I had mentioned before, I think, that I would do a test of Lush henna blocks. So I decided to over the weekend because one thing about Henna Boy is that they take forever to send stuff and it’s it usually by courier that needs a signature so I was thinking that if the Lush blocks were good then it would be easier just to pop in after work.

So on Friday night I popped into Lush on Regent Street, which is a cool store- most of everything is downstairs, and discussed the various block with the sales girl. They have 4 types of blocks at £6.80- Caca Brun; Caca Marron; Caca Noir; Caca Rouge. After discussing the various kinds with the clerk I decided to go with caca rouge since it did not have Indigo in it. That’s how they claim to make the different colours, with various amounts of indigo and also the use of coffee in some blocks . The entire ingredient list for Caca Rouge is :

Red Henna (Lawsonia inermis), Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Fresh Organic Lemon Juice (Citrus limonum), Powdered Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Clove Bud Oil (Eugenia caryopyllus), *Citral, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Citronellol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume

The process goes like this. Take the block and chop it into small pieces. Place in a glass or wooden bowl and near boiling water and mix until smooth. Apply to hair and wrap in cling film for 2- 5 hours for a reddish hue or leave the cling film off for more conditioning and less color. Rinse

Let me say this now. I give up on Lush. This product is truly inferior to the Henna boy Henna. Because they’ve mixed it with cocoa butter the block is really hard. But chopping it into little pieces isn’t what put me off. And it wasn’t the fact that it made far more of a mess. It was the wash out. The thing about Henna Boy is that they sift their henna 3 times. I read that on there site when I purchased the first time. I didn’t give it a second thought. Until I was in the shower for an hour trying to wash little bits of twig and stone and sand out of my curls. And still I found more in my hair the next day. And even with all that cocoa butter my hair felt dryer then ever. Probably from all the rinsing. I didn’t notice a change in the color.

Now I like the fact that it isn’t wrapped in tons of plastic. It’s not enclosed in anything. That’s the thing about Lush. If it doesn’t need to be wrapped it doesn’t get wrapped. Which is a policy I admire. But it’s official. I’m giving Lush up.