Anyone tried Lush henna?

[Kristina713]

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about trying a natural dye. My ends are faded and brassy from commercial dying and my roots have a bit of grey in them. Ugh.

My issue is that I don't want to turn my hair red or make it look "dyed" (though a warm, slightly reddish brown would be okay). My natural colour is medium brown, and I don't want extremely visible roots.

I saw henna in Lush the other day and I was thinking about trying their brown (it says that it gives chestnut tones). Has anyone tried it?

Kristina

[Kristin]

I tried the brun and it gave slight reddish tones. I actually wanted more red, so I got the marron, but I haven't tried it yet.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. In my experience, if you go to a LUSH store and talk to the salespeople they can be very helpful.

[BelleBot]

I found Lush hennas to be fantastic for improving your hair's condition and make it super shiny. However they only left a slight tint of colour on my hair, so more like a gloss.
I've used caca marron, caca noir and caca rouge. I'm switching to BAQ henna now to see if I can get a more dramatic colour change.

Hope this helps :)

[JustMaria]

I've just ordered caca brun and caca maroon for my dark brown hair with lots of greys. Do you know if the caca can be frozen if you have leftovers? Thanks

[Nera]

I always use lush caca noir. I found that, on damaged hair, the henna shows better then the indigo. So in your case it will probably leave you with ends that are a little more red.
However, it makes your hair darker, and I find that, with every application, the indigo sticks better.
The Lush salespeople are indeed helpful, they actually know a lot about their products.
I really love Lush caca in general, so I hope you have good results as well!

[Crysania]

ive tried the marron on a test strand and it turned out red. ( my hair is dark blond/reddish light brown)

ive tried the caca brun on my hair and it turned red also, but i did a second application and it was more brown after. It fades after a while so you have to keep reapplying it........and the cocoa in it makes it more difficult to apply and rinse than the baq most ppl use

the result you would get really depends on the color you have now, because the girl at the store has naturally brown hair and the marron on her hair looks amazing, i didnt get the same result as her at all!:mad:

[metal_sugar]

I've just dyed my hair with caca brun this week, and I'm very happy with the results.

My hair was blonde with lightened ends that I'd been growing out. I left the caca brun in for about two hours on the first application. The result was super soft hair in a lovely dark shade. The lightened ends of my hair however, had a green tinge. But I was kind of expecting that really.... The day after I did a second application, left it in for about an hour and a half, and this time my ends only had a slight green tinge.

But, as if by magic, the next morning the green had gone and was replaced with a lovely brown colour, with just a bit of red. I'm loving it.

I'm thinking of doing yet another application, to get a darker and deeper colour, and I might just add a bit of caca marron to get a bit more red in it.

But all in all: two thumbs up. :cheese:

[CaityBear]

It's not bad. I started with Lush henna. I had dirty blonde/light brown hair before and the Rouge gave me a fairly orangy one but I did like it. My hair felt great afterwards.

Since then I've gotten my BF's sister and my mom using henna all the time. :) They use the Brun. Sometimes my mom uses Marron. But it does work pretty good. My BF's sister's hair is naturally a darkish brown and the Brun gave her a gorgeous red shine in the sunlight.

I just hate how gritty it is...

[Adora Belle]

I've used it before and I really liked it. I have naturally fairly dark brown hair, and the marron left it very auburn-ish, but mostly in the light. Be warned that it has coffee grinds it it which kind of drives me crazy trying to wash out, but it does leave your hair feeling amazing.

[Tonks]

I've also been thinking about using Lush's Caca Rouge. I have very dark brown hair, all virgin, and as far as colour goes, I'm just looking for something a little different. I would prefer it not be super red or anything. When I was younger, I used to dye my hair red with chemical dyes, but I found it made me look too pale, so I stopped and grew it out. I still like the idea of hair with reddish tones in it.

I went to Lush the other day and asked about their Caca Rouge, and I asked about having a sample, and they said they didn't do any of that (which is sad, because I've been told Lush gives samples of their products, but I guess not at this particular store). They did tell me, however, that no matter how much of the henna I used, I could return it for all my money back if I wasn't satisfied, so that made me feel better.

I have a roommate who's willing to help me apply the henna and everything, but I still haven't been able to come to a decision whether or not I want to give it a try. I also have a 15% off coupon that expires at the end of the month, and I want to get it used :P

[Kristina713]

Thanks for your replies. I went out and bought the Caca brun this weekend, but I haven't had time to use it yet. There were a lot of detailed reviews on the Lush website which explained how people have used it (adding coffee and not wrapping it up to get more of a brown tone, for instance). A few people said it turned their hair green, but it was people with blonder hair. My hair is medium-dark brown so I should be okay. The Lush saleswoman was helpful, though she did try to sell me a bunch of other products (shampoo bars there have SLS, so I didn't want any). I'll let you know how it turns out!

[Trixie]

Good luck with your henna! I've used the Brun a few times and love it! I spent over a year doing glosses with BAQ henna until I realized my medium brown hair was turning too orangy for my liking. So I switched to using Lush Caca Brun to bring back some of the brown tones in my hair. It looks very close to my natural color, but more shiny and conditioned! :cheese: The indigo doesn't stick very well on my hair, so the color lightens up slightly over a few weeks, but most of the color stays.

[SamanthaSkis]

I just did that last night. It was messy but the color is beautiful. I think it is well worth a try.

[Kristina713]

Henna is in. The girl at the store said to let it dry (not cover it), but that just seemed way too messy. So I put a shower cap on. Is it ever heavy! I guess now it's just wait. The instruction sheet said 2-3 hours. I set the kitchen timer for 3. Seem like enough?

[Trixie]

3 hours should be plenty! I always cover mine too...I hate when it starts dripping down my neck and forehead. Can't wait to hear about/see your results! I have heard people say that it's really hard to wash out the Lush henna, but I just glopped on tons of conditioner like I usually did with BAQ henna and I didn't have a problem getting it all out. Rinse, rinse, rinse! :)

[HeathenHexe]

here is my result with 3 hours/2 blocks caca rouge. i thought it washed out easier than BAQ henna and i don't have that dry-ish tangly feeling i usually have right after i henna.

i'm thrilled! i would have never known Lush carried henna if not for this board. :D

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f304/voodoogeisha/2010_0412aprilhenna0016.jpghttp://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f304/voodoogeisha/2010_0412aprilhenna0021.jpg

[Kristina713]

Well, I just rinsed out the Lush Caca Brun, using several rounds of conditioner. The stuff coming off my hair was dark green, which kind of freaked me out. And it looks like it turned my hair black! I'll have to wait for it to airdry and see how it looks. But it looks really, really dark. Not what I was expecting. I wonder if they mislabeled my block and it was really the Noir colour. We'll see, I guess....

[Kristina713]

Also, my hair feels extremely greasy and dirty, like it's covered in a heavy oil. Even though I used 4 rounds of Suave conditioner and rinsed for like 20 minutes. Maybe I should have shampooed the henna out (I was hesitant because I washed and dried my hair before putting the henna in so I didn't want to overwash). I guess for now I'll let it dry and then wash it in the morning.

[Trixie]

HeathenHexe, your hair looks great! Really shiny and beautiful color :)

Kristina713 - My water always looks dark green too! It is kind of freaky but luckily my hair never turns out green. As far as the color goes, you'll probably see some fading from the indigo anyway in a few days, so I wouldn't fret it too much yet! As far as the grease goes, it's probably good to try shampooing tomorrow and see if that helps. If your hair is super greasy, it may also be making the color look darker? Hopefully after a shampoo and a few days the color will be brownish and not black! I hope it all turns out OK for you! :)

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

New here to the forums! :D I was interested in trying the lush henna but I have layers of chemical hair bleach and color right now. Not sure if it would mess my hair up and react with what I previously had in it. I have not chemically colored in almost two months now. Does anyone know if it would cause the ends to go much darker than the roots? I want to stop using chemical coloring and only use all natural alternatives. Thanks for any advice. :)

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

Actually now I wonder if it would even show up if I used the caca rouge..? Most of the length of my hair are dyed a med-dark brown with a little reddish tinge in it. My roots are partially a lighter mousey ash brown with a little bit of grays here and there. Any help appreciated. :p

[BelleBot]

here is my result with 3 hours/2 blocks caca rouge. i thought it washed out easier than BAQ henna and i don't have that dry-ish tangly feeling i usually have right after i henna.

i'm thrilled! i would have never known Lush carried henna if not for this board. :D
*images snipped*


Wow, what a beautiful colour, wish I had gotten that sort of result when I used Caca Rouge. What was your starting colour?


New here to the forums! :D I was interested in trying the lush henna but I have layers of chemical hair bleach and color right now. Not sure if it would mess my hair up and react with what I previously had in it. I have not chemically colored in almost two months now. Does anyone know if it would cause the ends to go much darker than the roots? I want to stop using chemical coloring and only use all natural alternatives. Thanks for any advice. :)

Henna is fairly forgiving when it comes to two toned hair and can really help even out your colour. It won't be completely even but it won't have really noticeable demarcation lines. And you can just do root only applications of henna if you're worried about the ends getting too dark.

Indigo (which is in Lush's Caca Brun, Marron and Noir) can react with previously bleached hair and sometimes go a funny blue or green ish colour. Though henna is fine over previously dyed hair. I must admit I've used Marron, Noir and Rouge on my hair and that's had all sorts of dye and bleach on it over the years and I never had any odd reactions. Though the Noir didn't do anything for colour really so I'm guessing the indigo didn't stick to my hair for whatever reason.

[HeathenHexe]

Wow, what a beautiful colour, wish I had gotten that sort of result when I used Caca Rouge. What was your starting colour?



my hair is naturally darkish dishwater blonde. i've been using BAQ henna since February and chemical horror dyes for years before that. also, i put my heating pad over my wrapped hair for about an hour of my sit time.

and KaleidoscopeEyz, if it's any help, all but the top 2.5 inches or so of mine are chemically dyed.

:)

[SmileShine]

I used caca rouge a while ago, and it's mostly grown out/faded by now. I'm tempted to do it again for summer, because I really liked the color!

[starsaphire]

Kaleidoscope, with all that chemical damage, I'd recommend going with BAQ henna. I don't know if Lush's henna contains the metallic salts that react badly with dyed hair (some commercial "henna" dyes, like the ones you get at the beauty supply store, have these metallic salts in them) but better safe than sorry.

But I only buy bath bombs and soap at Lush, so I'm not the best person to ask. ;)

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

Wow, what a beautiful colour, wish I had gotten that sort of result when I used Caca Rouge. What was your starting colour?



Henna is fairly forgiving when it comes to two toned hair and can really help even out your colour. It won't be completely even but it won't have really noticeable demarcation lines. And you can just do root only applications of henna if you're worried about the ends getting too dark.

Indigo (which is in Lush's Caca Brun, Marron and Noir) can react with previously bleached hair and sometimes go a funny blue or green ish colour. Though henna is fine over previously dyed hair. I must admit I've used Marron, Noir and Rouge on my hair and that's had all sorts of dye and bleach on it over the years and I never had any odd reactions. Though the Noir didn't do anything for colour really so I'm guessing the indigo didn't stick to my hair for whatever reason.
Thank you BelleBot, hopefully I will get the courage to try it out. Might wait another couple months, I only have almost an inch of regrowth but it is bothering me already. lol Is there a way to go about freshening the ends when you do just root applications?


my hair is naturally darkish dishwater blonde. i've been using BAQ henna since February and chemical horror dyes for years before that. also, i put my heating pad over my wrapped hair for about an hour of my sit time.

and KaleidoscopeEyz, if it's any help, all but the top 2.5 inches or so of mine are chemically dyed.

:)
HeathenHexe, your hair turned out so pretty! Looks like an even gorgeous color to me. :)

[BelleBot]

Kaleidoscope, with all that chemical damage, I'd recommend going with BAQ henna. I don't know if Lush's henna contains the metallic salts that react badly with dyed hair (some commercial "henna" dyes, like the ones you get at the beauty supply store, have these metallic salts in them) but better safe than sorry.

But I only buy bath bombs and soap at Lush, so I'm not the best person to ask. ;)
The Lush henna doesn't contain any metallic salts. :) Here are the ingredients for Rouge:

Red Henna (Lawsonia inermis), Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Fresh Organic Lemon Juice (Citrus limonum), Powdered Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Clove Bud Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus), *Citral, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Citronellol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume}
*Occurs naturally in essential oils

The other have similar ingredients, but obviously contain indigo as well.

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

It sounds like a lot of people here love BAQ henna. I am only afraid of messing it up somehow with the mixing or applying. I don't think I would be very good at that. I wish I could find someone in my area to help me. :( Do any of you know what the linalool and all those other ingredients are exactly in the Lush henna?

[BelleBot]

Anything with a star by it such as the linalool occur naturally in essential oils.

The thing to watch out with some box henna is metallic salts, but I can guarantee there are none in Lush hennas. It's mainly henna and cocoa butter with a few extra oils thrown in for smell. The words in brackets are the latin names for the ingredients in case you were wondering.

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

Anything with a star by it such as the linalool occur naturally in essential oils.

The thing to watch out with some box henna is metallic salts, but I can guarantee there are none in Lush hennas. It's mainly henna and cocoa butter with a few extra oils thrown in for smell. The words in brackets are the latin names for the ingredients in case you were wondering.

Ohhhh I see. So maybe Lush would be better to use for someone with super dry hair like mine?

[Kristina713]

Okay, I have pictures of my henna experience. Here is my hair before:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49292162@N06/4518915799/in/photostream/

ANd here is my hair after:
http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/49292162@N06/4518915573/in/photostream/

[Kristina713]

Oops. That didn't work at all! I guess I don't know how to post pictures. Hold on, I'm going to go figure it out.

[Kristina713]

I used Caca Brun from Lush. It was a difficult process -- messy, heavy, hard to wash out. But I am happy with the results. My hair is a nice dark brown and much shinier. Here are the pics. Before:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4518915799_e9c7fee6e3_m.jpg
And here is after the henna:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4518915573_6ab95c00b8_m.jpg

The pictures were taken in different lights, so the after is not as red as it looks in the picture. But you can see how much shinier it is and how much better the waves look. Thanks for your support everyone!

[Kristina713]

By the way, here is a more accurate picture of the dark brown colour. I'm pleased. The henna covered the grey and the brassy ends.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4520001812_110f300ed6_s.jpg

[Kristina713]

Bigger (sorry -- I'm still bad at this):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4520001812_110f300ed6_m.jpg

[BelleBot]

Ohhhh I see. So maybe Lush would be better to use for someone with super dry hair like mine?
Should be fine on dry hair, sometimes means the colour isn't as strong, but it's always left mine very glossy and conditioned because of the cocoa butter in it. It's just a bit of a devil to rinse out.


Bigger (sorry -- I'm still bad at this):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4520001812_110f300ed6_m.jpg

Ooo, that's lovely, a nice rich chocolate colour and beautiful shine. :)

[metal_sugar]

I didn't have all that much trouble rinsing it out. I've done many cassia treatments before, and it wasn't worse than rinsing out cassia IMO.

Here's what I did:
1. Rinsed with water to get all the "obvious" bits out
2. Slathered my whole hair with conditioner (I used one from Giovanni, can't remember which one)
3. Worked the conditioner well into my hair and scalp (that's where most of the gritty bits were stuck)
4. Rinsed it all out with water.

Did not take overly long and was no big hassle. :)

[Kristina713]

I think my problem with rinsing it out was that I didn't shampoo afterwards. Lush Henna has cocoa oil in the blend. So even repeated conditioning didn't get it out. I was left with very greasy hair (and I think the grease was full of dye so it got green all over my pillow that night). The next morning I shampooed and a lot more green color came out. It was nice and soft and clean after that. The Lush directions did say to shampoo it out but, silly me, I ignored them.

[starsaphire]

Ooooo, henna AND cocoa butter?

That just might get me to convert! :)

- starsaphire

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

I just went and bought Caca Rouge today. :) Hopefully will try it out within the next week or two. The sales associate didn't seem to know much about it at all. He said that maybe it will give me a little reddish tinge but he doesn't know...

[Trixie]

Bigger (sorry -- I'm still bad at this):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4520001812_110f300ed6_m.jpg

Gorgeous! I love the color and the shine! I'm getting the urge to caca my hair again very soon :D

[petitepraline]

Your color came out so beautiful!

I just used Lush Caca Noir today. I have naturally dark brown\black hair and was trying for a blue tint. I let it air dry for 6 hours but still had no luck. The henna was soo hard to wash out, and my hair still feels so greasy afterwards. I also noticed quite a bit more hairs in the bath tub and in my comb :(

[Barbaraa]

I bought lush's caca noir henna. yesterday my flatmate and i made a night of putting it in my hair. This morning, however, my hair looks exactly the same color, not even a shade different.

we followed the directions in the lush magazine and left it on from 10:30 at night until 3 when i washed it out. I let air dry for a darker color.


has anyone ever had this problem? did i do something wrong? should i complain?
*Link removed. Please see the Selling and Swapping Rules (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=44940)

[marisa]

I've been experimenting with different hennas for the last year.
I really do like the Lush bars, but have found that leaving it uncovered results in no color change for me (my hair is naturally dark brown with greys mixed in).
I always wrap it now.

Lately I have been using Karishma brand henna (baq quality~bought at local Indian grocery) which makes my hair really, really red after a few hennas. I like it, but at some point it is really just gets too bright for my complexion.
Then I alternate with a Caca Brun application to tone it down a bit.
And I love the way it conditions my hair!

The red still peeks through a bit, especially in the sun, it looks so lovely.
The reason I alternate between the two is that Lush on it's own doesn't penetrate my greys enough, despite adding apple cider vinegar. Karishma really does.
And I find the Caca Brun really lasts much longer with a pure henna base to stick to.

I'm really happy with my routine.

[Kristina713]

I have to say that the Caca Brun gave a very subtle change for me. I covered my few greys and evened out my brassy ends. It darkened my hair overall just a little. I can notice it, but no one else commented on it. That's okay, because I wanted a natural look. And it really improved my hair's condition (though again, I'm the only one who noticed). But if I was looking for a noticable colour change I would be disappointed. I actually think that next time I might use the Caca Marron (reddish brown), because I wouldn't mind a bit more warmth in the colour.

[Barbaraa]

I've used it a couple of times, it works okay. It's a bit easier to work with than henna powder, and if the hay smell of straight henna annoys you then the Lush an be more pleasant. The main downside is that because it's in a block and exposed to air, it oxidizes and therefore often doesn't give as brilliant a colour as body-art-quality henna.


__________________

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

Currently sitting with Caca Rouge on my head. Applying it was a pain! Literally. :( My DBF was applying it for me with ntirile gloves on and half my hair got pulled out or snapped off because he got frustrated.. I think the mixture was also way too thick because it wouldn't spread. I imagine this won't turn out too even...

[Kristina713]

Good luck with your henna. It does thicken up fast, doesn't it? I just kept adding more coffee until it was a bit runny. And I just kind of globbed it onto my hair -- not very systematic and it probably wouldn't work for longer hair. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

[KaleidoscopeEyz]

Good luck with your henna. It does thicken up fast, doesn't it? I just kept adding more coffee until it was a bit runny. And I just kind of globbed it onto my hair -- not very systematic and it probably wouldn't work for longer hair. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Thanks Kristina! It thickened up super fast. Towards the end he just got pissed and watered it down a lot. It turned out really uneven. It's redder in the crown area and stayed pretty much the same in the front. My hair felt like hay afterwards and I had a ton of breakage so I put a bunch of coconut oil in it. Not too pleased so far. Probably going to have to try BAQ henna next..

[alwayssmiling]

Just a note on the thickness of lush caca. I have found that when mixing it - leave it a minute or so to allow it to keep thickening. I keep adding liquid until its a fairly smooth consistency (like thick yoghurt) and stops thickening on its own. Its surprising how much liquid it will absorb. I find it easier to apply if its less thick and ever so slightly runnier (not the right word but you know what I mean), and it certainly gives me better coverage and finish and is easier to rinse off. HTH

[Tonks]

I bought my first block of Caca Rouge yesterday! Got it all grated, just waiting till Thursday when I have no classes to be able to leave it in all day :)

[Trixie]

Currently sitting with Caca Rouge on my head. Applying it was a pain! Literally. :( My DBF was applying it for me with ntirile gloves on and half my hair got pulled out or snapped off because he got frustrated.. I think the mixture was also way too thick because it wouldn't spread. I imagine this won't turn out too even...

The Lush henna really does get thick! To make it easier to spread on my hair, I mix it with some thin conditioner, and that really seems to help! It also makes the little pieces somewhat easier to rinse out.

[TinaDenali]

I've used Lush before and I really like it. It's easy to apply and I've never had any issues with rinsing it out.

I think that your color looks great! With henna, sometimes you have to do several applications over the course of a couple days if you're looking for a dramatic change or dark/rich color.

[MOOBUG]

I did the brown one a few years ago. The results were pretty good, but what a mess!!! I must have spent about an hour getting it all out my hair.

definitly worth the shiny happy results though

[Tonks]

Got the Caca Rouge in my hair, it's been in for about four hours now. The lady at the store told me six hours if I could manage it, and I'm wondering if I should wait the extra two hours, or if four should be enough.

[lilalong]

Lush henna left my hair very shiny and conditioned. It was easy to rinse out as well.

What I didn't like was the grating and that the color faded much quicker, then when I use regular henna.

[alwayssmiling]

Got the Caca Rouge in my hair, it's been in for about four hours now. The lady at the store told me six hours if I could manage it, and I'm wondering if I should wait the extra two hours, or if four should be enough.

I usually use a hairdryer to quicken the process (I cling film my hair first of course). I have left Caca in for 2 and 3 hours and didn't notice a difference in colour - so a couple of hours is enough for me.

[ericauk]

I've found that pure henna powder is not only much easier to rinse from my hair, but the colour is stonger and lasts longer than Lush Caca Noir which tends to fade

[Tonks]

Well, I think I officially love henna! I've given the colour a few days to show up real nice, and show up it has :) It's not a drastic difference, which was good, since it was my first time. There's definitely coppery undertones in my hair and I think they look great :) Next time I'll probably track down BAQ henna, but Lush worked well enough for me.

[Fiferstone]

I used LUSH Caca Marron for 4 years, and I found that the LUSH henna thickens up because of the butters in it, which harden as they cool. That's why they recommend keeping the mixture warm, so that you can get it on your hair without the butters re-hardening.

I've since switched to Yemeni henna, because the dye release is better and the results last longer on me.

[Animae]

I've got the noir on my head now, its wrapped and I'm planning on sleeping with it in, and rinsing it in the morning. I've used rouge before and liked it, but I think that the last few SMTs i've done have lightened my hair a bit, and I want it darker.

[Isabel]

I've used Lush Caca Noir. Wasn't too happy with it. For some reason, the cocoa butter sticks to my hair and makes it waxy and flat no matter what I do to it. I have to wash my hair 2-3 times just to get it to be somehow manageable and even then, there's some waxy residue left. :scared:Then again, I do have fairly dry hair, so I guess that cocoa butter just doesn't have enough moisture in it? Guess it just doesn't work for everybody.

I'm much happier with regular henna. In my case it seems to be easy to wash out and I can follow up with any oil or conditioner I like without getting the waxies.

[Animae]

I mixed some noir with some VO5 and its stilling in my hair now. My friend missed a spot or two in my hair ( I've got lots of it, so its not hard to miss some)

I'm thinking about leaving it in overnight.

[tcheney91]

I'm definitely interested in doing this, but I would mourn the loss of my blond streaks... You can see them here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=5405&pictureid=73551) and here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=5405&pictureid=72292). Do you think it would be totally ridiculous to try and pin those sections out of the way of the henna? Or would it bleed on there...?

[Aredhel77]

This is my experience of Lush Cacas. I've used it about 4 times now.

I wanted a dark reddish brown so purchased a block each of Caca Brun and Marron. My first application was just Marron, and the shade was too 'flamey' for my hair so now I use 1 part Brun to 2 parts Marron and that 'ashes' the shade a bit.

My hair is medium thick, wavy/curly and about 6 inches below my shoulders. The assistant at the shop I bought it in advised that I use a whole block (that's 9 squares) in order to get good colour coverage on my hair and I did this on first application (with the Marron). I've since found I can use just 3 squares off a block of Lush henna and it covers fine, which means the blocks stretch further! Perhaps it's because I had established a good base colour on first application?

Some of the info below may be old hat for anyone experienced with henna so I apologise if this is the case but for any new initiates, this is how I do it, may you learn from my (minor!) mistakes! For easier mixing, I have found it helps to chop the bars slightly and then put them in a food processor and grind it down to more of a powder. I put it in a jug/bowl, add hot water to cover and stir. It does indeed thicken so I add a good glug more of hot water, stir thoroughly again and do this a few times until it's sort of a double-cream texture. If it's too thick it doesn't spread so well. I then follow the label instructions for application and when it's applied I massage the hair carefully every so often to ensure even coverage. It does often drip but if I use a barrier cream (usually Vaseline) around ears/hairline before application, it doesn't cause any skin staining problems. Oh, and I cut up a bin liner to put over a towel around my shoulders. I have even been known to wrap a black bin liner around my head. Sitting for 3-4 hrs has produced a good colour result so far but I will try longer next time!

Rinsing is a pain, no getting around it! I have tried rinsing it over the bath (major neckache, took about a hundred rinses of water and some swishing in a half full bath) and I had to scrub the bath like mad. Rinsing while IN the bath was a bit easier but still a green-stained bath afterwards and major cleanup job. I think it was the cocoa butter settling around the edge of the bath. Finally I tried showering it out, head tipped forward, which was definitely the easiest rinse option but it spattered everywhere. Anyway, live and learn, I will stick with showering now (and more carefully, with head held lower!) because then the dye doesn't have time to stick around the edge of the bath. This has resulted in easier cleaning! I have previously shampooed it out after rinsing well but will try saturating it in conditioner before rinsing as some of you have suggested.

It does rinse a bit green for the first wash or two - this seems to be normal for this product. Also the coffee grinds in it take a wash or two to fully come out I think! The mixture of Brun and Marron fades/washes out on my hair to leave a nice plummy red base tone on my hair. I reapply about every 3 weeks. It leaves it in great condition.

HTH

[Aredhel77]

Oh gosh, I am sorry, that was a long post :rolleyes:. My apologies.

[TigerLily1]

Thanks for the info Aredhel, I am using luch too and tried both Brun and Maroon, didn't think of mixing the two, the brun didn't cover my silver hairs well, but I didn't add vinegar to it, the maroon is covering all my silver hairs, but Mellie told me to add the vinegar, I didn't think of mixing the two, so that's good info.

Also the information re the shower washing is interesting, I always washed bending over the bath edge, like you I was too worried about splashing everywhere if I used the shower, but if you say that is actually an easier rinse, then I will try rinsing in the shower next time.

[TinaDenali]

Another thing - the times I've used LUSH henna I did this:
Instead of mixing with water, I mixed with very strong warm (not hot!) coffee and stirred it to a paste. Then I applied this on my head and kinda molded my hair to my head. Once dry, I wrapped a hand towel around my head and secured it with a head band. THEN - I slept with this on my head overnight. I'm talking at least 10 hours.
I've had quite dramatic results with this - several shades darker with Caca Brun. However, I find henna doesn't really "stick" to my hair and it fades out in a few weeks. Shame! :(

[Aredhel77]

Yes, the 'brown' element does fade quickly but I think it will still leave a red base tone in your hair which will help for next time.

I Lush Caca'd yesterday and played around even more with the mix. I used my usual 3 squares, 1 of Brun & 2 of Marron and to the mixture added a dash of ACV and a dollop each of honey and molasses (bit like a henna gloss maybe) and left it on my hair for 6 hours (which is the longest time for me!)

It's a very dark brown shade, I like it! I do normally wash my hair frequently though (almost daily) so I wonder how long it will last. I'll try to hold out a bit until the first proper wash.

I love the coffee/geranium/clove scent! I keep sniffing my hair :-)

Does anyone just 'Caca' their roots? I haven't done this yet but I guess it might be worth sticking with whole head application due to the amount it fades out between applications...?

Lush Caca's are more like a semi-permanent colour in that respect, except for the reddish base tone it leaves, would you all agree?

[ColoradoDreamer]

I noticed that someone upthread asked about using LUSH henna over hair that had damage from chemical dyes. I've done this with excellent results, the first time I used it. I had several inches that had grown out from my last application of chemical dye - probably a good 4-5 months' worth of growth, if not more. I did a strand test first to make sure that I wouldn't wind up with a funky color or worse damage. The result looked good, so I did a full application. WOW. Caca brun evened out my color - from salt and pepper (heavy on the "salt") new growth to previously-dyed hair with some damage. I do have some pictures of the results of that first application, and I'll post them in a bit.

Unfortunately, I wasn't blessed with a lot o patience for sitting with a headful of goop for several hours, and I did only one more application of caca brun before letting my hair grow out for a few months and then using chemical dye again. Now, that was a mistake. I wound up frying my hair and did a major chop a little over a year ago and was back to a pixie.

My hair is back out to about shoulder-length now, and I grew really tired of looking at all the gray. So I "caca'ed" again a couple of weeks ago. I only used one block the first time and didn't get as good color as I wanted. I did another application about a week later, using two blocks and adding coffee as my warm liquid.

Caca brun covers my grays and blends them away so that they just look like lighter brunette highlights against the rest of my hair. I did cover my head with a plastic cap, and it's a little more red than I'd like. Next time, I'll leave it uncovered.

Now, I'm off to see if I can upload a couple of pictures to show you.

[ColoradoDreamer]

I'm back with pictures! :cheese:

After first use of LUSH Caca brun:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/chitchatters/FritzesMom/100_0393.jpg

After first coloring with Caca brun a couple of weeks ago - nice, but not dark enough on my grays:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/chitchatters/FritzesMom/100_0657.jpg

After second application a few days later - I had a friend tell me I look like I did in high school:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/chitchatters/FritzesMom/100_0662.jpg

Not sure that I look like I did some thirty-odd years ago, but the color is pretty close to the color my hair was in my youth. And, I might add, my hair has now grown out to the length it was in that first picture!:cheese:

I do like LUSH Caca brun!