Lush Caca Marron hair dye: Here come the red headed Martians! (Lush Caca Marron Henna Hair Dye)

Member Name: theabster

Product:	Lush Caca Marron Henna Hair Dye
Date:	07/02/09 (1430 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A really rich yet subtle colour that is striking yet not too gaudy. Hair really soft after too!

Disadvantages: A bit of a daunting process...messy!

I love Lush! I love everything about them. I am also a hair dying novice and decided to dye my hair the super natural way without the nasty chemicals of conventional products. I refuse to use products that say on the packet to ensure you flush it down the sink with plenty of water to dilute the chemicals and label themselves "harmful to aquatic life". Terrifying. Terrifying. Unnecessary.
I also wanted to make sure I was using a vegan product that wasn't full of animal-derived carriers and weird Frankenstein-ish ingredients since I am sure lots of those nasties could get absorbed into your scalp.

So about a year ago I tried to dye my hair with the henna sold in Lush, which comes in four colours: Caca Brun (deep brown), Caca Marron (chestnut red/brown), Caca Noir (black) and Caca Rouge (red). I chose the Caca Marron because my hair is a mousey, undecided light brown colour naturally and I wanted a more defined tone. I didn't want the more extreme 'caca-rouge' since I wasn't even sure a mild reddish tinge would suit me! And these natural products can vary in their results according to your own hair tone (even more than conventional dyes). If your hair is grey it works rather spectacularly by speckling bright red bits on the grey.

So what is henna?

Well, it is also important to remember that whatever colour you're aiming for or currently have, all the Lush hennas, and all proper henna based products for that matter, come out with a reddish tinge. This is because henna is a plant which grows in the tropics and produces the a red-orange dye molecule called lawsone, which is particularly known for its ability to bond well with proteins such as skin, hair, leather, wool and other fabrics. Hence, all henna is technically red henna, though black hennas can be produced either using indigo (plant based, as Lush does) or from a nasty chemical called PPD which is laced into some cheap or synthetic hair dyes, including hennas. It can cause anywhere from 3-15% allergic reactions in people and thus henna boosted with PPD or any dubious looking hair dye should be readily avoided!

What goes into Lush's Caca Marron and other dyes?

That said, Lush have done their utmost to ensure their hair dyes are not bad for you or your hair and actually claim it can improve your hair lustre! I can verify that! So they add a few nourishing bits and bobs and create a block of 6 squares containing:

Red Henna (Lawsonia inermis), Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Indigo Herb (Fera tinctoria), Ground Coffee (Coffea arabica), Fresh Organic Lemon Juice (Citrus limonum), Irish Moss Powder (Chondrus crispus), Clove Bud Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus), *Citral, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Citronellol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume
* Occurs naturally in Essential Oils

Lush are rather proud of where the name "Caca Marron" comes from too: Caca being French for 'poo'! Though they hasten to add that unlike most hair dyes their 'Les Cacas' are not full of sh*t! Hehehe. Nice! It does smell very weird though, even before you mix it with anything, but I wouldn't describe it as a bad smell particularly. It's kind of like musty, though I can definitely smell the coffee grinds...it can be overpowering after a few hours on your head, but I kind of like it.

The method
What you need:

-a pair or two of rubber or latex gloves (if you buy it from the store, they may give you a few)
- a non-staining bowl (e.g. pyrex) and a grater/saucepan.
-cling film
-newspaper
-moisturiser or vaseline

Now this is the bit that puts most people off. Conventional hair dyes take, what, 20 minutes? This can take anywhere up to 12 hours (though it is suggested 1-4 hours) plus the time it takes for you to prepare the mixture. But the finished colour is rather sublime, so take an afternoon or an evening out of your week and enjoy!

Ok so then you can prepare it in two ways. Grate the big bar and add boiling water or melt it with water over a bain-marie (bowl in a saucepan of water!). When you have gloopy, sticky paste (rather looks like poo actually!), set newspaper all over the floor and potentially strip off topless to make sure your clothes don't stain! Or be boring and use some old towels. Moisturise your hairline or use Vaseline so that the henna doesn't get in contact with your skin. I had a bit of an orangey glow at the top of my forehead for a few days because I was a bit stingy with it! Slick it on your hair, somehow, and then swirl the cling film around your head until firmly in place. Lush say that you should wear the cling film if you want a redder colour and don't if you want a more brunette colour, but I have no idea how you could move for the next few hours without cling film! Stray pieces of henna fly off your head onto the carpet so beware...pick them up immediately!

Then, leave for as many hours as you wish. I made the mistake of using it only for an hour or two the first time and the colour was a bit disappointing. The second time I left it for 4 ½ hours and it has been wonderful! But next time I would probably do it overnight and sleep with cling film on my head so that I could see some more powerful results after a good 8 hours kip!

Wash off , leave someone else to clean the shower (!) and wallah! Radiant colour and shine will develop for the next few hours until you get a nice strong colour. Mine is very chestnut coloured in the sunlight and generally a shade or two darker all the time. It is definitely what I was aiming for, though I plan to use again very soon to make sure it lasts!

Price

Its about £6.95 for a block. So I would say that is about the same price as a moderate-good quality synthetic dye (as opposed to own brands and such). I think it is very good value really. Also, it is brilliant comedy to be walking round for a day looking like a Martian with your head wrapped in cling film. Cue some hilarious photographs!

Verdict?

If you want a subtle or strong chestnut brown/red colour, this is the henna to go for. I can't fault Lush! This is the first time I have used henna for enough time during the method to gain a noticeable result so it is difficult to be precise about how long it is meant to or will last on your hair. So far it has been about 3 weeks since the application and it is still as vibrant as before. However, from general advice and reading reviews on the Lush website, I would suggest that the vibrancy and strong reddish colour will last maybe a month or two more (another application would extend this). The general shade or two darker it makes your hair will probably last until it has grown out, although again this depends on the success of your dyeing method and how often you wash your hair etc. I would love to be more precise but the natural nature of this product means you really just have to go with the flow!

Summary: As Lush say, we have to suffer for our art sometimes, don't we dears?!