Since you landed on this page, I believe you are looking for coloring and conditioning your hair naturally. Well, Welcome to the henna lovers community!! I am doing a "GET TO KNOW YOUR HENNA" Series on my blog. I will posting an article about henna every week. This way, I will get an opportunity to meet my fellow henna lovers!! 

 Henna serves the purpose of coloring and conditioning at the same time..how awesome is that?? Today, I am gonna share with you the basic henna recipe for beginners, which is very easy to make. 

Things you need are:

1. Henna Powder

2. Lemon juice 

3. Coffee powder

4. Yogurt

5. Egg 

6. Iron bowl.

All the ingredients are very easy to acquire. You can find henna in any Indian grocery store for a very cheap price!! 

Henna Powder:

Choose a good quality henna powder. Don't believe the misconception that the greener the henna, the better. If you don't have any herbal hair care powders with you, choose the henna that already comes with a mix of herbs. This way, you can reap the benefits of the herbs too!!

Lemon juice:

Lemon juice is great for clarifying the scalp, impart shine and is a great dandruff fighter. Add Lemon juice or something sour like apple cider vinegar if you feel that lemon is too harsh for your hair. Adding something acidic can promote the dye release. 

Coffee Powder:

Caffeine in the coffee powder is great for hair loss. It promotes hair growth and adds dimension and shine to the hair. You can even boil the powder in the water and add the liquid, if you don't want to feel the bits of coffee powder in your hair later. However, it easily comes out when you brush your hair. 

Yogurt:

Yogurt is a great moisturizing agent and it leaves your hair baby soft. So this is a must-have ingredient in your henna recipe!!

Egg:

Egg is a great protein and your hair needs protein externally too!! If you are not a fan of egg, you can skip it. But it is always good to add a dash of protein in your weekly henna regimen!!

Iron Bowl:

Finally, the main thing you need for henna preparation -- the iron bowl!! Though it is not compulsory that you have to use an iron bowl, you find greater benefits on using it. Iron helps in oxidizing and imparts deep, rich color to your hair.

Don't have an iron bowl handy?? No worries, just grab some random iron pieces lying around the house like nails and throw them in your henna mix. It does the job!!

That's it!! Your henna mix is ready. It is always suggested to let your henna sit for at least 6-8 hours before using it on your hair. This will help in dye release. It is always suggested to apply henna on a clean, washed hair. This will help in the nutrients getting absorbed better. After applying henna, wash it off with plain water and don't do anything to your hair for 3 days. If you did not mix egg or if you have mixed only egg white, then your hair will not have any funky smell and you are safe to skip the shampoo. However, if you still don't like even the little bit of herbal smell on your hair, use a mild herbal shampoo the next day.

This is the basic henna recipe, great for beginners. However, depending upon your hair type and condition, there are a lot other things that you can add to your henna mix, which I will be discussing in my upcoming posts.