#3 Lush Caca Rouge Mama & My Halloween Face

I have a problem. It is a hair dye problem. I have not seen my natural hair color in more than 10 years. My father freakin' peroxide bleached my hair for my 13th birthday, my natural hair isn't a very pretty color, and I HATE roots - so I've dyed my hair probably 100 times. That's a lot. Now, I'm 23 years old with damaged gross hair that falls out in clumps. I LOVE being a red head and can't ever imagine going back to my natural hair color but I knew I needed to stop chemically dying my hair. Enter Lush Caca Rouge Mama. This natural henna dye is not only not bad for your hair - it's actually good for it. It's got cocoa butter in it and no harsh chemicals. Based on reviews - the color varies GREATLY depending on current hair color, the length of time you leave it in, and some people even add things to it!

The thing with Henna is that it's permanent! I won't be able to bleach it out if I don't like it. I can't dye over it. Eep! I was a little bit nervous to start but after a couple weeks researching I decided to take the plunge. I have had my hair so many shades of red and loved them all. And it will definitely be good for my hair to have a preventative measure against chemical dyes. ;)

I should have taken pictures of the whole process but I forgot until halfway through! I started by mixing 3 squares from the henna block with hot water and mixing it til it's even and dissolved. The consistency was like batter. My initial reaction was shock at how green the henna was when mixed up and how strong it smelled. It's definitely not unpleasant just quite fragrant. I applied it to my whole head with my hands which was kind of like having a 1 man mud fight - fun but it did cause me to miss a couple spots. I will have to be more careful next time!

I wrapped it up in a shower cap and gave it a quick blast with the hair dryer to keep it nice and hot. Then I set the timer - I decided to leave it on 5 hours!! I kept it hot by blasting it every 30 minutes with the dryer. According to reviews, this gets you a brighter red.

FAST FORWARD 5 HOURS TO SHOWER TIME. This is what it looked like. Mud in my hair! It was pretty difficult to get out and I had to shampoo three times to get the gritty pieces out completely. 

...But was it worth the hassle? 

YES!!!!!

My hair is the perfect, vibrant orangey red I was going for. Ignore the bad hair in these pics. It's before styling. Although it wasn't a miracle cure for my obviously damaged hair, today it is definitely looking shinier than it has in awhile. I even got a compliment!

PS: I dressed up as a pirate last night for Halloween just because I could. Here was my pirate-y makeup. You can't really tell the hair color here though.

PPS: I also cut off 3.5 inches of my hair! Trying to get it healthier and all. And Kristie reshaved my lines for the first time in almost a year. :D