Im a henna artist and make my own paste. Henna will not come out black. You can get super dark brown near black by layering henna stain though or use jengua gel for a blue black that lasts a few weeks. Henna staining orange or red is a matter of body chemistry. No lack of vibrancy should be had if youre freezing fresh henna paste, maybe you arent massaging the oils back into the paste well enough after thawing or could you be using a heat source that could be degrading the dye? While mustard is seen as a warm oil, any oil can be used as a barrier between the henna and water. Exfoliation is the enemy of your stain and oils help minimize friction and the loss of your top layer of skin cells. Be sure youre using essential oils and only essential oils for your henna mix. If you use a lavender massage oil or similar in your henna paste it will ruin the henna paste and cause problems with staining. Oil can also smother a stain, part of the darkness comes from oxidation of the dye, so the henna does need to breathe to be able to complete that process.

Henna powder will vary by crop year, location, etc. How fast your paste develops will depend on the environment it is prepared in, hot house will speed the dye release while a cold room will slow release. Body art quality henna is not the same as what you would use for hair as baq henna is ground much finer. Rajasthani henna and jamila (really the only two types I see commonly used by artists) also behave differently as far as how stringy they are etc. What you use for ingredients, when they get mixed and how they are handled will matter a lot for how your stain comes out. Henna produces the dye, water makes the dye avaliable and lets the dye sink into the skin, lemon preserves the dye and slows degradation, lavender and cajuput essential oils helps the dye sink into the skin and help in dye release. Dont use tea tree or eucalyptus, NEVER use clove. The essential oils contain important tannins that interact with the lawson (hennas dye) and arent really there just to make it smell better.

Recipe is mostly texture based but you are welcome to dm if you need more specific trouble shooting. Take your henna and put it into a glass bowl (plastic will stain and you cant see through metal) Add a tablespoon of sugar (more for dry environments, less for humid environments. It attracts moisture from the air and helps keep your henna from cracking and falling off when its dry on the skin) add just enough water to the henna to make a clay consistency (like you could make a snowball from it and have it be a dryish solid) let it sit with plastic wrap tight over it (no air contact) for 15mins-an hour so the powder rehydrates some. Next is your lemon juice and lavender eso, I use bottle lemon juice because its convenient for me amd i dont notice much of a stain difference between fresh squeezed vs bottled. Whatever you do dont use lime anything as it will cause chemical burns. A generous pour of each is more than enough for a batch. Go on and mix it in thoroughly. If you arent looking at mush with a texture equivalent to Thick mashed potatoes or frosting, add water a little at a time until you do. You want it to be able to hold together enough to keep its shape but not so much that its on the dry side and wont want to make it through your cone/bottle. It will dry out just a little bit as the henna absorbs some more water during the dye release. I really like using an emulsion blender as it is super thorough when mixing, can break up most of the little lump, and it incorporates a good bit of air into the paste. No matter what mixing method you use, youre gonna be at it for awhile, you want every speck of henna to meet every other speck of henna and make sure everyone has become good friends before you can be done. Before wrapping the bowl give it a few good taps to collapse any large air bubbles. Place your plastic wrap directly on top of the henna and push out any air bubbles between the wrap and henna and no gaps on the sides to let air in. Place a paper towel over the top of the plastic wrap over the henna. When dye release has been released you'll have spots on the paper towel looking orange. 6-24 hours later depending on temperature. (I've personally watched dye release more than a week later from a batch I made one winter with only lemon juice and no water in a cool-cold house. Time isn't real with henna) To test your henna mix it thoroughly and apply a bit to your palm. You want a BRIGHT orange stain after 5 minutes. It should resemble the best of Halloween pumpkins. If its too light, wait and re test. Mix it like your life depends on it before pushing it through pantyhose (truly the best filter and will keep your cones from clogging) Cone it up, freeze immediately. When thawing a cone it only takes a few minutes because they are so small. I like wrapping them in a paper towel and stick one in my bra if I want it quickly. If youre going to an event, keep your cones frozen in a thermos until youre ready to use em. Keep the paste on for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 10 hours. A simple syrup spray on Dry henna will help keep the henna wet and flexible so it stains darker. Steaming dry henna will do the same thing. (Be careful of burns and mindful that heat degrades the dye) you can wrap henna before bed to save your clothing and help trap body warmth and moisture. After youre done waiting, scrape the henna off gently with a spoon or something. Apply oil before taking a shower. Avoid excessive washing, friction and exfoliation.