Despite having been experimenting /destroying my hair since 1996 it wasn't until this year that I ventured into the world of Henna.  I have been through a rainbow of colours over the years yet always seem to return to either black or red.  I'd been Henna curious on multiple occasions yet stories of mess and dripping and waiting all day quite frankly put me right off.

Then after yet another rather disastrous attempt at going blonde I decided the only way to temporarily ban myself from further dying/bleaching would be to use something which has to be grown out as opposed to simply changed in some desperate attempt to let my poor hair recover.

So I thought i'd share a henna-virgin's first experiment with Henna.  For ease of both purchasing and usage I  decided to use Caca Rouge from Lush. I know the Henna experts will most likely suggest Body Art Quality Henna (BAQ Henna) but i'll experiment with that some other time.  This is by no means a definitive guide, your own googling will show that there is much variation in methods and indeed additional ingredients  this is just how I chose to do it.

So to those who've never seen it before this is what Lush Caca Rouge Henna looks like (you can also get caca marron, caca noir and caca brun, I wanted as red as possible though.  You can mix and match to create your own unique shade)  If you have very short hair you will probably only require one square per application and adversely if you have very long hair you may require four.  My hair is roughly shoulder length and not at all thick so I used two cubes which means one purchase will last me three applications.

You can slowly dissolve the henna in hot water yet to make it quicker and application smoother I chose to grate mine.  This proved to be somewhat of a hand wrecking task and was incidently the most time consuming element of my experience.  However I remain convinced that in the long run it made things much easier.   For the record I found a grater with a handle much quicker then a knuckle grazer grater.




I then added the following:

* Paprika (to intensify the red)
* Cinnamon & Ginger (to emphasise the golden tones)
* Lemon juice to maximise colour release.

I then added freshly boiled water a bit at a time to the dry henna, continually mixing until I had a paste that was the consistency of thick yogurt before placing the bowl over a pan of boiling water as a bain marie for around 5 minutes, stirring continuously.  It's important you apply it whilst it's still warm.  It's also important you don't use a metallic bowl or spoon.

This is where the pictures end as I'm quite sure you really don' need to see me looking like a right tit.

Whilst the bowl was still warm I went to the bathroom and covered it in towels, the bathroom that is...not the henna.  Having learned from adventures with semi permanent vegetable based dyes in the past with rainbow coloured ears and the like I made sure to coat my hairline, forehead, neck and ears with vaseline.  Then I kind of haphazardly slapped it all on using a children's baking flexible spatula type thing which is ideal for getting every last scrap out of the bowl.  I've heard some people buy empty bottles like mainstream hair dye applicators and put the mixture into them (preparing in bulk and freezing the excess) but i'm just not that prepared nor patient.  It's worth mentioning at this point that this process is akin to slapping cowpat on your bonce.

Once the mixture had all been used I piled my mop upon my head, wrapped it tightly in cling film (how utterly kinky) then put two shower caps om, yes two.

It's recommended you leave it on for four hours however many people leave it on for longer and indeed shorter.  I think I lasted around 3 hours.  I was awfully surprised at how unmessy this waiting time was, not a drip did I experience.  So far so good.

After the initial rinse, I emptied about half a bottle of cheap conditioner onto my hair and prepared myself for hours of rinsing crap out yet was pleasatly surprised that it seemed to take no longer then rinsing out vegetable hair dyes and not as long as colourb4.

It's important to remember with henna that the colour you get after application isn't the colour you will end up with,  As if by magic it will deepen and change as it oxidises over the next three days, yes really.  Isn't that terribly clever?

It's safe to apply three days in a row if you so wish as with each subsequent application the colour builds up and longevity increases yet if you're happy with the result you can leave it much longer.

I did mine again around three days later.  This proved messier then the first application as with the first i used lazy jif lemon juice, with the second I thought i'd be clever and use a fresh lemon yet forgot to take the pips out which proved somewhat interesting whilst applying the henna as little pips of henna coated doom dripped everywhere. It also made rinsing it all out absurdly crappy.

All in all I was rather happy with the results and indeed the less arduous then expected process, it was rather a cathartic ritual.  However, be warned.  It hum dings a bit.......

Colour Me Happy

I've been dying my hair for 16 years now.  I don't claim to be good at it and i'm awfully fickle.  I've been a host of colours even two contrasting at the same time on several occasions.  I don't do some of the awesome intricate dye jobs you may find pictures of online  because to be frank, I have no patience and hardly any artistic merit.

When it comes to the bright colours I tend to use Directions because I'm familiar with it and it works.  You can also try Special FX, Star Gazer (wasn't personally impressed with this one), Manic Panic and Fudge (fab stuff but doesn't last long and is expensive) etc.

I thought I'd share some tips I've picked up along the way.

• If you see a colour you like on a swatch bare in mind that colour will only look like that on white/bleached hair.  The darker shades (like Dark Tulip etc) will work on darker hair but it will just leave a shiny hint of a colour.  
• If you've never bleached your hair before it generally goes through set stages in colour lifting so don't be alarmed if your hair doesn't look like the Nordic blonde on the box.  Firstly if your hair is dark it will go to a dark copper orange, then a brighter orange, then a strawberry blonde like colour, then a bright yellow then a banana flesh super pale yellow and then white.  Apparently once it goes white your hair has lost a lot of keratin.  You may have to lighten your hair a few times if you have naturally dark hair.  For Red, Orange and purple colours you can get away with just lifting to pale-mid orange.  However, to get a decent blue or green you really need that pale banana flesh colour, using a white toner after lightening can cancel out the brassy tones and make the blue/green take even better.
• If your hair is dyed a dark colour, try using ColourB4 first, it whiffs a bit but is amazing at removing drugstore hair colour from your hair without bleaching.
• These types of vegetable dye can be used straight after lightening as they're very conditioning and after bleaching the hair fibres are more likely to take in more pigment.
• Be prepared, you will need an old top you no longer use, Vaseline, disposable gloves and cling film or a shower cap.
• Before you start wash your hair with a pH balanced shampoo, do NOT condition.  If you rinse with hot water it will open the fibres on your hair to absorb the colour better.
• Towel dry it well otherwise the dye will be far too drippy.
• Put Vaseline around your hair line and your ears.  These dyes stain, it obviously is removable but always best to avoid the purple ears etc in the first place!
• Make sure you have gloves as these dyes do not come with them.
• Once you've coated your hair in dye wrap it in cling film and put a shower cap over the top.  
• It says leave for around 15 mins on the tub.  If you have super bleached hair it will colour in this time but if you want the colour to last you really need to leave it on for at the very least an hour, more if possible.  It will not have any adverse effects on your hair like drugstore dyes, it will just condition it, many people even leave it on over night.
• You can at intervals give it a blast with the hair drier.
• When you rinse it, rinse with water as cool as you can possibly handle, if you use hot water it will open the hair fibres and allow more dye to run out.
• You may have to rinse for a while....
• Make sure you use old/dark towels
• Generally the colour lasts around 6-8 washes but it can be unpredictable and last longer or wash out sooner.  If you want the colour out sooner (why?!) try washing with washing up liquid or head and shoulders/vosene as these can strip dye out of your hair.
• If you want to boost the longevity of the dye add a teaspoon to your conditioner and leave your conditioner on for a few minutes each time you wash your hair.
• If your hair is thick of longer then jaw length you may very well need two tubs.
• All directions shades can be mixed to create your own shades

Adventures in hair dying

Having abandoned Operation Blonde and admitted total and utter defeat I embarked on back to red.  That feels much better now.  Granted The Husband jests that due to the neon nature of my hair colour and the paleness of my skin (The Cullens have nothing on me) I look like match, oh he's such a comedian. 

The eBay purchases have proved somewhat hit and miss, generally the misses being the boobs of doom rudely refusing to fit into things that my hips and waist would.  Then there was the rather darling little dress that fits fabulously yet utterly stank of body odour.  Delightful.

Despite being a dedicated babywearer after he turned 18 months we occasionally use the pram mainly if we have a lot of shopping, if Thing One or Thing Two want to push him, if I'm simply too knackered or in pain (mainly due to the somewhat awkward positions I end up in as a result of The Toddler feeding through the night like a newborn which absolutely jiggers my shoulder) and of course in the rare episodes of excessive temperature outside.  It's a misconception that babywearers only babywear, granted some may but buggies and slings aren't mutually exclusive and you can combine the two.  We have a Hauck Infinity which we bought for Thing Two (amongst other buggies) and it was lovely for The Toddler rearward facing, however, now he's 26 month he's decided he'd rather face forwards and is quite frankly sick of the site of us so to save him creaking his neck irrevocably we have turned him forward facing.  The pushchair is somewhat cumbersome though and I fancy something a little more sprightly for when I choose to have a buggy today so tomorrow we'll be having a Cosatto Yo! delivered. 

The Toddler is being a little sod and can open the gates so The Husband has come up with the rather unique idea of moving one of the sofa's to block the kitchen door, which we then have to move every single time we need to go into the kitchen.  It's ridiculously exasperating. 

He's also still teething which thus means he's still not letting me sleep for more then a few broken hours at a time.