Top Op Red Henna Powder Review

My hair was so knotty, I could'nt pass a brush though without pulling hair out. When this happens there's only one thing to do to bring it back to life and it's not just a trim. It's henna!

I'm rather obsessed with henna, watching youtube videos and reading up on it. I ran out of Rainbow Henna so I bought Top Op (from Pakistan) and Hesh Mehandi (from India) from my local Indian store.

Top Op was the first one I tried. It's body art quality and powder is very fine. The packaging looks cheap but for only 79p for 100g, I couldn't complain. I mixed it with strong chamomile tea, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. The consistency had to be like cake batter to avoid drips.

I left it covered for 24 hours to release the dye. With this henna I don't think the colour released well since it hardly changed colour on the surface. I tested a drop on my palm by leaving it there for 5 minutes and wiping it off. It left a faint orange stain. As I'm impatient, I decided to use it anyway. I figured after 24 hours, it's not going to develop any further.

Before application I shampooed my hair and lightly oiled it with coconut oil while it was still damp. I'm not sure if that hinders the colour setting in but since I didn't add any oil to my mix, I wanted to make sure my hair was conditioned. I applied the henna and left it on under a shower cap for four hours.

After rinsing it off (no shampoo), I towel dried with a dark towel because the henna colour will still run. Then I blow dried my hair so it doesn't drip and stain anything.

The colour release was milder than expected. And that's accounting for my nearly black hair. I'm used to seeing vibrant red highlights. Perhaps the mix has to be tweaked and I need more apple cider vinegar. My hair had a dark orange tinge but I'm expecting the colour to deepen to red over the next few days.

The conditioning effect is unbelieveable. My hair feels soft yet strong. I can't stop running my fingers through it. My hair is so shiny, even a colleague at work complimented it today.

My hair feels stronger than ever. Perhaps the initial oiling had something to do with it as well. I was using henna every 6-8 weeks but I'm going to do it again in two weeks to make my hair stronger and redder. I love henna and Top Op is good for the price. I will post more reviews!