Lush Henna, it's amazing!

[Snakeonaplane]

I read about it on S&B ages ago but have only just got around to buying some and have to say I am converted. My hair is beautifully glossy and soft and the colour is lovely . Thank you who ever recommended it.

ah thnank you

I always recommend it, it makes the hair very very shiney and lovely-although does stink and is a faff at first. If you are dark haired with just a few grays, Caca Brun blends them in to a coppery blonde shade. I leave on for four hours but two works well too. It goes abit dark at first but then fades to a lovely shade. You can then retouch your roots/greys in a few weeks or redo it. People always ask me what shampoo I use due to the shine!

Does the red one go RED or Red or just red.?

FoofFighter, it depends what your starting colour is, if it is light then it will go very red.

I have put henna on top of bleach before and it is fine, some people bleach first anyway to get a brighter result, the problem is trying to relighten hennaed hair, especially those tha contain indigo (noir, brun marron), it you bleach over these you are likely to get some green (I certainly did).

it was bleached but is now dyed a light caramel brown which is rapidly fading, no colour stays on long since I bleached it i cannot afford the upkeep of dying it any more now I don't have a job so wondered if this would be a cheap way to keep it looking nice.

natural hair colour is light to mid brown with a couple of greys starting to come through

would hope to not be messing around bleaching it again in the future if I can get glossy shiny hair with a touch of colour in i will be happy :) I suit caramel and warm reds

It's a very forgiving hair dye. If you are using it for the first time I would get a block of the redder tones (original red, or marron) and a block with indigo in it (like brun or noir) so that if you find it too red initially (as I did) you can go over it with the darker shade. You don't risk over-processing it, as it's quite conditioning.
It is a bit of a faff though, so best to do it at weekends. My hair was very bleached, and the henna took really well. The shade does also change over 24-48 hours so another reason to give yourself loads of time (you may also need lots of bathroom cleaner)
Another plus is that you don't need to use much of it, 3 'squares' easily covers my shoulder length hair

Sounds good! Are there browns that dont have red undertones (as I would prefer something ashy)?

Eek, is it really messy and staining for bathrooms then? I'd best not go ahead then as I live in a rental property

It's fine, Foo! I don't think it would stain non porous surfaces (like ordinary dye might) it just looks mucky!

Foof, even!

Caca brun is a lovely chestnut brown.

I don't find it goes orange, just a coppery blonde (The Caca brun) on greys. It kind of blends it all in.

Henna moved on somewhat in recent years, you can get much better and easier product to use these days such "surya henna Brasilia, readily available from www.amazon.co.uk/surya+henna+cream, smells wonderful, colours hair in 30 min. and condition to perfection, also helps with straightening of the hair, I have been using it for years.

Have been reading on www.hennapage.com and am inspired to actually try the powder way, there's people adding lemon juice, coffee, wine, spices, essential oils etc to try and tweak the colours, fascinating!

You can add all of those things to Lush henna too Foof, it is basically powder in a block form iyswim.

just bought some today, will report back
can't quite get over the name though

Sorry Wandawings, I forgot to come back and update . Actually worked ok but I am going to do again with the rest of the block (my hair is short so didn't need all of it). Aiming for better consistency this time and I think it will improve. Happy with the colour but the helpful lady in the shop said repeating will increase the depth of colour - will give it another go next week

I did mine a week ago and it has been changing slightly all week as it oxidizes.

I am really glad I did it though I would like it to be more of a winey colour.

Think will repeat in a couple of weeks.

I love it, my hair is a dull dark brown and I usually use a mix of brun and marron, I tried just marron this time and didn't see much difference to using the mixture.

Makes my hair much richer and with a chestnutty glow. I only have a few greys at the moment, it does make them gold rather than dark.

I use a shower cap covered with a towelling turban to keep it all in place and warm while it develops, normally leave it 3 to 4 hours. Use vaseline all round the hairline and ears. Do it every couple of months.

As for the bathroom, it cleans off just make sure you don't leave it to dry on. Watch you don't tread any bits out on your feet. My white shower curtain got a bit stained but I stuck it in a hot wash with a bit of bleach and it is fine now.

On my second go today so will be interested to see how it turns out. The mixture was better this time around but I think I am using too much having read trunkybun's post.