I started colouring my hair at a fairly young age. Lured by the opportunity to change my look as often as I wanted, I have continued to dye my hair for the last 13 years. I’ve been pillar box red, ghostly jet black, bleached to an inch of its life blonde, and what can only be described as neon Ribena berry indigo…
Despite causing a few embarrassing moments, and costing a small fortune in heavy duty conditioner; I can’t help but love colouring my hair!
But since deciding to live a more sustainable lifestyle, I have refrained from putting any chemical concoctions in my hair and have – quite lazily indeed – left it to its own devices. And that actually suited me quite fine.
That was until I looked in the mirror recently, and realised that a summer of sea, sun and chorine had stripped the last remnants of my last red hair dye, and left my locks looking very sad and neglected! I needed a spruce up fast!
But as though by some divine intervention, the day I was thinking about giving in and reaching for the Loreal, I saw a fantastic post by You Hippies all about using henna as a natural hair dye.
The best thing about henna is its chemical free, vegan friendly and you have complete control over what colour and strength you have; simply by experimenting and mixing up your own dye!
However, as clear and straightforward as Meagan’s instructions were for mixing up her henna; I must admit it did seem like a little too much effort for lazy old me! So I did the next best thing and followed the advice of one of my colleagues (who by some coincidence had come into work that day with henna working its magic under her scarf…) and bought ready mixed henna hair dye.
Under recommendation I bought a bottle of Henne Colour in chestnut brown which was about £3.79 on ebay. You apply it exactly how you would any other dye, only you can leave it in for 1 hour up to 1 day. The longer you leave it in the deeper the colour. I left mine in for about 6 hours and sat back with a bottle of wine and watched multiple episodes of Orphan Black…
What surprised me the most was what a pleasant, earthy smell the henna dye had; even my cats were happy to chill out beside me with no nasty fumes.
I’m really happy with the colour and my hair feels really full and soft; its not what I was expeting at all! The only thing which could prove a drawback is that the dye is only really temporary and I have noticed it colouring the water when I shampoo. As I swim a lot, I think that it could end up coming out much quicker when mixed with chlorine. But I’m happy with the trade off when my hair is happy and chemical free!
A Lazy Girl Goes Green 
Looks lovely. I’m not a fan of dying my hair – I’m probably one of the few people who loves their natural colour, but as I’m going grey I now use a henna mascara to touch up the bits of grey around my face. I’m happy to go grey around the back and sides, just not near my face as it’s so ageing! I use a mix of three which are pretty much a close match for all the natural colours in my hair. It fades over a few weeks and I just touch it up again…
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Oh I love the idea of a henna mascara, thats even lazier than my mixture! 🙂 Where did you get that from? x
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I use this brand, in chestnut, auburn and copper http://njd-cosmetics.com/henne_color_henna_hair_mascara_express_touch–EN
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Thank you, I’m on it! ;p x
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I read your post with interest. As I have a lot of grey hairs and very pale skin, I die my hair rather as grey is just not flattering to my skin tone but I loathe the synthetic chemicals. I was excited to read of your experience of henna and checked out the product’s ingredients list. Unfortunately it contains nut extracts so I fear I won’t be able to use this one. Pity!
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Oh such a shame, are you allergic to nuts? Maybe the henna powder would work if you mix it yourself?
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I’ve found a nut-free henna product and whilst it feels much lovelier on the skin, I’m not so thrilled with the results. I think the problem is that I’m actually very grey/white at the roots and grey/white hair just doesn’t absorb colour well. I might have to give in and embrace silvery grey…
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Oh shame it didn’t work but I completely agree – embrace your natural beauty! 🙂 x
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This is awesome! Very glad you tried henna and shared your experience, it sounds like you had a better smelling henna than we did! The outcome looks great and very smooth! Looking forward to updates, how swimming affects the color, and if you try some more!!! ☮
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I also dye my hair with henna, and have been thrilled with having a red color that looks very natural. I noticed that you’ve made a post on using LUSH beauty products- did you know that they make henna too? It comes in a block like baker’s chocolate, you have to break it up and mix with water. Then I leave it on for four hours and it lasts me about 3 months! I’m a hair dying novice, so I have someone else actually apply the henna. But you may be able to do it on your own. I know that this post was made a long time ago, but just wanted to add my two cents in case it helps 🙂
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