LUSH henna - why has it took me so long to find this fabulous stuff?

[IDoAllMyOwnStunts]

God it's amazing. Been using box dyes for ages to cover the greys in my brown hair. My hair was in terrible condition, dry, thinning, breaking off etc.
Tried the reddy brown Lush henna, it's a gorgeous colour, plus has left it really glossy, hasn't been this shiny all over since I was in my 20s.
Did it about 4 weeks ago and the colour and shine is still as good as when I first did it. Will never use a box dye again.
Promise I don't work for them, just needed to share the love!

absolutely it is.
This is my method which I have successfully used many times on shoulder - mid length hair.

Chop henna up (I shave it off the block with sharp knife), cover with very hot water, let sit for a bit and then beat until smooth.
Apply barrier cream around skin at hairline, ears etc (I use leftover Waitrose bottom butter but anything quite thick will work - vaseline, face cream etc).

Wear black or something old.
Use old towels as they may get stained.

I then put the bowl of henna into the handbasin.

Ensure roll of clingfilm with end free is within reach.
Put on gloves.

Start to apply around the hairline and on the grey bits methodically with fingers.
Then I give up trying to be methodical once I'm satisfied I have a good coverage on grey sides.
I stick hair pretty much into the bowl and squeeze and mulch the rest of it in, giving everything a good massage and squeeze to ensure all strands are covered. I've always got a good coverage using this method.

While still bent over bowl I remove gloves and wrap clingfilm round my head a few times. - seal at top.
Stand up.
Breathe.

wipe off any messy bits on skin.
wait 3 hours or so.
Rinse off under tap.
jump in bath for shampoo/conditioner. If I had a shower with good pressure I'd use that instead.

yay your hair is now shiny, glossy and coloured.

Addressing the roots issue, I've never had really noticeable roots (though I'm sure you can get that if you dramatically change your hair colour) and I've never bothered with a roots touch up - I just do the lot all over again.

Thanks TrionicLettuce -I'd like to avoid anything burgundy/plum looking, so that's useful to know.

I am very tempted.

I am also very tempted. I did used to dye my hair years ago in my wild rebellious youth but now I want to dye it because it's going grey (tempus fugit etc)! I did actually buy a l'oreal box at the weekend but if I can get something that won't further worsen the condition of my greying inclined to frizz (without curl creme) thatch (yes I really am that sexy) then it's worth giving it a go. And hair dying is messy whichever method you use, I've found. My friend's mother, who ended up with pillarbox red all over her bathroom when me and said friend did our stuff in there all those years ago would certainly agree with me!

I do my roots every 4ish weeks? Use approx 1 of the small blocks (a sixth?), apply as described here and does the job fine. I do it at the sink, cover with cling film and a hat then go about my business at home. Leave on for anywhere between hour and three (depending what time I have).

I'm maybe 50% grey and this covers it fine. The colour is slightly brighter for first 48 hrs or so, so try to do it in advance of going out/ interview etc...

The colour is slightly brighter for first 48 hrs or so, so try to do it in advance of going out/ interview etc...

This!!

It doesn't matter how many times I use henna my first thought when I rinse it and have a look in the mirror is always "Fuck, that's orange!!"

Someone at work today said they loved the colour in my hair - it's dark brown, so the henna only shows up in the light. I think she was referring to the colour it has turned my grey hair.

My DD2 is a natural blonde...very fair. She decided to go red-brown with Lush henna a year ago... it's amazing (this is her currently) BUT she does have to redo it very regularly as the blonde roots come through very quickly!

Downside... she is stuck with the colour unless she wants to shave her head! BUT it does look great and she hated being stereotyped as a dumb blonde (she's anything but..!)

I used to henna mine (currently deliberately going grey) and I kept special towels for it. Dear GOD the mess!

Medusa, she is gorgeous. And I now have curl-envy

I don't find henna to be that much of a mess tbh. Like others have said, I put stuff on my parting/where the grey is the most obvious first and then just kind of bung everything else on, kneading and massaging it all in. Cling film on top, towel or old beanie hat on top of that and then I go about my business. In the house, not in public you'll be relieved to hear!

I rinse it head down over the bathtub and have to shampoo it at least 3 times until the water runs clear/ish.

It definitely darkens over the next 24-48 hrs.

I am going to have my bra-strap length hair cut to a pixie v soon and may consider growing it out just to see what the natural state of play of my hair is.
I don't really mind the grey so much, but I do mind how washed out I look with it, so I'd either have to start wearing regular make-up and I cannot see that happening or carry on brightening up my hair and henna does so much more than just colour it.
We shall see.

Oh, a rinsing out tip, especially for long hair: use cheap conditioner instead of shampoo, that gets it out much better than shampoo.
I have to do my roots again soon but I always just do all of it again. The henna does wash out of towels but it takes a few times sometimes. Also pillowcases get stained if you go to bed with damp hair (or sweat, not much risk of that now).
I have special towels for my hair too.
I went natural a few years ago but I felt very pale and washed out. Henna does the trick al right.

I did mine a couple of years ago with the Lush henna in Marron.

I had to use the whole block as I had long hair then. My DD had to help me to apply it seeing as I had a lot of hair and I couldn't manage alone.

I left it on for about 3 hours, I couldn't manage any longer because the sheer weight of it made my neck ache terribly!

Rinsing it off was the worst bit. It created a terrible sludge in the bath (and stained it!) and I had to get the sink plunger on the plug hole because it blocked it up.

However, the colour was lovely. It went the colour of a conker, and the greys went a bit redder than that. And it did seem to fade over time as well as growing out.

So although it looked lovely, I won't be doing it again. The mess, bleach required on my white bath, frantic sink plunging whilst having drippy hair was a bit too much for me.

Oh, and my DD missed a bit which bugged me for ages

Lush "henna" is a tint and will fade. Proper henna won't fade one little bit.

If you want proper hennaed hair you need henna with a high lawsone content and to mix it with something acidic to release the dye.

Hennacat sells high lawsone content henna powder.

The lady on www.hennaforhair.com this website has an eBook full of info on how to mix for best results, videos on how to apply etc. Very knowledgeable lady.

I heard that if you use henna you can never go back to normal hair dye. Is that true? (sorry, not rdft is it's already been mentioned).

No that's not true. But if you try to dye your hair straight after a henna dye it may not work properly. But I've had some great results of chemical after henna. The red does want to come through though, but if you want to make it darker, or oranger with blonde, you can.

Sancher, I know that Lush henna is a bit the lightweight option but it has such predictable results and is reasonably convenient ('convenient' and 'hair dyeing' should not really fit in the same sentence) that I am reluctant to try anything else. But maybe I should….? I may just click your linkie

Does anybody here rate Henna boy?
It all sounds v complex there

I get mine from there Pacific

I honestly don't know a great deal about the different varieties of henna, I just tend to pick whichever has the highest lawsone (the pigment in the henna plant) content.

At the moment I'm using the Indian henna powder to get the red and then their indigo powder to go v. v. v. dark brown/black.

I've just redone mine with a mix of lush BRUN and MARRON. Used 2 cubes of each. Did it last with just MARRON about 5 weeks ago.

Mixed it to the consistency of Heinz tomato soup (I find it gives better coverage of grey at this consistency) and slopped it on all over (couldn't be faffed with just doing roots) Usual cling film, hat on top combo, left in for 4 hours.

The shine and colour is great, all grey hairs gone, tones in naturally with hair, not blockish even though I put it on all over 5 weeks after initially doing it.

Trouble is I trust the lush stuff to do a great job now I've found it. I'm even considering going full on ROUGE for my next encounter

Will have a read of those links though thanks, never realised there was so much about hennaing to know, and see if I can steel myself to break free of lush (hyperventilates)

I'm soooo tempted! I have a fair amount of grey distributed through my hair but swore blind I'd never dye it, as I couldn't be doing with roots growing out and thereby being committed to dyeing "forever".

But the Lush henna sounds like it fades enough over time for regrowth to not be a major issue.....(correct me if I'm wrong).

I haven't henna'd my hair since I was 15 (memories of evil green sludge from the Body Shop).

I didn't have much luck with henna boy, after 2 deliveries didn't turn up I gave up.

This is the high lawsone one I use here

Yes, you can dye over henna if you don't like it, it's 100% natural plant matter.

I use justforredheads.com strawberry blonde you only have to leave it on for twenty minutes. Downside is I have to buy from the US it's expensive when postage is added to the cost.

Well you do have to be careful re dying hair that has been henned. I learnt this the hard way - henna was 2 years old and the hairdresser thought it would be OK. I ended up spending an entire day in the salon - going green! And then the repair. Not fun.

I've just done mine today too! Can't wait for day 3 when it starts to look normal.

That's good to know Rhu. I'm not ready to abandon chemical hair colour forever.

I'm sitting here with that cow pat on my head feeling on the back of this thread! 2.5 hours until I can wash it off! I slopped it on and I'm hoping for the best 🙈