I have always dilly-dallied between chemical hair colorants and henna. Hair colorants are instant and fast and can give you multitudes of colors but they are full of chemicals while henna is messy with limited coverage but is more natural. I have tried some of henna variants like Godrej Nupur, Biotique’s Bio henna, but I was really looking forward to try the Lush henna too. As I wanted a darker hair color shade, I picked up the Caca Noir.
Packaging:
The heena comes in solid blocks of 6 squares. This minimalistic packaging is to make it environment friendly without using plastic packaging. The henna content is mixed with cocoa butter to give it a more solidified state. The blocks have a darker shade of green but once you break the blocks, it reveals a lighter shade of green in the insides. It has a similar herbal fragrance like other henna powders. Lush also has other hair color variants Caca Rouge for bright red, Caca Maroon for reddish brown and Caca Brun for chocolate brown.
Price:
It is priced at $25.95 for 11.4 oz.
Lush Caca Noir Henna Hair Dye Description:
Product Claims:
My Experience with Lush Caca Noir Henna Hair Dye:
Using this henna requires some groundwork before using it. Since it comes in solid blocks, I need to grate it to powder. I once tried to just cut the pieces with a knife and tried to dissolve in hot water but it did not soften completely and instead formed small lumps. Grating is a time-consuming process. For my shoulder length hair, I have to grate 2 blocks.
I generally mix the henna powder with either tea or coffee decoction to a smooth paste. One plus point for me is that I do not have to leave this paste overnight unlike other henna variations as I am always too lazy to remember to make henna paste the prior night. Also, another important point that the sales assistant mentioned was that the water to make the henna paste should be lukewarm as it makes the color more effective. So, I generally boil coffee/ea leaves and let it cool a bit, and then mix it with grated henna powder.
The application of Lush Caca Noir is similar to any henna that you would apply. Once I have applied it, I let it stay for a maximum of 4 hours in my hair though the product mentions that the longer you keep, the better it is. Also, I avoid covering the henna with cling wrap or towel as it helps in imparting richer color to the hair.
Rinsing out the henna is not an easy task either, so what I do is to just put my head under the tap and keep rinsing my hair until I do not feel any henna. The presence of cocoa butter protects the hair from being very coarse unlike with the use of regular henna. However, it needs 5-6 rinses to get all the henna out of the hair or it would make the hair very sticky.
I do not immediately shampoo my hair as henna tends to further oxidize and result in a darker hair color, but the herbal fragrance tends to stay in the hair until the next shampoo wash. So instead, I make sure to use a conditioner, which masks the herbal fragrance.
What I observed is that Lush Caca Noir did not turn my hair into jet-black color with first application itself. It gave a brownish tone to some hair roots; however, in Lush’s defense, I had used chemical hair colorant one month ago and the color was just fading out. I have repeated the henna application 3 – 4 times and now it has gradually changed to a more darker brown-black shade which looks good. Also, it did not make my hair very glossy as it claimed but comparatively, I have very dry hair, so I was not expecting a big miracle either.
Pros of Lush Caca Noir Henna Hair Dye:
- Does not contain any chemical ingredients, which are usually found in other hair colorants.
- All natural ingredients including cocoa butter.
- Packaging is made to support environment.
- The paste does not need to be left overnight.
Cons of Lush Caca Noir Henna Hair Dye:
- Requires some effort – we need to grate the heena blocks first.
- Has herbal fragrance similar to other henna powders, which tends to stay in the hair until hair is shampooed or hair conditioner.
- Using heena is messy and also time consuming as you have to keep it in the hair for 4-6 hours.
- Needs 5-6 hair rinses to remove all henna from hair or it makes hair sticky.
- Needs at least 3 -4 repeated applications until its true dark black color can be seen on hair.
- Pricey compared to other henna powders available in the market.
IMBB Rating:
3.5/5. Though it is an all-natural product, the pre-work and multiple applications that I have to go through is troublesome.
Would I Repurchase Lush Caca Noir Henna Hair Dye?
Even though it does not rank very high in my rating, I am going through my second purchase now. I would continue buying it, but the next time, I am going to try Caca Brun shade.
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this looked soo interesting. but henna in general makes hair dry. i think it’s best that you oil post henna. the good ol’ way. 😀 check this https://makeupandbeauty.com/henna-for-hair-tips-and-usage/
good review 🙂
Yea Rati…the cocoa butter content in the henna did not provide any protection from the dryness 🙁 Oiling hair is the right way to go !!!
Wow! This actually looks like a bar of dark chocolate that I could gobble up 🙂 Nice review, Di 🙂
Thanks Vidya….it does look like chocolate bar…but not the tasty kind 😉
Wow… Such an interesting product…. I would love to try it out
Yes Arpita…it would be a good idea to try this ….I am planning to try the Caca Brun shade very soon 🙂
that’s an interesting product 🙂 have never used lush though 🙁
I hope you get to try Lush too Monika 🙂
Very interesting indeed…but grating would be so to me a consuming.
Time-consuming*
I agree with you Bhawana…. :/
Very interesting product there 🙂
Yes Jasmine…Lush always has interesting product content 🙂