spots on the hair cuticle that you may have, making your hair smoother and softer.