LUSH Henna Hair Dye: Caca Brun

I know what you're thinking: "Hey Ella, what are you doing dying your hair again? And also, why on Earth are you dying it brown, of all things? Your hair is already brown!" (I acknowledge the fact that you probably thought none of this, haha) Buuut, as some of you may know, I recently dyed my hair back to brown after briefly having it a very vibrant bluey-purple at the end of last year. However, after a month or so of my new (old) brunette life, I realised that there was a slight tinge of green in my hair colour, presumably a chemical reaction because I put brown dye on on top of bleach, pretty much.

Though it was only slight, it annoyed me, and in certain light, it was kind of noticeable. I didn't want to go straight in with a box dye and end up damaging it even more, so I explored my options. Which lead me looking into LUSH's hennas. I was lucky enough to be given a small sample block (above - it's real size is about eight times bigger) to try for the first time. Henna is completely natural and really good for your hair, so I thought I'd try it out and take you on my journey!

Some things you will need for this process: rubber gloves (the lovely people at LUSH will provide you with some if you don't have any), a heat-proof bowl, a saucepan, grips/clips to section your hair, lots and LOTS of newspaper/magazines/anything to cover your floor, clothes you don't mind getting messy and a towel. A lot of people also recommend vaseline to rub around your hairline and ears to prevent staining on your skin, but I used none and haven't noticed any staining, so it's your call!

Melting the henna

The first thing you need to do is chop up the henna, from tutorials I've seen online, some people use a cheese grater - I just cut mine with a knife because I found that was easier to make the product finer. Be patient, this will take a while! Boil some water, and then pour it over the crumbled bits of henna in your heat-proof bowl. I poured the water in little bits at a time - I didn't want to pour in loadsand end up with it being too watery. Place the bowl in a saucepan with boiling water and let it heat up for a few minutes. The leaflet the henna comes with suggests that the mixture should end up as a 'thick hot chocolate'.

Cover in food wrap and leave to set for a few minutes

Once you take the bowl out of the saucepan, cover it with food wrap/cling film (whatever you want to call it!) and leave it to set for a few minutes more. This is when you want to get ready and set up your workstation. Hennaing is very, very messy, so I highly suggest laying down newspaper, or whatever you can use to cover up your floor. This is especially crucial if you live in rented accommodation or with your parents (I can't imagine they'd be very happy with a bunch of brown splotches all over the floor!) Also - get in some clothes you don't mind getting mucky.

Now comes the fun part - putting it on your hair! Whack the gloves on, section off your hair, and start applying it on strands of your hair. It's not the easiest or cleanest method in the world, it does drip everywhere, but just persevere and you'll be fine. Once you've covered your whole head, wrap it in the cling film and leave for 1 to 4 hours - the longer you leave it in, the better the colour turnout. I've also heard that the wrap is to keep the heat in, which means you'll end up with redder tones, whereas if you leave it unwrapped and let the henna oxidise, you'll get browner/blacker tones. So it's up to you whether you decide to wrap it or not, but with the way it drips down the back of your neck, I'd recommend keeping it wrapped.

Hair wrap - leave in for a few hours for the best results!

Aftermath: my workstation and very messy sweatpants

I did a strand test before doing my whole head earlier last week, because I wanted to see how the henna would react to chemically treated hair, and the piece of hair I tested came out quite a vibrant red-brown. So I was quite surprised when my whole head didn't turn out as red. However, that doesn't matter, because my hair no longer has that green tinge to it, which I'm more than happy about! And though, unfortunately, you can't see the red tones in this picture, it does come up slightly in the sun and harsh bathroom lighting. Plus, my hair feels so thick and lovely.

Would I use henna again? It's a lot of work, what with the prep, application, and leaving it in for so long. I wasn't so keen on the smell either - for some reason it really reminded me of marzipan? (I really don't like marzipan, haha) But I did like it, and some of my friends have tried the Caca Rouge before, and it's turned their hair into gorgeous reds, so it's a great product. I think I will use it again, for when I think my hair needs a bit of revitalising, and when I have a lot of extra time!

The colour keeps developing for a few days after application, so I will check in mid-week to report the progress. Until then, it's ciao from me!