Single-Herb Care
Twelve Herbs.
One Ingredient in Each.
Every pouch here contains one milled plant and nothing else. No fillers, no fragrance, no synthetic preservatives. Mix with water, apply, rinse.
Four of them colour hair. Two of them wash it. The other six do neither — and we have grouped them by what they actually do rather than by what sounds appealing.
Colour
These four carry pigment. Henna and indigo do most of the work; hibiscus and manjistha shift the tone rather than setting it.
Copper-red
Henna Leaf
Lawsonia inermis
Lawsone, an intensely coloured naphthoquinone. Warm copper-orange on its own, and the base every darker shade is built from.
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Blue-black
Indigo Leaf
Indigofera tinctoria
Indigotin. Needs henna to bond well, and turns its copper into brown, black and ash. Develops over two to three days.
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Violet-red
Hibiscus Flower
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Anthocyanins, the pigments that redden autumn leaves. Subtle alone — it adds violet undertones to a blend rather than colouring by itself.
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Red-mahogany
Manjistha Root
Rubia cordifolia
Purpurin and munjistin — the anthraquinones that made madder a dye plant. Mahogany depth henna alone cannot reach.
View →Cleanse
Only two of the twelve wash hair. Both do it through saponins, which are the plant’s own surfactants — and both produce far less foam than a shampoo.
A wash, and nothing else
Reetha Fruit
Sapindus mukorossi
It cleans. It does not lather. Non-ionic saponins, unlike the sulfates in shampoo. Our own pH reading: 4.54–4.90, inside hair’s own range.
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Washes and softens
Shikakai
Acacia concinna
The same saponin chemistry, in one step. Our own pH reading: 2.1–3.0 — lemon-juice territory, so a two-minute wash rather than a mask.
View →Scalp
Worked into the skin at the roots with the fingertips. None of these washes, and none of them colours.
Scalp treatment
Neem Leaf
Azadirachta indica
Leaf powder, not neem oil — different part of the tree, different compound, none of the sulphurous smell. It carries no saponins, so it does not wash.
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Scalp & roots
Bhringraj Leaf
Eclipta alba
Wedelolactone. Colour-neutral, which is why it sits inside 22 of our 24 shades without touching them. In the daisy family — patch test if you react to those.
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Scalp
Brahmi Leaf
Bacopa monnieri
Two unrelated plants are sold as brahmi. This is Bacopa monnieri, not gotu kola. In 11 of our 24 shades, every one of them a blonde.
View →Strand
Drawn through the lengths. These coat the hair — a real effect, and a temporary one that washes out.
Slip & film
Methi Seed
Trigonella foenum-graecum
Add water and it turns to gel within a minute. That is galactomannan, a polysaccharide — the same class as guar gum. It needs 1:5, not 1:3.
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Tone & condition
Amla Fruit
Emblica officinalis
The one herb here that changes the colour. Acidic, so it cools a henna result from orange toward brown. In 23 of our 24 shades.
View →
Near-neutral
Colorless Henna
Cassia obovata
Not henna. Used exactly like it. Little to no lawsone, so most hair sees no change — though white or very pale blonde may take a faint golden cast.
View →A note on how we have grouped these. Amla sits under Strand rather than Cleanse because it does not wash, and neem sits under Scalp for the same reason — it carries no saponins at all. The pH figures are our own, taken on a handheld meter and published in full on each herb’s page, alongside a plain statement of what we do not claim.
100% certified organic
A single-herb plant dye
Henna Leaf Powder
Lawsonia inermis — mehndi, the original plant dye
One ingredient, and a colour that does not come out.
Milled Lawsonia inermis leaf, and nothing else. Its pigment is lawsone — a naphthoquinone with the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups that associate with keratin’s polar side chains. No peroxide is involved, and nothing has to be opened for it to work.
That is the whole of henna’s advantage over an oxidative colour, and it is worth being precise about what it means. The damaging step simply does not exist here — there is no oxidation of the disulphide bonds that hold keratin together, and no conversion of cystine into cysteic acid. We explain that reaction in detail here.
It is a base rather than a finished colour. Henna alone gives copper-orange. Indigo takes that toward brown and black; amla cools it; manjistha and hibiscus shift it redder. Every one of our 24 shades that contains henna is henna plus something else — if you want a brown, a ready-made shade will get you there more reliably than mixing will.
The thing to know before your first application
Henna does not wash out, and it cannot be lightened out. It grows out. Where a conventional colour fades over weeks, lawsone bound to keratin stays until the hair is cut.
And bleaching over henna is unpredictable. Many salons will decline to lighten henna-treated hair, and they are right to be cautious. If you may want to go lighter later, that decision is easier to make now than afterwards.
Strand test first. The result depends entirely on the colour you already have — henna adds and never subtracts, so on grey or very light hair it comes out bright.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Lawsonia inermis leaf. Tap for the compound data, and for what we have separated out as composition rather than function.
What we will and will not claim
That henna colours hair without an oxidative step is not in dispute. There is no peroxide, no ammonia and no PPD in this pouch, and the chemistry that damages hair during a conventional colour is absent rather than reduced. That is a statement about what is not happening, and it is the strongest thing we can say.
You will also read that henna strengthens or thickens hair. We have not measured that. Lawsone deposits at the surface and the leaf’s polysaccharides leave a film — a coating, which is real and which washes off the parts that are not bound. We are not going to call a coating a strengthening treatment, and we have not run tests on strand diameter or tensile behaviour.
A single-herb plant dye
Indigo Leaf Powder
Indigofera tinctoria — neeli, the blue plant
Most of the colour has not formed yet.
This is the part of indigo that explains almost everything about using it. The blue is not sitting in the powder waiting to transfer. The leaf carries indican, which is colourless, and the pigment is built in stages once the paste is made and the hair meets air.
Three stages, and they take days
In the leaf
Indican
A colourless glucoside. Nothing blue about it.
In the paste
Indoxyl
Water releases the sugar and leaves an unstable intermediate.
In the air
Indigotin
Two indoxyl molecules join under oxygen. Now it is blue.
Which is why the colour you see on rinsing is not the colour you will have. It goes green, then blue, then settles. The final judgement belongs to day three.
Indigo alone does very little. Indigotin has poor affinity for hair on its own — it wants henna’s lawsone to hold onto. Traditionally this meant two applications: henna first, indigo second. Our 24 shades blend both in one step, which is what a single-step plant colour means and why development takes one to two hours rather than thirty minutes.
Two things that go wrong, and why
Green. Indigo on hair with too little henna underneath, or judged too early, reads green rather than brown. It is the middle of the sequence rather than a fault. If it has happened, this page covers it.
Purple. The last stage needs oxygen and time. Drying with forced hot air halts the oxidation partway, and what is left is the violet intermediate. Let hair dry without a dryer for the first 72 hours. More on that here.
And one thing to check on any brand
Some products sold as “black henna” or as fast-acting indigo contain PPD — para-phenylenediamine, a synthetic dye and a well-documented sensitiser. It is added because it makes black appear in minutes rather than days.
Genuine indigo powder should list one botanical ingredient and nothing else, and it should be slow. If a plant product is producing black in half an hour, something has been added to it. Our pouch says Indigofera tinctoria, and that is what is in it.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Indigofera tinctoria leaf. Tap for the compound data.
What we will and will not claim
The chemistry above is not in dispute. Indican, indoxyl and indigotin are the classic sequence of indigo dyeing, worked out in the nineteenth century and unchanged since. It is why the colour takes days, and it is why no peroxide is needed to make it happen.
You will also read that indigo conditions hair, adds density, or soothes the scalp. We have not measured any of that. What indigo does that we can describe is deposit a pigment. We are not going to list scalp benefits for a dye, and the compounds in the leaf that are not pigment we list as composition rather than as function.
A single-herb blending powder
Hibiscus Flower Powder
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis — japa, the shoe flower
Its pigment changes colour depending on how acid the paste is.
Hibiscus colours through anthocyanins — the same class of pigment that reddens autumn leaves and blackcurrants. And anthocyanins have a property the other three colouring herbs do not: they are pH indicators. The same molecule reads a different colour depending on the acidity around it.
The same pigment, three conditions
Acid
Red
Where a plant colour paste normally sits.
Near neutral
Violet
The undertone hibiscus is valued for.
Alkaline
Blue-green
Not where you want a hair colour to be.
You can watch this happen at home. It is the same behaviour that makes red cabbage a school chemistry demonstration. It is also one reason alkaline hard water can shift a result, and part of why our formula uses amla to hold the mix acid.
On its own, hibiscus gives very little. Anthocyanins are water-soluble and do not bind to keratin the way lawsone does — much of what goes on comes off in the rinse. That is not a fault; it is what a blending herb is, and it is why hibiscus appears in 13 of our shades rather than being sold as a colour by itself.
What to expect if you use it alone
A tint that fades faster than henna does. On dark hair, very little. On light or grey hair, a pink or plum cast that washes out over a handful of washes rather than growing out.
Blended into henna it does something more useful — it pulls the result toward red-violet and away from pure copper. Strand test either way, since anthocyanins on unpigmented hair can be stronger than expected.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower. Tap for the data — including the claim we have removed from this page.
What we will and will not claim
The pigment behaviour is ordinary chemistry. Anthocyanins are pH-sensitive, water-soluble and weakly substantive on hair. All three of those are why hibiscus behaves as it does, and none of them is a health claim.
This page previously said that hibiscus feeds hair the amino acids it is built from, and supports growth. We have removed both. Hair is not living tissue and cannot build protein from anything applied to it, and we have not found published work establishing that milled flower on a scalp affects growth. The mucilage and the acidity we can describe. The rest we have taken out.
A single-herb blending powder
Manjistha Root Powder
Rubia cordifolia — Indian madder, manjistha
The oldest red there is — and the first one chemistry replaced.
Madder root has been dyeing textiles for at least four thousand years. It is on cloth from Egyptian tombs and on the walls of Pompeii, and it is the source of the Turkey red that European dyers spent centuries trying to perfect. The colour comes from anthraquinones — in this species chiefly purpurin and munjistin, the second of which is named after the plant.
And then, in 1869, it stopped
Two German chemists synthesised alizarin, madder’s other principal pigment, in a laboratory. It was the first natural dye to be made industrially, and it was cheaper. Within about a decade the madder fields of Europe were gone.
Indigo followed in the 1880s and 1890s, and the same thing happened to indigo farming. Two of the four plants that colour our shades were, briefly, obsolete — replaced by molecules that were identical or nearly so and could be made in a vat. That is not a story with a villain in it. It is just what happened, and it is worth knowing when a plant dye is described as timeless.
Anthraquinones twice, with opposite results. Manjistha and colorless henna both colour — or fail to — through the same class of compound. Manjistha’s are strongly chromophoric. Cassia’s are weak enough that most hair sees nothing. Same family of molecule, and the entire difference between a dye and a conditioner.
Two practical things
It stains. Skin, nails, cloth, grout. Madder was an industrial dye for a reason. Wear gloves, and keep the paste off surfaces you care about.
On its own it gives tone rather than colour. Manjistha shifts a henna result toward mahogany and adds a red-violet undertone to a darker shade. It is not a stand-alone dye for most hair, and on grey or very pale hair it can read stronger than expected. Strand test.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Rubia cordifolia root. Tap for the data — including where Ayurveda actually places this root, which is not where most listings put it.
What we will and will not claim
That madder root contains strongly coloured anthraquinones, and that they dye things, is about as well established as a fact can be. Four thousand years of textiles is the evidence.
This page previously offered calming support for a sensitive scalp and better colour retention over time. We have removed both. Manjistha is classified in Ayurveda among the blood-supporting and complexion-favouring substances, and that is a fact about a classification rather than a demonstrated effect on a scalp. Retention we have not measured — we would need controlled comparisons with and without it, and we have not run them.
One more thing worth admitting. Our Mahogany shade contains no manjistha at all, despite manjistha being the root most associated with that colour. Colour in a blend does not work by naming, and we would rather point that out than let the association stand.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Reetha Fruit Powder
Sapindus mukorossi — the soapnut, arishtaka
It cleans. It does not lather.
Those are separate properties, and one does not predict the other. Lather is what happens when a surfactant traps air; cleaning is what happens when it surrounds oil. Dishwasher detergents are engineered not to foam and they clean perfectly well. Reetha produces a thin, short-lived foam at best.
If you are coming from a conventional shampoo, it will feel as though nothing is happening. That impression is the most common reason people give up on it, and it is worth knowing before rather than after.
A difference that never appears on packaging. Reetha’s sapindosides carry no electrical charge. Sulfates carry a negative one — and hair’s own surface is negatively charged at washing pH, which is part of why hair can come out of a sulfate wash feeling squeaky and rough. A non-ionic surfactant does not have that particular argument with the fibre.
The one place it is harsher than soap
In our own experience reetha stings the eye noticeably more than ordinary soap does. Being a plant does not make a molecule gentle on the cornea. And because this is milled fruit rather than a dissolved detergent, fine particles can lodge and keep working after the water is gone.
- Tilt your head back, and keep your eyes closed while the wash is on.
- If it gets in, flush with plenty of cool running water — well past the point it stops hurting.
- Do not rub. Rubbing works a particle further in.
- If irritation persists after a thorough flush, see a doctor.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Sapindus mukorossi fruit. Tap for the compound data, and for why the name is misleading.
What we will and will not claim
That saponins are non-ionic surfactants is physical chemistry rather than a health claim, and it is not in dispute. The pH figures are our own, on a meter calibrated against 4.00 and 7.00 buffers, and we publish them because you can check them yourself.
What we have not measured is any outcome. We have not compared cleaning efficiency against a shampoo and we have not measured combing force. Hair does run through the fingers more easily than we expect it to — that is an observation, and we would rather label it as one. This page previously listed vitamins A, D and E for reetha; we have removed them, since the descriptions attached concerned dietary vitamin function rather than anything topical.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Shikakai Powder
Acacia concinna — shikai, fruit for the hair
It washes like reetha. It leaves the hair different.
Both of our washing herbs clean through saponins, and both foam far less than a shampoo. What separates shikakai is what the hair feels like afterwards — and the reason is a number.
If you are choosing between the two
Reetha
Sapindus mukorossi
A wash and nothing else. pH 4.54–4.90, inside hair’s own range.
Shikakai
Acacia concinna
Washes and softens in one step. pH 2.1–3.0, well below it.
Neither is a stronger cleanser than the other in any way we have measured. The difference is in what is left behind rather than in how much is taken away. They can also be used together, and traditionally often were.
We measured the pH, and it surprised us: 2.1 to 3.0. Then we diluted the mix to half strength and nothing happened — where reetha rose from 4.90 to 5.04, shikakai did not move. That is a buffer holding it steady. Acidic conditions let cuticle scales lie flat, which is most of what we perceive as smoothness, so here the wash and the softening are the same step rather than two.
What a pH of 2 also means
That is the region of lemon juice. Hair’s own surface sits at 4.5 to 5.5, and products designed to smooth the cuticle are usually formulated between 3.5 and 4.5. Shikakai, as it comes out of the pod, is below that. It has been used this way for a very long time and it is on the hair for two or three minutes — but a few things follow.
- Do not leave it on. This is a wash, not a mask.
- Diluting will not soften it. Use less powder, or less time.
- Avoid it on broken or inflamed skin.
- Keep it out of your eyes. Saponins sting, particles can lodge, and the acidity does not help.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Acacia concinna. We name the compound class as well as a compound, because the class is the part we are confident describes the whole pouch.
What we will and will not claim
The pH figures are our own, on a meter calibrated against 4.00 and 7.00 buffers. We publish them because you can check them yourself with an inexpensive meter, and because we have not found anyone else publishing any.
What we have not measured is any outcome. We have not compared cleaning efficiency against a shampoo, and we have not measured combing force against reetha. Hair does come out easier to comb through than we expect — that is an observation, and we label it as one. This page previously listed vitamins A, C, D, E and K for shikakai; all five have been removed, since we could not support them and the descriptions attached concerned dietary function rather than anything topical.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Neem Leaf Powder
Azadirachta indica — the Indian lilac
Leaf powder, not neem oil.
Almost everything written about neem for hair is written about neem oil, which is pressed from the seed — a different part of the tree, with a different principal compound and the strong sulphurous smell neem is known for. This is the leaf. It mixes with warm water into a paste and rinses out with water.
Leaf and oil are two different products
If you have read that neem smells strongly, that was about the oil. And because this is a powder rather than an oil, it goes straight into a henna or Radico mix without affecting the colour.
Neem does not wash. This page used to describe it as a scalp wash, and that was wrong: unlike reetha and shikakai, neem carries no saponins at all. There is nothing in it to surround oil and carry it away. It is a scalp treatment, worked into the skin at the roots with the fingertips — and it is not a substitute for shampoo.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Azadirachta indica leaf. Tap for the compound data — and for the compound most listings name that is not in here.
What the research has examined — and what it has not
Neem is among the most-studied plants in the traditional pharmacopoeia. Laboratory work on its limonoids — nimbolide in particular — has examined antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity in cell and animal models.
That work uses isolated compounds and concentrated extracts, not milled leaf in a water paste on a human scalp. We are not claiming this powder treats dandruff, flaking, irritation or any other scalp condition, and in the United States a cosmetic may not. We have removed the vitamin E, beta-sitosterol and quercetin descriptions this page used to carry, along with the word moisturizing from its heading.
What we can tell you is what is in the powder, and how neem has been used: as a scalp herb, for a very long time. A persistently flaking scalp is its own subject, and worth seeing a doctor about.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Bhringraj Leaf Powder
Eclipta alba — Kesharaja, the king of hair
A scalp herb, not a colour herb.
Of the herbs in this range, bhringraj is the one Ayurveda names for hair specifically. It carries no lawsone and no indigotin, so it does not dye hair or cover grey — and that is exactly why it can sit inside a colour formula without affecting the shade.
What the classical texts call it
Sanskrit plant names are usually descriptions, and the nighantus record an unusual number of them for this leaf — almost all about hair. That is a fact about names in a text, and we are careful not to let it do the work of evidence. The classical categories are set out here.
You have almost certainly used it already. Bhringraj is one of the herbs in 22 of our 24 shades — every one except Violet and Honey Blonde. Not as a dye, but as the scalp herb inside the recipe. So the scalp care doesn’t begin when you buy the powder; it is the same herb doing the same job in both.
One thing that matters more than time: the plant compounds travel in water, so once the paste dries on the scalp nothing further moves. A dry paste left on for two hours does less than a damp one left for forty minutes. Cover the hair.
Before you use it
Eclipta alba belongs to the Asteraceae family, alongside ragweed, chrysanthemum, marigold and daisy. If you have a known Asteraceae allergy, patch test on your inner forearm 48 hours before a full application — or use brahmi instead, which is in the unrelated Plantaginaceae family.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Eclipta alba leaf. Tap for the compound data — and for what we deliberately do not claim.
What the research has examined — and what it has not
Laboratory work on Eclipta alba has centred on wedelolactone. Computational studies have modelled how it interacts with proteins in the hair growth cycle, and animal studies have looked at concentrated extracts on skin.
That work is preclinical. It uses concentrated extracts rather than milled leaf, and it does not establish that applying bhringraj powder to a human scalp produces hair growth. We are not claiming that it does, and we have removed the vitamin D, vitamin E and scalp-circulation descriptions this page used to carry.
What we can tell you is what is in the powder, and what bhringraj has been called in Ayurveda for a very long time. Hair that is thinning or falling is its own subject, and worth seeing a doctor about.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Brahmi Leaf Powder
Bacopa monnieri — water hyssop, the herb of grace
Two plants are sold as brahmi. This is Bacopa monnieri.
The name brahmi is used in India for two unrelated plants, and a pouch labelled simply “brahmi” may be either one. They sit in different plant families and carry different compounds. Ours says Bacopa monnieri, and that is what is in it.
Worth checking on any pouch you buy — ours included
They are not related. Both carry triterpenoid saponins, which is part of why the names became tangled — but the plants and their compounds are different.
You may already be using it. Brahmi carries no pigment, so it sits inside a colour recipe without touching the shade — and it is in 11 of our 24 shades. Every one of them is a blonde; it appears in no brown and no red. If you colour with an ash or a blonde, brahmi has been on your scalp already.
One thing that matters more than time: the plant compounds travel in water, so once the paste dries on the scalp nothing further moves. A dry paste left on for two hours does less than a damp one left for forty minutes. Cover the hair.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Bacopa monnieri leaf. The name of its principal compound means two different things depending on context, which is worth knowing.
What the research has examined — and what it has not
Most published work on Bacopa monnieri concerns oral use rather than anything applied to skin or hair. The bacosides have been studied in cell, animal and some human trials for effects that have nothing to do with the scalp.
We have not found published work establishing what milled brahmi leaf does when applied to a human scalp as a water paste. We are not claiming it treats any scalp condition, and we have removed the vitamin C, zinc and oil-balancing descriptions this page used to carry.
What we can tell you is what is in the powder, and how brahmi has been used in Ayurvedic hair care. A scalp that is persistently itchy, red or flaking is its own subject, and worth seeing a doctor about.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Methi Seed Powder
Trigonella foenum-graecum — fenugreek, menthi
Add water and it turns to gel. That is the whole of what it does.
Stir methi into warm water and within a minute the mixture goes slippery. That is galactomannan — a soluble polysaccharide the seed is unusually rich in, the same class of molecule as guar gum and locust bean gum. None of the other seven powders does this, and everything methi is used for follows from that one physical property.
Three things a gel does on hair
One
It has slip
The paste moves between sections instead of dragging — which is why a little methi makes a colour mix easier to spread.
Two
It holds water
A methi paste stays damp longer than a leaf paste of the same thickness. Staying damp is what a plant colour needs.
Three
It leaves a film
Galactomannans are used across food and cosmetic science as thickeners and film-formers. The film is what you feel afterwards.
All three are physical properties, and you can verify the first one in a bowl before it ever reaches your hair.
It drinks more water than anything else we make. One part powder to five parts water, by weight — nearly twice what the rest of the range needs. At the one-to-three ratio that turns a leaf powder into a workable paste, methi comes out like peanut butter. Mix at 1:5, wait five minutes, then judge the consistency, because it keeps thickening as the polysaccharide hydrates.
It carries no lawsone and no indigotin. Methi is sometimes described as a dye plant; it isn’t. It will not colour hair and will not shift a herbal colour you already have — which is exactly why it sits inside 11 of our 24 shades without touching them.
Before you use it
Trigonella foenum-graecum is a legume. It sits in the Fabaceae family alongside peanut, chickpea, lentil and soy, and cross-reactivity between fenugreek and other legumes — peanut in particular — has been reported. If you have a legume or peanut allergy, speak to your doctor before using this powder, and do not use it if you are unsure.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Trigonella foenum-graecum seed. Tap for the data — including the one claim we handle differently from most listings.
What we will and will not claim
The gel is not in dispute. Galactomannan’s water-binding and film-forming behaviour is well characterised, and you can verify the slip yourself the moment you mix the powder. That is a physical property, not a health claim.
Fenugreek has been examined in the laboratory for a range of activity, and you will find sites citing early work on hair loss pathways. That work is preclinical, uses concentrated extracts rather than milled seed, and we are not going to build a claim on it. We are not claiming this powder reduces hair fall, promotes growth, or treats any scalp condition — and we have removed the phytosterol and polyphenol descriptions this page used to carry.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Amla Fruit Powder
Emblica officinalis — the Indian gooseberry, Dhatri
The one herb here that changes the colour.
Of the eight single herbs, seven are colour-neutral. Amla is not. Its acidity shifts how henna develops — pulling a result away from bright orange and toward brown — and that is a real effect rather than a claim about hair health.
It is why amla is in 23 of our 24 shades. Not as a conditioning ingredient added for goodwill, but as a working part of the recipe: it holds the paste acid, which favours the release of lawsone, and it cools the tone. The only shade without it is Violet.
Which cuts both ways
If you add amla to a henna mix, expect a cooler and less orange result. That is usually what people want. But if you are after a bright copper, amla will work against you.
And it will do the same to a Radico shade. Our formulas already contain the amount we intend. Adding more shifts the balance we designed, so if you like the shade as it comes out of the pouch, use amla on a different day rather than in the same bowl.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Emblica officinalis fruit. Tap for the compound data — and for the most famous claim about this fruit, which we handle carefully.
What we will and will not claim
That amla is acidic and that acidity changes a henna result is something you can test yourself with two strands and one bowl. It is the reason amla is in the formula, and it is the strongest thing we can say about it.
This page previously described amla as supporting collagen and keratin structure, strengthening hair from the root, defending against environmental stress, and nourishing hair from within with phosphorus, calcium and iron. All of that has been removed. Collagen is made by cells from nutrients delivered in blood; a paste on the outside of a dead fibre does not participate. Minerals applied topically are not nutrition, and “from within” is not something a rinse-off powder can do.
What remains is what we can support: a sour fruit that holds a mix acid and cools a colour.
Ayurvedic hair care · Single herb
Colorless Henna Leaf Powder
Cassia obovata — “neutral henna”
Not henna. Used exactly like it.
It is called neutral henna not because it is henna, but because it is used the same way — mixed with warm water, applied as a paste, rinsed out. The two plants are not related and do not sit in the same family.
Where the difference actually is
Both are quinones that associate with keratin. The difference is how strongly coloured that quinone is — which is the whole of why one dyes hair and the other doesn’t.
It is also why a pale shade can exist at all. Henna, indigo and manjistha are strongly coloured; to make a blonde you have to dilute them, and the alternative to a colourless plant is a filler that is not a plant. Cassia obovata is what lets a shade be light and still be made of nothing but certified organic herbs — which is why it is in 13 of our 24.
If your hair is white, platinum or very pale blonde
Strand test first, and start at 20 minutes rather than 60. Chrysophanol, the principal compound in this leaf, is described in the chemical literature as appearing in golden yellow plates. It is a dye — just a very weak one.
On brown, black, red or grey hair there is nothing to see. On hair with no pigment of its own to compete with, a long application can leave a faint golden cast. This is the one place we would insist on a strand test rather than suggest one.
Check the ingredient list — on any brand
Some products marketed as “neutral henna” contain added synthetic dyes or PPD. Genuine Cassia obovata should list one botanical ingredient and nothing else. If a colourless product is producing a definite colour, that is worth asking about.
This applies to us as much as to anyone. Our pouch says Cassia obovata, and that is what is in it.
What is actually in it
One ingredient: milled Cassia obovata leaf. Tap for the compound data.
What we will and will not claim
Most of the published research on this plant examines its isolated constituents rather than milled whole leaf applied to hair, and controlled trials on Cassia obovata hair masks specifically are limited. So we are not claiming this powder treats dandruff, any scalp condition, or hair loss, and we have removed the tannin, kaempferol, quercetin and physcion descriptions this page used to carry.
People do report that hair feels denser and smoother afterwards, and so do we. We have not run tests on strand diameter, porosity or combing force, and we would need to before claiming any of them. What a coating does is real, and it washes out.
One practical note on blending. Colorless henna adds no pigment — but it takes up room in a mix, so every gram lowers the concentration of the herbs that do the colouring. Added to a Radico shade it will come out lighter and softer than the pouch. That can be exactly what you want; it is not something to be surprised by.
