In 2010, I was flush. I finally had a decent income and could afford to spend it on myself. My focus was on hair care to make my hair manageable and address these issues:

chronic dryness
splitting ends
excessive shedding
thinning at the temples

I spent a lot of money on high-end hair products to solve my escalating hair issues. I can be very disciplined and focused, so I followed instructions meticulously, researching and testing various products and techniques on my hair. I also made healthy changes to my diet and lifestyle, and began supplementing with vitamins and herbs. But after several months, I was frustrated because my hair would look and feel great for a few days, then return to its former poor condition. Nothing I tried helped me achieve lasting results

Above: My hair grew just past my shoulders (I'm cringing a little looking at these now.)

In addition to the main issues, I had (and have) gray hair - As you can see from the photo, there's a bit of gray at the temples, but most of it was at the top of my head.

Unruly hair - When this photo was taken, I had a relaxer in my hair, but my hair has always been difficult to style, even with a relaxer. (After pressing my hair, I worried about humidity, sweating or swimming, because it was so much work to get it straight again.)

It seemed to me that every two weeks I was either coloring or relaxing my hair. I was investing a lot of time, but not achieving any results.

Henna Results

After much research and reading (I watched henna videos on the Lush website, and progressed to CurlyNikki's blog), I took a leap and began my natural hair journey by applying henna to my hair. I had read about the cumulative thickening and smoothing effects, so I treated my hair three times successively that first weekend.

After one application, my hair was shiny and felt very strong. I noticed a significant decrease in shedding. Even better, I loved the black color I achieved with the indigo. I resolved to add henna to my hair once a month and, after it was strengthened sufficiently, I would relax my hair again.

Months Later

Over a few months, my hair became smoother and I kept putting off the relaxer as my hair became more manageable. (Not everyone will experience this amount of smoothing, as the affects differ depending upon your hair grade.) I never relaxed my hair again.

My hair grew much longer - from my shoulders to the middle of my back.
My hair grew thicker all over, but especially in the temples where it had been thinning
My hair felt strong; the shedding was finally over!
I didn't see another split end for about eight months.
My hair was so shiny! (This was offset a bit by the indigo.)
I loved the new color and it didn't fade! My grays were gone, and the color looked natural.

Great Color without Chemicals
I had been re-touching my hair dye every two weeks, especially at the hairline and temples where the gray would grow around my face(giving me a lovely little grey bonnet). However, with the henna and indigo treatments, the color didn't fade. In fact, the black color deepens about 24 hours after applying indigo.

Moisture
I had read about henna being drying to the hair, but I didn't have this experience because I was proactive by:

adding aloe vera and using distilled water in all of my henna and indigo treatments
following every henna treatment with an amla oil treatment
using argan oil as part of my conditioning regime
using a homemade mist on my hair daily, especially the tips, followed by an oil sealant
using a truly moisturizing conditioner

Thicker, Longer Hair Growth
My thinning hair grew in at the temples. This took some time and regular scalp massages with amla oil, but it was worth it. I started seeing small hairs growing into the thinning areas, and they didn't break off or split because my hair had become strong with the henna treatments. I also don't get split ends very much (I got my first split end about eight months after I started using henna.) Within a year, my hair grew from just past my shoulders to the middle of my back (near the bra strap).

My Hair Journey (or how I went from frumpy to fabulous)

Henna Results

Months Later