Re: cold-weather henna?
Posted by Anon on October 07, 1999 at 19:46:34:
In Reply to: cold-weather henna? posted by Rosie on October 07, 1999 at 16:48:02:
: [...]I came back to New York to find the henna stained lighter and
for
: shorter lengths of time--even on sunny days. As well as heat and
: moisturizer, does anyone have suggestions for recipe ingredients
that
: may help the stain to last in such an anti-henna climate?
Well, CCJ keeps telling us (1) quality henna, (2) acid, (3) heat, and
(4) time - and possibly aftercare. ("The ammonia trick" to make it
darker, and, as discussed recently, moisturizer if your skin surface
is rough or flaky - I think of this as oiling paper or wetting a
powder.) So, for (2), consider extra lemon juice treatments and/or
clove oil. For heat, try increasing your circulation with a
pre-treatment of eucalyptus oil (if it doesn't bother you) - rub in
well, or maybe add a bit to the mix (I like the smell anyway). There
are probably other ingredients or treatments that can help warm you by
increasing circulation.
Exercise, have some hot soup or tea, bake bread or a roast and stay in
the kitchen, or whatever is pleasant and might increase circulation
and make or keep you warm. (Got a fireplace? Someone to give you a
bit of a massage as a pre-treatment?)
Also, if the stain isn't lasting as long, could it be your skin is
exfoliating faster? (It may just be that the light stain doesn't
last.) There ought to be something that retards exfoliation a bit -
at least be even more careful than usual when washing.
Side note: I know some people have done side-by-side comparisons with
and without eucalyptus oil, but has anyone done unadjacent tests? I'm
thinking that if it does sufficiently increase circulation, then it
would probably increase circulation to adjacent skin, and so a
side-by-side wouldn't show the effect (both areas would be affected,
or at least there wouldn't be an abrupt change, as you might see when
the chemical reaction differs).