Since changing our diet over to vegan a few years ago, I have been changing other things in our life too. I had been just dip dying my hair (I was happy to find out the product I already used was Vegan!) My hair does what ever it wants when it comes to dying it. To look at my natural light brown you may not spot that its hiding a red tint. I remember the shock of a hairdresser once, I had warned her....It took 5.5hrs of trying to make my hair go the colour we had picked....They hadn't taken in that my hair intact has a red tint.
My skin is olive and I do take after my Italian Nana, but my natural hair colour hides my Grannies red hair and in the last few years my skin has lost my freckles too! So I pick a colour and just let my hair do what ever it wants. I once tagged a hair dye company on Facebook, they commented about colour I had picked and said how well the red had come out....I had picked purple! So why did I pick Henna? Well for one, its Vegan, better for the planet, its natural, no plastic packaging and I love that it come out differently for each person who uses it. It really does give a natural shade. If you dye your hair, each hair goes that colour, even if you have lightened some. Not with Henna, on me its blended its self like I had spent hours highlighting different sections!
After my shampoo bar being so amazing, I thought I would stick with Lush and try their range of Henna. Click here for my review on their Shampoo Bar.
I picked the 'Phoenix from the Flames.'
They have 4 different shades, Hot chocolate, Inigo-go, Chestnut Glossy Locks and Phoenix from the Flames.
What I love, ok one of the many things I love about Henna is you can mix it up. You could add a few bars of Phoenix from the Flames with a few of Inigo-go.
I ordered online, and it came in a little cardboard box, with all the instructions and a pare of gloves (hidden under where it says Caca Rouge in the photo above.) I have crazy long thick hair, I can almost, well in fact think I can sit on it and I used the whole bar. It comes in the one big bar but you can brake it into 6 smaller chunks. So shorter hair you will use far less. You can easy mix in a few bars from a different colour. To create your own colour. Now there is no real way of knowing what its going to do, it depends on your hair, if you have bleached or coloured it before, also how long you leave it on for. So if you want to know, do the test. ;) You should do the test (as instructed) to make sure you don't have a reaction as well. I just went for it and left it on much, much, much longer than they advice. So experiment. ;)
Cost, it was 10.95. Which can sound a lot, but I have mega long hair and would have to by two box dyes to cover my hair - I get them on sale for between 5-7 pounds each. So for me this wasn't any more money than am used to and thinner shorter hair you won't need the whole bar!
This was before, as you can see its looking quite dry and a real mix of bleached ends and about half way up the last time I dyed it. Yes that was no where near the colour I had picked and it washed out quickly to this reddish brown.
I loved my hair, its one thing about me I really love. So thinking of using a new product which I had no idea, how it would come out, not just to my hair doing what it wants but also due to the nature of the product its self it was a little scary!
I did't quite get the mix perfect, it was a little closer to mud than chocolate. So it was a little harder to put on than it could have been! Do follow the instructions closely but I have also read that you can grate the bar on a grater. Am going to try this next time as I think it will be easier!
You will need an old towel, this stuff can get everywhere and will dye what evert it lands on. I found it was easy to bend over the bath and put it on like I would wash my hair if in a hurry! This kept the mess down loads! I then wrapped my hair in an old plastic bag and then (I had to do the school run) a vintage scarf for a retro turban. This worked really well, wrapping in plastic will help to keep it warm and working longer but not needed.
I left it on for something like 9 hours....I have read of people sleeping in it, pop an old towel and sheets on ;) (They recommend 1-2 hours.) Doing the test first will help you make up your mind how long you want to leave it on for. With this colour the longer the more copper will come out I think. Once you have washed it off it will still develop for up to 24hrs after so you may still see a change in the colour a day later.
Its so hard to take a photo of how amazing how its come out! Its really improved the condition too! It look so natural, and I have already had lots of complements.
Its added a dark red tint to the natural hair colour at the top and brightened the end to a very bright orange colour.
I don't feel like I have dyed my hair, its so soft and conditioned! The smell is very strong, not my favourite of scents but still very refreshing.
Not only is this product, natural and Vegan, it also has a lot less plastic waste! (The bar of Henna is only held in card, unlike the plastic bottles of hair dye I used to buy.)
I love too the surprise, even if all my friends picked this same colour, we would all look different!
Trying to get a photo to show you was really hard work and I ended up with loads of very self-indulgent photos!
So would I recommend it? YES!! In fact am excited to use it again!
It is a permanent colour it won't just wash out.
Yes, it covers greys! (It will lighten them, not matching them to the over all colour but use them as highlights.) I may or may not have found my first grey hair....Am saying nothing!!
It works differently to synthetic hair dyes, they penetrate the cuticle and enter the cortex to change your hair colour. Henna works by coating your hair like a varnish. Giving it an extra layer of protection as well as colour!
Lush, the company I picked to buy my Henna from uses Persian Henna, Fair Trade organic Cocoa Butter as well as other natural ingredients. Did you know Henna has been found in ancient Egypt, in fact its been a part of human history for a very long time, found in many ancient cultures.
Henna plant leaves are dried and then ground into a powder. Lush adds Cocoa Butter to make it a conditioning treatment as well as a dye, they say this helps to reduce flyaway hairs and static. I would agree, my hair feels so much smoother and much more glossy!
This product along with their Shampoo Bar, click here to read my review, my hair feels amazing and looks amazing! I wish I had been using these products for years and not only finding out about them now.
You don't have to take my word for it - Lush have added a review section to their website, and they, like me have converted sence using this product and won't go back to bottle dyes!
There are many places you can buy Henna from, from leaves, to powder, some cheaper than Lush but I like that its been mixed with Cocoa Butter. I have also loved how helpful they have been so will be buying it from them. I can't wait till I next dye my hair and see what it does, I think am going to mix it with another colour next time too so watch this space!
I have not been paid or had free products send for this review. :)
