Hands up if you're guilty of over dying your hair! Don't worry, there are no judgements on this blog as I am equally guilty. I cannot count on both hands how many times I've dyed my hair, probably not if I used another two hands. I've been dying my hair since I was fourteen and ranged from brunette to blonde, from pink to blue, from purple to red. When I started uni last September I set a goal to not dye my hair for a year and I've kept that promise and have been a beautiful brunette for the past year.
However, this week was THE week. The week to dye my hair. I was on the hunt for the least stressful and harsh product for my hair after its years of bleaching. That's when I stumbled upon Lush's Henna range. They have four colours: Noir (black), Brun (brown), Marron (chesnut, brown with hints of red) and Rouge (red).
I didn't want to go crazy with the colour so I chose Marron which is a brown with red undertones.
I started by visiting my local Lush to speak to the wonderful staff about the henna. Here I was informed of the natural ingredients they have used (there are NO chemicals or harsh ingredients) which included Red Henna for the red undertones and Indigo Herb and coffee for dark and brown tones. To hold all of these dry, plant based ingredients, the bar contains Cocoa Butter to soothe and soften hair and make the bar a solid. Full ingredients can be found on the lush website here: www.lush.co.uk
TIP: Always ask for a tester block. They're completely free.
Before you start, make sure that you have an old bowl to mix the henna in, and old spoon to mix it, a tinting brush for application (I didn't end up using this) and some rubber gloves and lots of because it can get really messy and will stain any skin it comes in contact with. If you'd like, you could apply some Vaseline on any surrounding skin, your neck and ears which will prevent any staining of the skin. I skipped this step and trusted my mum - who was applying the henna for me - not to get any on me!
If you have wooden flooring, I would suggest putting some plastic bags and newspaper down (see below) because as well as skin, it stains wooden flooring and carpet. If it wasn't raining, I would have done it outside.
For my hair length and thickness, I needed three blocks (out of the six) of henna.
All you need to add is boiling water and you need to apply then henna hot for an intense colour.
The henna needs to be mixed to a melted chocolate consistency, I found that I needed to add a bit more water after 10 minutes.
Henna Block, Caca Marron.
£8.50
For more of a brown colour, after applying, leave the treated hair open and airy. Whereas, if you're looking for more red undertones, make sure that the hair is wrapped tightly after application. To keep mine wrapped up, I used a plastic shower cap followed by cling film.
You do look a bit funky but the results are well worth it.
I kept the henna on for 3 and a half hours. After 2 hours, the henna stops colouring, any time after this is for the essential oils and cocoa butter to sink in and moisturise your hair.
Tip: This stuff is really hard to wash out! Buy a big, cheap bottle of conditioner to help the henna soften and wash out easier.
Warning: If you have dry, thick hair, the henna can feel drying so use a lot of conditioner and after a few days, the full effect of the cocoa butter is noticeable.
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Thank you for reading! Gemma xxx
