Lather, rinse, repeat? No.

Haven't blogged in a while. I've had a lot of work to do this summer, so blogging has been on the back burner. I had to refresh the henna this weekend, and that reminded me to blog. I have been traveling some, and just a word to the wise -- most shampoos provided by hotels are not kind to henna. Speaking of shampoos... I use the Whole Foods Market brand at home. It is affordable ($3 for a standard-size bottle) and healthy for hair. If you color-treat your hair, you need to use shampoo and conditioner products that do not contain sulfates -- sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate, in particular. Both are bad and will strip the dye off of the hair shaft (chemical or henna). The Whole Foods brand is the least expensive product I've found that is healthy.

Just a heads-up -- shampoos free of the sulfates do not lather. So, you know how you've seen all those directions for years that say to lather, rinse and repeat? Well, those directions are craziness. Yes, you should wash your hair, obviously. But lathering is bad -- a big, foamy lather might make you think your hair is getting clean, but you are robbing your hair of health. Sulfates aren't just bad for dyed hair -- they are bad for all hair. These shampoo companies are selling cruddy products that are sooo bad, but they want you to think that the lather is making your tresses oh-so-clean. So, they pump the products full of bad sulfates and va-va-voom, you get a big lather and a false clean. Yes, the sulfates are stripping the dirt off your hair, but on the downside, they're also stripping all the good stuff (not that I would consider chemical dye to be "good stuff," though).

Next time I travel, I am going to pick up some empty travel-size bottles and take my own shampoo and conditioner. It was astounding how the henna faded so rapidly. I can still feel a difference in the hair texture, too. Trying to baby it back to health.

OK, I'm done ranting about sulfates now.