Caca Marron

Caca Marron Henna, or as Lush refer to it as, ' the 'no shit hair colour',  is definitely not something for the faint hearted. I don't mind smothering lotions and potions and gels all over my body, or clambering into baths of every colour and smell - after all, the worst I'd most likely get is a rash were my body to reject a product. 

However, I have always harvested fears over losing my hair should one of my hair-dying sessions go wrong. So when I was presented with a heavy block, of what looked like dried mud, and told that I was to put it on my hair, I began to get nervous. 

Being a vegan, it is very difficult to find hair colour that it certified vegan, so I am very limited to the colours I can use. And as I said in one of my first blog entries, I am all for choosing a natural alternative to that of a manufactured product. So I had no choice but to try Lush's natural hair dyes. 

A typical block is priced at £7.50, and the lady in the shop told me that for my hair length (just past my shoulders), I would only need to use half. So if this product were to work, it would actually work out cheaper than the big branded ones in Boots or Superdrug.

The first step is to dissolve the henna in hot water, and unlike chocolate, henna isn't as keen to dissolve quickly, so it took me a good 10 minutes to reduce the block down to a stodgy goo.

Next I was told to smear on some Ultrabalm to stop the henna staining my forehead or ears. As it happened, I didn't have to worry about staining, as the henna takes quite a while to 'work it's magic' so I had plenty of time to remove any stray gunk before it tainted my skin. 

Then for the messy bit! My sister donned the thick gloves that the sales assistant gave me, and began to smear my head with, what looked like, the product of a heavy drinking session and a bad curry (if you get my gist!). 

It took her about 20 minutes to make sure my entire scalp of hair was ladened with the stuff, and a further few minutes to 'lock' my hair inside a carrier bag so the henna could do it's magic. 

Unlike other hair dyes, you have somewhat control over the colour your hair ends up as. I was told that if I left my hair down and uncovered, the henna would go a rich, dark brown; If I covered my hair and kept it warm, my hair would come out with a red streak. I chose the latter.

Then for the not-so-fun bit. 

On Lush's site, they claim that the henna needs to be left on for between 1-4 hours, which is a long time to sit with a head full of dirt. What makes it worse is that the henna starts to dry, which means it gets heavier, the longer you leave it on. In the end, I managed to withstand just under 3 hours, before I sought solace under a shower nozzle. 

It took quite a while to remove the henna from my head, and I had to use a lot of shampoo and conditioner to make my hair feel somewhat normal again. 

Once my hair had dried, I could definitely see a much deeper brown throughout, and the redness looked beautiful in the light. Three weeks on, and my hair has retained it's colour and still looks as vibrant as it did straight after I dyed it.

The downside to using henna is that I suspect it's rather difficult to dye your own hair without making a mess. I also found that my hair was really rough for about a week after, and I had to use a large surplus of conditioner to bring it back to it's normal state.

Overall, it was definitely a fun experiment, and one that has clear advantages to shop-brought alternatives. I will definitely use the other half of my block in a couple of weeks time and see if it's any easier to use. However, I don't know if it's something that I'll use regularly to dye my hair. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Red Henna, Cocoa Butter, Indigo Herb, Ground Coffee, Fresh Organic Lemon Juice, Irish Moss Powder, Clove Bud Oil, Citral, Eugenol, Geraniol, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes.

Price: £9.25 for 325g.