Buxus dioica AKA katam

**caribou55313** · February 12th, 2010, 09:55 AM

You can mix the cassia, henna and amla together with distilled water and let it sit for dye release, about 8-12 hours at room temperature. When that is ready and you're all set to apply, mix buxus with warm water and then add the buxus paste to the henna/cassia/amla mix. I'd leave it on 1-3 hours. The longer you leave it on the browner it will be, most likely. Shorter time would make it redder. This is why a strand test is recommended

I haven't used shikakai and don't know if it matters when that is added.

janicelesa · February 13th, 2010, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Anje

Thought I'd give an update...

DH has been doing his goatee with henna (pre-dye-released and frozen as henna cubes) and katam (added in roughly equal amounts right before application), and the results are quite good. The new one isn't the greatest picture of him, but....

Before........................................Afte r

Why yes, we do have yellow walls.

Anje, I think the color looks really good on his goatee. What type of henna did you use?

janicelesa · February 13th, 2010, 10:09 AM

*sigh*

The only thing I miss about chemical color is that I didn't have to put so much thought into it! *laughs*[/quote]

Amen!

**butterflycayton** · May 11th, 2010, 09:02 PM

So I read this whole thread......and did anyone ever get a good light brown with henna buxus mix? I would like to tone down my red and blend my natural color( light mousy brown)

**dropinthebucket** · May 14th, 2010, 07:55 AM

butterflycayton, that was my question when i started this process. i wanted to blend my previously bleached blonde highlights with my natural hair colour growing in - natural color is a mousy, light brown or possibly even a very dark ash blonde. i have not been able to find a mix of henna and buxus, or henna and indigo, that will produce a sufficiently ashy light brown. the buxus is closer, but it fades, and there's no way to stop that. for most, indigo will stick (though possibly not on the first application), however, it seems difficult to get a light brown with henna/indigo - if you use enough indigo to counter the red of the henna, you've got at least a medium brunette going on. the only hopeful bit of info. i found was that one person used the henna with boiling water, then mixed with twice the amount of buxus, and got a neutral, lighter brown. however, she found that the entire colour faded after several washes. i was gonna go back to chem dyes because of this - but have been checking into other, natural sources of brown - think i will give catechu, walnut, and other natural dyes a bit of a chance before going back to chem. it can't hurt to try them!

**butterflycayton** · May 14th, 2010, 08:46 AM

Thanks dropinthebucket. I think henna works better for darker haired people where there roots don't show the change as much. Its kind of hard to do the hair test and imagine what it will look like on all of your hair. Guess I just better like the henna red or just let it grow out.

**LithiaBlack** · May 16th, 2010, 02:51 PM

Since I found this thread very helpful for henna/katam experimenting I thought it would be nice of me to share my results. I read earlier in the thread that someone wanted a recipe for a chocolate brown. This is what my hair looks like in sunny daylight after I slept with Jamila henna applied on the roots, rinsed out and then katam applied all over and also left over night:

I used 3/4 dl of henna mixed with boiled water and ACV to make a nice thick consistency and myrrh,frank incense and kajeput EO added to tweak the color and mask the smell. After dye release I added 1/4 dl of ground all spice and clove to add further to a nice smell.

For the full head treatment I used 300 g katam 5 dl boiled water with 1 dl ACV and the same EO's as above added. After dye release I added 0,5 dl of all spice and clove. I also tried to experiment with agar agar gel but I accidentally used to much water so the finished concoction was just as runny as my first try

In indoor lightning my hair has the same color as a chocolate bar with 85% cocoa + some golden streaks here and there.

My original hair color is dishwasher blond and I've dyed it black with chemical dyes for 10+ years. But my scalp started to get very irritated so I've started to experiment with more natural solutions. So far this has worked best but I really strive to get it jet black so I guess I've have to get back to indigo experimenting again....

**jterij** · May 16th, 2010, 04:11 PM

Vry pretty Lithia! When I was a small girl I wanted that color of hair sooo bad! And had perfectly sunned white! Now I love my hair color, because natural blondes aren't often as light as mine.

**Sissilonghair** · May 30th, 2010, 11:07 AM

This thread is very interesting....
I was thinking to try some buxus since today I did not get the colour I was expecting from my henndigo mix.
Too much red is showing on my roots especially where I have my gray.
I simply would mix buxus and warm water and apply the paste on my hair.
I am a little confused....does buxus need to be oxided? which kind of liquid should I use?
The colour I want to get is a medium brown...

**dropinthebucket** · May 30th, 2010, 12:13 PM

Just wanted to let buxus users know about a problem I've encountered. I've been using buxus glosses to keep my hennaed hair a medium brown colour while growing out henna. I've got about two inches of ashy brown, virgin roots.

The glosses have not been a problem with the roots, surprisingly enough - the roots don't seem to take the colour, so there've been no issues there, and when i've just done a gloss, you can't hardly see a difference between my own hair colour and the slightly darker mediumish brown I'm getting, so this plan *was* working well.

But after my 7th gloss (I have to do them every two weeks or it's back to henna red) - I have green streaks! yep, green! I can only assume this is because the henna is getting weaker or wearing off in spots, probably on the older chem. bleached highlights I had, who knows? so i think the buxus is too strong in those areas and coming out green. Well now. I guess I can't keep glossing! And I can't hit the green streaks with henna, first, because I don't want it on the roots, second, because it's really hard to do - like reverse highlighting or something, trying to pick out the green strands. Also, it's been two weeks now, and the green streaks have not oxidized into brown. I'm hoping they'll fade, at least ... we'll see! I've started looking into other natural, brown dye options - with luck, I can cover the green with one of them, too.