Henna for Hair: Henna your graying beard

Dye Your Beard with Henna
Ancient Sunrise® Henna, indigo, and cassia dyes
are safe, permanent, and cover gray.

Is your beard beginning to go gray? Dye the gray with henna, indigo, and cassia to blonde, red, brunette or black. What is the simplest way to dye your beard with henna? Ask someone who's already dyeing their hair with Ancient Sunrise® to help you. If that person will share their leftovers with you, that makes everything very easy. If not, please read the following instructions.	Beards require smaller amounts of henna than hair. Beard hair is more sparse, and the area covered is smaller. For this reason, we recommend making up a 100g batch of henna, dividing it into useful-sized amounts, and freezing it for later use. That way, you can make your henna once, do your full beard, and thaw out small amounts as roots grow in. It's a nuisance measuring and mixing up a few grams of henna every time you see roots. Use the same mixes for the gray in your hair as your beard; the mixes are the same for men as for women. If your hair is graying also, dye both your beard and the hair on your head. Are you allergic to chemical hair dyes for men? If you experience any itching, swelling, redness or blisters from chemical hair or beard dye, change immediately to Ancient Sunrise®. Allergic reactions to chemical hair dye can become life-threatening. You can change from chemical dye to Ancient Sunrise® without adverse cross reactions. Scroll to the bottom of this page for more information on chemical hair dye allergy.
Read this chapter before you begin. This will tell you how to formulate and mix your henna. Click on the image below to open the chapter. Ancient Sunrise® Chapter 7: Mixing and Testing your Henna Mix This chapter discusses the mixing, dye release, formulation, and testing of a wide range of non-chemical permanent colors from henna, indigo, and cassia. This chapter includes step-by-step instructions to produce the color you want for your hair. Index of specific topics in this chapter: Page 3: What Difference Does Your Hair Color Make? Page 5: Formulate Your Mix; Mix Your Paste Page 8: Dye release: When Will the Henna Paste be Ready? Need your Henna in a Hurry? What Does Henna Dye Release Look Like? Page 17: Mix Henna and Indigo for Brunette Colors Page 21: Mix Ancient Sunrise® Indigo to Dye Hair Black over Henna Page 22: Test Ancient Sunrise® Paste on your Hair	Read this chapter, too, if you don't have somebody to help you. Ancient Sunrise® Chapter 8 How to Henna Your Hair This chapter has step-by-step instructions for first time users dyeing hair blonde, red, brunette or black with henna indigo, and cassia. Mix your paste the day before you appy it. Click HERE to watch a "how to" video. Learn how to cover the gray in your beard with Ancient Sunrise®. It's not difficult. It's inexpensive. It won't fade.
Shampoo your beard. If you don't start with a clean beard, the stain color may be 'hit or miss'.	Section your beard. Pull a small section of beard down, and clip the rest of of the way.
Apply the paste to your beard one section at a time.	When you've applied paste to one section, comb the nest section down onto the paste.
Use narrow sections to put henna paste over, under and all around each section.	Each hair has to be completely saaturated with paste.
Wrap your beard. Take a long nap or watch a few hours of TV. If the paste gets dry, it will be very difficult to wash out of your beard. If the paste is kept damp, covered with plastic wrap, you'll get better color, and the paste won't get all over wherever you settle down for a nap. Try to keep the paste in your beard for 4 hours. Do you have a ski mask or bandana? That will keep your beard warmer and more moist. You may be able to decrease the paste time to 2 or 3 hours with a warm wrap over the plastic.	Shampoo your beard until the paste is all gone. Admire your beard. Beards often have dye-resistant gray. In this single application of henna only, the gray is nicely blended into his brunette beard! Subsequent applications will give a more saturated color. Indigo mixed with henna would make the color more brown. You can dye your gray to match any natural color of hair, though it may take more one try to get it exactly the way you want it. Be patient and call our support line: 1-855-MEHANDI for help. If you hennaed your hair too, you may notice that your dandruff is gone, too!
If you have ever had a 'black henna' temporary tattoo, there are some things you should know before you dye your beard. That black temporary tattoo was NOT HENNA. That black dye was 15% - 60% para-phenylenediamine. You have a 50/50 chance of being injured by oxidative (chemical) hair dye, para-phenylenediamine, Toluenediamine So, if you had a black temporary tattoo, and attempt to dye your beard with chemical hair dye, you're risking a painful reaction. If you have any rashes or itching after you use oxidative (chemical) hair dye and want to continue to dye your hair, you You can safely change to Ancient Sunrise® products. Did this happen to you? If so, you are severely allergic to chemical hair dye. You are unlikely to be allergic to henna, though a patch test with a sample of henna from Ancient Sunrise® is a good idea. Seriously. I wrote my PhD dissertation on this problem. I'm not making this up. The Geographies of the Black Henna Meme Organism and the Epidemic of Para-phenylenediamine Sensitization: A Qualitative History	All of these products contain para-phenylenediamine. Ancient Sunrise® does not contain para-phenylenediamine nor any other related oxidative dye. This says to not use it if you had 'black henna'. The increased risk following a 'black henna is that 1 out of every 2 people is going to have an allergic reaction to that product. Wait more than 48 hours. it may take three weeks for the reaction to appear. The yellow dots designate the chemicals that are going to cause an allergic reaction. Those chemicals were in the 'black henna'. THERE WAS NO HENNA IN THE BLACK HENNA.