How to Achieve the 'Moroccan' Hair Trend

Think of Henna, and Morocco is one of the countries that immediately springs to mind. Morocco has a long-established relationship with henna where culturally, hands and feet are decorated for special occasions.

The Moroccans also of course use henna on hair; not only for imparting beautiful rich colours, but also smoothing the hair cuticles.

The Moroccan hair trend is created using natural henna to create a rich, deep brown shade with red hints when you hit the light. In this month’s tutorial we show you how to create the look:

Pre-prepping: 

If you are already a mid-dark brown, there’s no need to pre-pigment your hair, but if you are a lighter colour to ash brown, you will definitely need to add some tones first to get the depth of colour you need with the Moroccan look.

To pre-pigment, simply (after strand testing) pre-stain your hair with a standard henna mix, soaked overnight and left for up to three hours depending on how light your hair is.

The Moroccan Recipe:

The mix for rich brown involves using natural Indigo alongside your henna for a deeper effect, but at differing quantities to the blue-black effect often created.

Ingredients:

·        120gms indigo powder 

·        80gms henna powder

·        1 teaspoon salt

·        Juice of three lemons

·        Two tablespoons of water

·        Balm to protect your ears

Method:

Mix the ingredients together, cover and chill in a refrigerator overnight. 

Using a brush, section the hair into quarters and apply a thick coating bit by bit, covering every strand. 

Ensure you have enough time to develop. Henna stains the hair, unlike chemical dyes which alter the molecular structure, so it needs to be left for much longer to take effect.

Those of you with medium brown can achieve a rich look by leaving for four to six hours.

For those with blonde to light brown hair, a longer time will be necessary – from 7-8 hours.  You may want to consider leaving overnight if you want a faster result.

For everyone:

It’s vital to do a strand test to see how long your hair needs to go the colour you want and to get the blend right.  Our guide to ‘Things that can affect the result of your henna hair dye’ should help you. 

After you’ve left the colour on for your amount of time (usually up to six hours for deeper shades), leave your strand test for two days. If you're unclear how to do a strand test, or want more guidance, we have a really helpful step-by-step guide here.

If it’s not quite deep enough, try a little more indigo.  If it’s not rich enough, you need to leave it for longer.

Deep colours benefit from regular root-touch ups, so be prepared to maintain

your colour regularly. You will also want to keep it as healthy and shiny as possible so consider using Amla powder as a regular treatment to help boost the gloss naturally. 

Alternatively, you could try the It's Pure 'Chestnut' shade, which will offer a similiar result on mid to dark brown colours.

For more advice on colouring your hair with organic henna, ask our hair colour experts now