Ok, I'm going to experiment with Henna and Indigo for my hair dye. I have very dark brown hair naturally, but I've found that black tends to make it seem fuller. The nice thing about henna is that it is gloopy enough to do your eyebrows too. I've got past shoulder length hair, but of course not tranisitioning until my mid-thirties it is thinner that a cis-woman's. So I'm going to start with 200g of Henna. From here out I ought to be able to just hit the roots and be done, but for now I've got to make sure it is all the same shade. Because I'm in a hurry instead of letting it sit overnight at room temp, I'm going to put it in the oven on bread proofer for 2+ hours since according to my instructions that is ok too. After the henna releases its colors because of the acid in the lemon juice I'll apply it and cover it with plastic wrap for 2 hours. Then I rinse it out and mix up the indigo to cover that. The henna should give me a deep auburn, and then the blue indigo will make it a black color.
Here goes, I hope it turns out ok.
OK, I have the henna on now. I have to let it sit for a couple of hours and then rinse it out. After that I'm going to decide I really want to apply the indigo too. It all depends on how dark an auburn it makes my hair.
This is what henna powder mixed with lemon juice looks like
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Here are a couple of shots of my hair pre color. You can see why I like the visual trick of thicker hair in the back of head shot. I am very thin in the back top.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7199%2F6858559355_80dd51f1ab_b.jpg&hash=f176459c93da4d3bfc5a0ab614127c6a586c9dda)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7179%2F6858560559_db578631b8_b.jpg&hash=05038074f4a3581f9b0a53c958bdf9ccf64bc073)
Even though Shannon is not feeling too great right now she did help me with this since it is hard to get the back of your own head dyed consistently.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7200%2F6858561951_23a020bd46_b.jpg&hash=1db22dde0ac67ae2e12cbbf44ee062d1ccec5a3a)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7049%2F6858562657_665cd51d8e_b.jpg&hash=ae7926f5d6ccdbe0187ebedf44b10f30cdda8715)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7209%2F6858563125_704ec43667_b.jpg&hash=15b258a2d698300e674a156f79fe1ac96b141df8)
More to come after it is all rinsed out.
Quote from: Beverley on February 11, 2012, 04:46:47 PM
I have been thickening my hair on top using Minoxidil. It has worked for me and the area you are thin in is the area in which minoxidil is supposed to work best.
Beverley
I've used Minoxidil for around 3 years. I did have a 3-4 month period this fall when I stopped, but I started back when Dr. Z suggested it to help prevent shock loss from the forehead lowering part of my FFS. I've been on finasteride or dutasteride for over 2 years. I've been on some form of T blocker for around 2 years too.
Unfortunately I was losing my hair before I had to shave regularly. Although I that was both early hair loss and slow beard growth. My senior picture I have a visible M. Our wedding pictures show how much the meds have helped the hair to regrow, but there was a LOT missing.
The black really does seem to make it look thicker. I'll also add toppix fibers to make it look fuller. I could probably justify a full hair system (fancy wigs ;-)) easier than as much hair grafting as I would need, but I want to see what I can do with what I have before I give up.
Henna showered off easily. I was afraid it would be clumpy in the drain, but it was just rust colored water. I definitely cannot leave it just with the henna though. I had some bleached hair at my forehead lowering scar because of the peroxide I had used to clean it. So I have very coppery red hair there and deeper auburn everywhere else.
Here are a few pictures of the Henna step. I think it already helps hide the thinness.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7197%2F6859537901_4760825dbf_b.jpg&hash=9d0540effe82bff0d3f91495ff2fba00558589a0)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7036%2F6859539659_46540ef8bf_b.jpg&hash=888025b4b61cf1343321f60c87767e1ed3eff3d5)
The indigo didn't have to sit (and shouldn't it has to be used immediately). It was a little harder to mix because the powder didn't want to mix in, but eventually I got it to the proper yogurt texture.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7190%2F6859538515_09996aed89_b.jpg&hash=19c95d3e7e79f2c2cb6917490d4a7e020737648e)
After it was all applied and now I've got to sit in a plastic cap for another hour.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7188%2F6859539037_7e98fb59c0_b.jpg&hash=bd9a23c1afeaa38f9086871921e3bc0006593335)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7206%2F6859540307_360aa2ae2a_b.jpg&hash=dbdf1c5dfb082d93af5287c1b507894e1c065396)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7040%2F6859540845_a7b3aee5fd_b.jpg&hash=e907a511052f6a0d2d1c2ab319fec8446aecbaf3)
Ooops looks like our oldest was walking in to check on us and got caught in one of the pictures. He is the one with type 1 diabetes that wears an insulin pump and if you look closely you can see his infusion set (where the pump injects the insulin).
I've got an hour to kill now before I rinse out the indigo.
All rinsed out. Again it was just greenish water without any clumps to clog a drain. After I rinsed it clear, I did go ahead and condition it WELL since I'd stripped out all the protection earlier.
Overall it did a pretty good job. It isn't harmful to the skin so I can touch up the roots whenever I want. Supposedly the Henna is also a strengthener. I'll have to see how much it weighs down my curls, but for some curly haired people I saw comments that it curled BETTER after Henna because it stayed better moisturized. I'm been digging around on some of the curly/long hair forums for a while now and that is what turned me onto the Henna in the first place.
So here are a few pictures. It is still damp because part of the hair care method I've been using avoids all heat. I've also coated the longer strands with a leave in conditioner for extra moisturizing to repair what I lost today (more moisture means less frizz).
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7045%2F6859986211_3a41b8e080_b.jpg&hash=b041044c7948db1b3675ae87b000ddf07102a494)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7064%2F6859984527_5c221be847_b.jpg&hash=1266b4b526d75208913c55bc5327d663732a71d8)(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7186%2F6859985297_bd5232de4a_b.jpg&hash=5cbdf81b77e5aa2e54e99e9d2e14cc8c3361d44f)
Below is another picture of the back with me looking up. See what I mean about the black hiding the thinness better?
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Quote from: Beverley on February 12, 2012, 04:18:35 AM
It certainly does seem to have made quite a difference. Well done.
I just use Clairol or L'Oreal once a month
Beverley
I used L'Oreal Feria for a while. I just wanted to try the Henna since it is actually supposed to be good for the hair instead of harmful like regular dye. If anyone else does use Henna make sure it is PURE henna and not a blend with metallic salts or other chemicals.