the trick with bleaching your hair is to re-condition it as much as possible, as soon as possible, for as long as possible. when i bleached my hair, i treated it with VO5's hot protein treatment 3 times a week for the first two weeks, the mildest baby shampoo i could find and a really good moisturizing conditioner every time i washed my hair.

if you don't remoisturize and condition carefully and aggressively, bleached hair just feels like straw. i noticed the change from bleached to almost-happy-again hair a week after i first stripped mine, and after the second week of the protein approach, i dropped it back to once a week for the rest of the month, but kept up with the mild shampoo and good conditioner for a couple of months thereafter.

the other advice i have is that after you've done the first month or so of post-bleaching "rescue treatments", to make sure you're using a shampoo and conditioner *designed* for colour-treated hair. they tend to carry extra moisturizers, as well as theoretically milder soaps, in order to increase the lifespan of the colouring. the good news is, you don't have to spend a lot on these: Zellers carries their house-brand (Truly) shampoo & conditioner for about $2.50 each. i can also recommend L'Oreal's colour-treated hair products if you feel compelled to buy a name brand for emotional security :)

Henna is likely going to turn your hair orange. *grin*