Every so often I decide to write about hair care. The reason why I don't write about it so much is because my hair is just there. I have really long hair and I have it cut in layers. I've had my hair this way for years. I basically don't really do much to my hair because I think it looks good the way it is and I don't want to mess with it. For when I feel like I need to change things up I usually go for a new color. Lately, I've been dying my hair with Henna Dye from Lush in Caca Rouge which is the red color that they have. I've been loving it. But if you read my post you would know that the application is very time consuming. In the winter, this is great since you usually stay inside but now that its summer I started realizing that my hair started to look really dry on the ends. I had recently gotten my haircut so I knew it wasn't that but didn't matter what I did, my hair was just gross looking. I decided that I needed to dye my hair again and I went to the +LUSH Cosmetics in Herald Square is now permanently closed. I was appalled and honestly didn't have time to go to the one in Union Square but my hair needed to get colored so I went to the good ole drugstore!
I look around and first started to look at what was on sale and I settled on the Loreal Excellence Creme Rich Richesse in Dark Mahogany Red. This color is a true brown red color. I've used this brand before and I knew that I would like this. It usually conditions my hair really well too. I only bought 2 boxes even though my hair is really long but I've learned how to be able to cover my whole head with just 2 boxes. When dying your hair at home you want to remember a couple of things. You want to make sure that you use either chap stick or vaseline on the border of your hairline because you want to make sure that the color does not stain your skin. Also I first recommend to cover your roots and then work your way down to the roots. Its also good to make sure that you have a comb so that you can comb the color down to your ends. Once you've colored your hair wrap your hair in a bun and you can either leave open or cover it with a shower cap or something. You wait the appropriate amount of time and then you wash it out.
When washing it out, just make sure to rinse your hair until the water is clear. This will take a long time because there is a lot of product in there and my hair is really long. Once I got the product all out, I went on and blow dried it. The end color was gorgeous. It is like a cranberry brownish red. It's definitely red, you will notice in the run right away that your hair is red but not Little Mermaid type red. It's gorgeous. This hair color retails for about $8.99 but I got it on sale for $5.99 and personally I love this brand. I'd definitely repurchase.
Do you dye your hair at home? Let me know what products you use. Leave comments below!
Now for a little hair talk. I have very long hair and the texture of my hair is a lot of thin hair and its wavy/straight. I always look for products that would help reduce grease and also help with volume since I need something in my hair to give it life. I've been dying my hair since I was 14 around 8th grade. I convinced my Mom to convince my Dad in letting me get highlights and from there it spiraled into a never ending adventure to get different hair colors. It was all done with the harsh chemicals and so at the age of 29, I've realized that I need to be healthier with my hair. So I saw this Henna hair dye in Lush. There are 4 colors available and I picked the red one Caca Rouge and I right away went into reading reviews and looking at Youtube videos to see how well this hair dye is on darker hair. I think I read about 100+ reviews and I was just a bit scared since I've never really used Henna like this before to dye my hair and the description says FIREY RED, I was a bit scared. I read and read and it never said that my hair color was going to turn into an orange mess and that was logical since its Henna with no chemicals like bleach which is what would turn a natural dark brown haired girl into Carrot Top. I was ready to breath and start the process.
Now the process in itself is a pain, especially with hair thats almost down to your butt. The henna comes in a brick and first of all you have to grate it with a cheese grater which is a pain. Depending on the length of your hair, you use a certain amount of blocks but my hair is so long, I went ahead and threw the whole 6 blocks in. After its all grated and into a powder form, you have to them pour boiling hot water into it. I added lemon, paprika and cinnamon. The lemon to help lighten my hair since its a deep brown and paprika and cinnamon for color and smell. You have to put enough water in it to make like a muddy consistency, like brownie mix. Once you mix the mud and the mixture isn't going to be boiling hot so don't worry about burning yourself.
Once the the mixture is done, you want to start the application in your hair. Its easier to apply if you section your hair. You need to make sure that you get the roots to the ends. After the whole head if covered, you have to then wrap your hair with saran wrap and this is so that the red color of the Caca Rouge can deepen. It says to leave it for 2 hours but once I read online a lot of people were leaving it for about 7+ hours. I left mine in for 8 or 9 hours just because my hair being so dark that I wanted to make sure that the red shines through. This mask once you get to the 6th and 7th hour it gets really heavy. Then you can rinse it out. When you begin to rinse it out, you will see that it is gritty. It takes a long time for the henna to wash out. I would first rinse all of it out first and then shampoo it about 2 or 3 times. Again, my hair is very long so for someone who has shorter hair, might have an easier time to rinse it out.
Since the henna has all good things for your hair such as cocoa butter and the henna in general conditions your hair so good. Once I rinsed it out and blow dried my hair, my hair had a reddish hue and it was so conditioned. It really does do a great job for my hair and even though its a lengthy process, I would definitely keep doing it to my hair. I've done it twice already and my hair is really shiny now and it doesn't look dry anymore and the ends aren't brittle. This retails for $24.95 which is not bad especially if you get your hair done professionally and the best thing is that its actually good for your hair unlike anything else that you put in your hair to dye it.
