I used Lush Caca Rouge and LOVE it. Yes....caca means poo...no...it wasn't actual poo.

I have been dying my hair for YEARS.  Kool Aid, dye from boxes, dye from Sally's that you mix yourself, worked at a salon for years-dyed there, then normal "I give you money you dye my hair" at the salon.  The "I give you money" part hurts.  Being a stay at home mom of three, money does not grow on trees. Did I JUST type that?!?  Yep. I am a mom.

I would get my hair done maybe once or twice a year.  Just something fun, but ALWAYS not on the top layer so I could hide the new growth.  

New Growth:  When your hair grows out from your head.  That is new growth.  Not your "roots".  Your roots are IN your head.  

I have a friend over at Natural & Thrifty who told me she uses henna and I was very intrigued.  She has amazing red hair.  Go check it out. Gorgeous, right?  I wanted it.

After much research I came across Lush Caca Rouge.

 Yes....caca means "poo".  I put something named red poo on my head.  Unlike traditional dye full of chemicals, henna has "no poo" in it.  Just all natural ingredients.  Hence the name.  Kind of a tongue in cheek thing. There is no actual poo involved.

Henna's are NOT all the same.  Many are sold in powder form and are easily found on Amazon. What drove me to this one was the extra ingredients.  

Red Henna (Lawsonia inermis) , Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Cacao) , Fresh Organic Lemon Juice (Citrus limonum) , Powdered Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) , Clove Bud Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus) , *Citral , *Eugenol , *Geraniol , *Citronellol , *Limonene , *Linalool , Fragrance  *Occurs naturally in essential oils.

From their site:
For aspiring redheads who want to stop traffic with unparalleled shine and color. That’s not too much to ask from a solid block of henna, is it? Not if you make it like we do. Caca Rouge is the reddest of our henna dyes and it’s sure to get you noticed. We use the finest Persian henna; the leaves are dried and ground into a powder and mixed with conditioning cocoa butter, which forms the basis of our cacas. Organic lemon juice helps to bring out the redness and gives hair shine and luster. You're left with stunning, shiny and healthy-looking hair.

Lush is NOT tested on animals, minimal packaging, it is NATURAL, it uses organic and Fair Trade ingredients.  Also, all the products are handmade.Thanks Oscar for my Caca Rouge brick!

I read literally HUNDREDS of reviews, watched videos, and looked at pictures. With henna, it really works with your hair, so no two results will be the same.  I tried to find before and afters of similar colored hair. Some people had AMAZING results and others it had zero color change, but almost everyone talked about how healthy it felt afterwards.  So I bit the bullet and bought a brick.

Caca Rouge is NOT cheap. It will set you back about $26 for a brick.  My hair is a touch past my shoulders and figured that I would only use about 1/2 the brick, so $13 for colored hair is doable.

The directions leave much to be desired.  It basically says grate and add water.  No amounts.  Nada. Just mix it.  That is where research is handy. It did say to do a test strip, which I did, and it didn't do that much.  I think it was too small of a strip to really tell anything.  I decided I bought it, might as well still use it. 

For my whole head, I did three cubes, so half the block. I have shoulder length fine hair,but a lot of it.  Instead of grating, I slivered it thinly.  I didn't want to gunk up my grater. My friend Kate has hair about 6inches longer than mine and THICK.  She used 5 cubes.

Yes, it is green but comes out red.

I heard adding an acid could make it redder, so I squeezed a lemon into it.  Don't do what I did and squeeze it directly into the henna.  In a tiny lemon half, I shot about 10 seeds into the bowl.  Definitely juice the lemon into a separate bowl first. I used a one and a half lemons.

I totally forgot to take pics of it while we were mixing and applying. OOPS.  I poured a small amount of boiling water into the henna and stirred.  I kept repeating until it looked like cake batter. My friend Kate over at My Mommy Brain  made hers a bit thicker like brownie batter.  We coated around our hairline with some balm Kate bought at Lush.  I applied hers and she applied mine. I have to say, hers was rather hard to spread and when she rinsed it out she said it took a while.  Might be because she has more hair, might be the thickness of the henna. No clue.  I highly recommend having a buddy to apply.  It isn't the easiest thing to do.

After it was fully slopped on my head and wrapped in plastic wrap, I threw a wool hat on my head...in the 85F weather.  I read that heat makes the henna work better. ALL FOR BEAUTY!! 

I lasted like this for about 3 hours and 40 minutes.  I was trying to hit four hours.  I got impatient.  We went to the back yard, grabbed the hose, and started rinsing. I got most of it out that way and then a quick jump in the shower removed the rest.

I LOVE IT. This was a "OMG I NEED TO SEE IT NOW PICTURE"  I blew dry my bangs and the bottom is still wet.

Henna supposed to keep working for about 3 days before you get your final results.  This is the next morning. Totally love it. 

There are a few spots where my pink and purple faded that turned slightly blue (before henna). I can still see it a BIT through the red.  The good thing about henna is you can re-henna right away!  They say it builds upon itself. It doesn't bother me that much though. I will probably wait a while before reapplying.  

FYI-If you henna do NOT try to dye with a traditional dye right afterwards if you hate the color. The chemicals can react to the henna causing hair catastrophes.  DON'T DO THAT. Also-I read that if your hair is previously color treated that you can get crazy results. That is why they say to do test strips. I did multiple.

PROS:
Super soft hair.  I just want to keep touching it.
The smell. Lots of people think it is harsh.  I love it.  It is a rather earthy smell.   My hair still smells like it the next morning.
The color is GORGEOUS. 
All natural and good for your hair!

CONS:
Messy as all hell.  It literally looked like we were taking horse poo and smearing it on our heads.  We did it on the back porch and am glad we did.  It might be hard to do in the winter if I have to do it inside. It really does make a big mess.
It takes FOREVER once it is on your head. Four hours doesn't seem long, but believe me, it is.

Would I do this again? Is Disintegration the best album ever?  Yes.  Yes it is.





**Lush in no way sponsored this review. Henna bought by the lovely husband because he is awesome**