Re: Henna chemistry (green?!)
[ Follow-ups ] [ Post Follow-up ] [ The Henna Page Discussion Forum ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on September 07, 1999 at 15:18:17:
In Reply to: Re: Henna chemistry (green?!) posted by Anon on September 07, 1999 at 13:49:17:
Tha ammonia thing only works on soles or palms..the rest of the skin doesn't take it up enough to mordant (or precipitate) the henna color before it stings and exfoliates. Also, you need the non-sudsing, non-lemon-scented, straight, 10% strength ammonium hydroxide stuff (the cheapest and plainest). I rarely see green from my henna though I know some people do. When I see it is is a dark forest green cast in the exfoliation period of blackened henna...and under the microscope I can see that that is from air getting under the skin cell and causing a yellow translucent cell over a darker cell underneath...making it look greenish. HOWEVER, if you're getting shamrock green (and someone did once say that happened) that might be skin that has become very porous (like bleached hair) perhaps from doing lots of housekeeping or swimming. Blues? The cosmetic chemistry book says that all blues that are safe to use are very large molecules that simply will not penetrate at body temperature conditions, or penetrate very poorly. That must be why the "colored henna" blue was only good for two days on me....and the "punk" blue hair dyes will only really go on hair that's been totally fried first.
Follow-ups:
|