LUSH • Henna - Caca Noir • Treatments

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bunnymug on 10/13/2010 12:57:00 PM more reviews by bunnymug

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

I bought this product thinking I would use it on myself, but instead I opted to use it on my best friend who needed a color refreshment.

Her hair was a medium auburn to start out with. We mixed three blocks of Noir (ground very fine) with some lemon juice and warm coffee - enough to make a yogurt-like paste. It smells like... well.. something illegal, haha. And it looks like, well what it was named after! They were not kidding about that.

Anyway. I caked her entire head with the stuff, making sure I got all the roots, etc. We then wrapped her head in saran wrap and THEN tin foil too. If you want more of a brownish tone from the indigo, let your hair air dry. My friend wanted more reddish tones, so we opted to trap as much body heat as possible. Poor thing, she looked like an absolute weirdo for a few hours! Haha. We made her some foil alien antennas though, to keep it professional.

We left t on for three hours, occasionally attending to some drips of noir from the foil. Clean up was no messier than any other hair dye, just smelled different.

The results were amaaaazing! Her hair went from a regular auburn to a dark brown with beautiful coppery red highlights. Looks like autumn leaves, as corny as that sounds. My hair is already black, otherwise I would have done it too just seeing her results.

And, it conditioned her hair like you wouldn't believe. Her hair is extremely heat damaged and overprocessed, and the Noir made it super soft, shiny, healthy, and just effing beautiful.

Highly, highly recommend this product! Can't wait til I lighten my hair and I can use it myself :)

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wws1980 on 10/2/2010 5:27:00 PM more reviews by wws1980

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Olive, Warm   Hair: Brown, Curly, Coarse   Eyes: Green    

I used this recently to dye over my dark blond hair and highlights. Even if this did nothing for my colour, I would continue to use it for what it has done for the condition of my hair. It's like I have someone else's hair on my head! It's super glossy, soft, and silky - something no conditioner has ever been able to do to my hair. I had to do the entire process thrice to get my hair as dark as i wanted it. Indigo loses efficacy when it's heated so DON'T follow the instructions on the package for best results. Skip the bain marie routine and just use hot water from the tap or brewed black coffee (still warm, just not boiling). I added a tablespoon of amla powder as well to push the colour towards brown and a teaspoon of salt to make the indigo stick. I covered my hair with a shower cap and scarf and left it on for about six hours. I washed it with a cheapie conditioner - it took ages, but it was worth it. Love, love, love this stuff!

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DNS on 7/16/2010 3:10:00 AM more reviews by DNS

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Black    

I have done all th Lush No Cacas except Marron. I loved the rouge but when my hairstyle changed I changed to colour and gradually kept getting darker. I started with chemically VERY damaged - I did A LOT to my hair - med-dk brown - similar to my natural colour. The indigo is the blue/green colour everyone talks about - in the Noir. I have done both wrapped and non wrapped and I have also did it with a bain marie and just hot tap water. I found that I didn;t get much out of the colour if it was wrapped but unwrapped made it a gorgeous VERY dark colour. I leave mine on 6-8 hours. Also, I found that if you are having a hard time rinsing - let the water run on it as you mush it into your scap as you rinse or hang over a tub full of water and swish your head back and forth helps a lot too. Cleaning it up gets easier as you develope the desirable consistency and as long as you wipe it right away you are fine. It is definately worth not having a chemical reaction and for myself - worth the fact it is one product not tested on animals. The hair dyes you buy in the store ARE tested on animals. You can always add clipins for highlights later. It layers on itself so as you layer each time you apply teh colour becomes richer or more vibrant. Don't judge it right after either - it DOES take about 4-5 days to fully oxidize and deepen - no matter what colour you choose.

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ishq88 on 7/13/2010 2:24:00 PM more reviews by ishq88

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Tan, Warm   Hair: Black, Straight, Coarse   Eyes: Brown    

I have shoulder length, dark brown hair with blonde highlights which are growing out. I uses 3 blocks of caca noir( 2 would have been enough) I grated it and added hot tap water and 1tsp of salt to make the indigo/henna stick. Applied it, by talking globs of it and putting in in my hair,just like you would shampoo your hair( wear rubber gloves) wasted very messy.Takes about 10min.

Left it on for 2.5 hrs, unvovered cuz i wanted a more black /brown colour. Cover it in saran wrap if you want a reddish undertone. Rinsed it out while in the shower. Shampooed and conditioned with a sulfate -free products so that it wont strip the colour.


RESULTS

DAY 1- same day after i blow dried it, my hair was a jet black, but when i went out in the light , it had a greenish tint( the blonde highlights turned a mossy green) I was freaking out and thought that since my hair was previously color treated, thats why it turned green ( even though that was over a year ago) but then read that sometimes indigo does this to hair cuz the indigo has to oxidize which may take 48hrs. so i decided to wait it out.

DAY 2- the next day,, my hair was a black with deep brown highlights. the green tint was gone! But my hair was sooo dry, it felt like hay. That evening i put on a Morrocan hydrating hair mask.

DAY 3- the final colour was a dark chocolate brown with caramel highlights in the light. My hair was soft, shiny and lots of volume. I love the colour and would defiantly use caca noir again.

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sunflower22 on 5/2/2010 7:06:00 PM more reviews by sunflower22

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

This is my go-to hair color. I started with the Caca brun but I have found that Caca Noir mixed with boiling coffee and vinegar and 8 hours in saran wrap gives me the deep, rich black with dark brown highlights I had originally envisioned. Before the henna, I had highlighted blonde hair that the drugstore chemical dyes couldn't cover. Henna keeps my hair dark and reacts well with my highlights (ie the highlighted parts are the dark reddish brown). My hair is smooth, shiny, and not ruined by chemical dyes! This and Wen cleansing conditioner are all my hair needs from now on!

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ALF1969 on 4/3/2010 5:48:00 AM more reviews by ALF1969

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Olive   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I have baby fine thin dark dark brown hair with no greys (yet) and colour my hair to get extra body and shine - I like my natural colour. Have been using Casting colour for this, very effective(!) giving more texture, body, shine, and more depth of colour. Problem is, even though this is a semi the condition of my hair was deteriorating with each colour application. I read the reviews (thanks girls!) and decided to try the Lush henna (over buying henna and indigo separately). So I was prepared, I knew it would be messy, I knew it wouldn't be as easy as a squeezy tube of gel. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I grated 2 squares (I have a short bob) and mixed with freshly brewed coffee until it was like cake mixture and heating gently over a bain-marie. Left mixture over low heat until colour changed from green to almost black and then applied. I applied in the kitchen in front of a massive mirror (taken off the wall) using just gloves and a towel around my shoulders. I am not sure that I applied it terribly evenly but it turned out even. I didn't want to wrap it as I didn't want red in it but I put a shower cap over it to stop the shedding. I had to put a hat on in the end as I needed to go to B&Q before my 4 hours was up.
Rinsing was a bit of a chore but not as bad as other's experienced. I have a powerful shower and think this helped. I washed twice using my normal shampoo and conditioned and that was it. When I dried it my hair was dark almost black with a tiny bit of red. It did get darker over the next 2-3 days but only slightly. The shine is just incredible, like glass. I've never had hair this shiny. It doesn't feel soft and baby fine anymore but feels thicker with more texture and body - Yay!. Some people say that their hair gets drier, if you already have thick coarse hair that might be a problem but not for me :-) I will definitely do this again when it needs it and won't bother with chemical dye (unless this stuff doesn't cover grey when I need it). Also, not sure how this will fade, hope it doesn't go reddy, but if it does I will just do it again. What will I do differently next time? Well I won't use coffee coz I got a bit of a headache, I won't heat it as many of you say it doesn't need it but I will wait for the mixture to go black, I will make the mixture a bit thinner to make it easier to apply (might be messier though), I will rinse my hair with conditioner and not use shampoo until the next morning as this may give the henna a bit more time to do it's thing. Highly recommended but took off 1 lippy for inconvenience.

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*TOP REVIEWER* xAysha on 3/9/2010 8:33:00 PM more reviews by xAysha

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Green    

(ignore the rating coz i havent had the results yet!)

my boyfriend kindly grated and melted down 4 cubes of Caca Noir for me and added half a tsp of salt which makes the colour take to the hair better, i told him exactly how earlier! (with hot but not boiling water) in pyrex bowl, inside a saucepan full of almost boiling water to keep it hot -double boiler- while i applied it to my hair (which is down to my butt and normal thickness, dark brown, i usually use commercial dyes to dye it jet black but wanted a natural change!!), it took a while and was hard to apply coz even though i did it in tiny sections i still felt every single strand wasnt coated, it smelt like a fresh cow pat eww (but suprisingly, boyfriend said it smelt "nice n healthy" lol), im gonna sleep with it on, uncovered for a darker/blue tint coz i dont think red would suit me, using an old black towel and sheets/pillow case tonight!! will update with the results and post an after pic.. see profile for how my hair WAS x


i wanted to sleep with it in but my bf made me wash it off after 4 hours which im disapointed about but o wel..think my hair looks a tiny bit darker and shinier but wasnt worth all that hassle coz its not noticeable to anyone else but me. it still looks greasy but thats because i aint gona use shampoo for 24 hours (so the colour can adhere better..) i washed it out with just water and a good conditioner til the water ran almost clear.. will update on my hair wen its dry.

*update*
super shiny soft black hair. could almost see a reflection in my hair not even kidding lol, an more body. was gawjus. BUT not worth the hassle. it washed out so quickly literally less than 2 weeks n left me with a red tint (an i dont use harsh shampoo or wash it everyday), i did it again since using 2 blocks NOIR 4 blocks BRUN, gave me silky chocolate brown hair for a week.. but now its a faded light brown with REALLY red tints which i hate but cant dye over it coz 1. i dont wanna use henna again and 2. cant use chemicals over it! grrr

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thelonelyraindrop on 2/15/2010 7:41:00 PM more reviews by thelonelyraindrop

Age: 19-24   Skin: Other, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

I have been using caca Noir for years and it is amazing! Leaves hair well conditioned with brilliant color and shine! My only advice would be that you need to be patient in not only letting it sit for a long time, but also by allowing it to build up over time with a serious of applications. These will give you the best results.

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ArretezCharlotte on 1/24/2010 4:00:00 PM more reviews by ArretezCharlotte

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Dry, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Black, Curly, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

First of all, what is it that those of you who say that the amusingly named Caca Noir had no effect whatsoever have been putting on your hair? Surely it cannot be this stuff! I hennad and then indigoed my dark golden blonde hair, hoping to achieve a rich, neither warm nor cool, chocolate brown . Result - very warm, gingery light to medium brown hair and me very pissed off. Bought some Caca Noir a few days later, whacked it on for 5 hours with low expectations and suffice it to say that my hair is now not only dark brown, but so dark it is virtually black, admittedly after an unfortunate 'settling in' 48 hour period of it being coal black with moss green tints under artificial light. But useless it certainly ain't.


Indigoing your hair is one of the most horrificially messy processes known to humanity. Henna is more unpleasant, because it solidifies without drying into a sort of toffee-like cement, and your neck aches like a bitch after 10 minutes, but it fastens itself to your hair and so doesn't tend to drip. Indigo on the other hand clumps and pills into evil clusters, little and large, that tumble all over you and your floors and your furniture and your family members. A fortnight later and the dead skin I scrub off my neck in the bath is still jeans blue, and I am still finding little dried pebbles of the bloody indigo all over my house. They're not lying when they admit that it stains everything, either. Since Caca Noir is mainly indigo, all this applies to it as well to the powdered indigo that I used prior to it.


I grated mine, which took forever but saved me from having to stir it for centuries. I'd heard that boiling water can ruin indigo, so used hot water from the tap. I've deduced that it's very important to achieve the recommended yoghurty consistency - if it's too thick, you'll miss big patches of your head and end up with spotty hair and embarrassment and people laughing at you. I've also deduced that it's vital to let the colour settle for a few days before you decide that it's a disaster. Mine was a fetching shade of dark green for the first 24 hours and jet black with algae-coloured highlights for the following 24. Less than a day later it was deep, dark brown and the highlights were red, presumably from my previous henna session.


It takes forever to rinse, you have been warned. My hair comes halfway down my arms, and 35 minutes after I begun the rinsing stage I was still standing hunched over with my head under the tap, pulling hunks out of my hair like a complete and utter twat. Even when you think it's all done and dusted, you will probably find the water is slightly tinted when you next wash your hair. And you'll need to be wearing clothes that you don't mind ruining forever, and you'll need to scrub the skin on your hairline, ears, neck and shoulders so hard that it nearly comes off. But it will in the end.


When my colour needs a top up, I'll definitely repurchase. The process itself was so messy and exhausting that I surely came within inches of death, but the end result was, is, worth it. I never believed the stories of henna products bettering the condition of hair but after a round of henna, a round of indigo and a round of Caca Noir, my hair is in better condition than it has been since I was 9 or 10 years old. Click continued for pictures.


Natural colour:





After henna and indigo, blowdried straight. It didn't look it in this picture, but it was still very light and gingery, only slightly darker than my natural colour.





After Caca Noir. In natural light it's a little less black and a little more brown. It's a lot darker than I wanted it but I'm getting used to it, slowly.

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RandomFlopsy on 1/3/2010 12:25:00 PM more reviews by RandomFlopsy

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I started my henna-obsession with Caca Brun: it rescued my terribly overprocessed hair from the chop. The colour wasn't quite deep enough though, and I'd heard good things about the blue reflexes some people were getting from Caca Noir, so I traded up.

I always use two blocks on my short bob so I get at least three uses from a brick, making it super value. The packaging is standard Lush paper, the ingredients natural, so you can feel all smug and eco-friendly.

The process was the same: grate, soak in hot (not boiling) water, stir well and for goodness' sake, wear gloves. I dyed my cuticles a fetching shade of poo-brown for a week by accident... I've always just used plain water when mixing up my henna, never added coffee or vinegar but intend to give that a shot at some point.

I tend to leave mine on for about four hours, that's as long as I can take before I get bored. The washing-out process can be prolonged. You need to shampoo several times or you will stain your sheets that night (and if the colour on those is anything like the accidental nail colour, that's not something you want).

The shine is even better than with Caca Brun. I didn't get a blue tint, but that's just fine as the texture entirely makes up for it. My hair feels really nourished: terribly overused word when describing products, but it's true. It's not a pitch-raven-black on me, but it does deepen with repeated usage. I find I have to do it about once every three months if I want to avoid it lightening into a sort of mahogany shade (nice, but not what I want). Also beware of using on highlighted/pale hair as the results might be slightly more dramatic than anticipated... (ie BRIGHT red).

I would absolutely recommend this as a superior alternative to chemical dyes. I used standard colours (both at home and at the salon) for years and the results I get from the henna are much better. The shine, texture and thickness are glorious: I literally get stopped in the street! Great ego-boost.

EDIT: I left this on overnight. 12 solid hours. It was uncomfortable and I kept waking up panicking my head was leaking. This morning, it's nearly raven-black with blue reflexes. I hope this will deepen further over the next couple of days, but I am very pleased. Finally it's actually *noir*.

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lisavillasmil on 12/24/2009 1:14:00 AM more reviews by lisavillasmil

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

I bought this in the lush inside of macys at my local mall. I prepared it according to the instructions. I also youtubed some reviews to really see how to do it. I poured hotttt simmering water on the blocks in a second pan to melt them. It turned into a green paste not quite like yogurt more like whipped. i smoothed it on to my hair piece by piece. first roots (made it easier) then the whole piece. I left it on for about 3.5 hours. It was messy and i would leave crumbs all over the house. but i could tell it was oxidizing because it was turning from green to black. After 3.5 hours i washed it out and it was like waxy. Tomorrow im going to wash it again i just want the henna to really penetrate in there. so i didnt shampoo i just used conditioner. Now its really soft but as for the color it didnt "dye" it didnt do too good of a job of that.... Maybe i should have left it in longer but i was so anxious! I have read reviews where people have put a pinch of salt to enhance the indigo or some olive oil to give moisture. I did neither. :/ . Overall my hair is alot softer and shinier but not darker. Ill see what happens in the next few days. :) Supposedly it gets darker or something. Ive read so many reviews! :) Thanks for reading :)

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elysiamarie on 12/9/2009 1:51:00 PM more reviews by elysiamarie

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Black   Eyes: Green    

I wanted something more natural to dye my hair with, and I stumbled accross this product. It was very easy to use(for me)and it smelt soo much better than chemical dyes. Kept it in for 4 hours. Worked great. Had really healthy hair, nice and shiny. The only problem I had with it was that it faded really fast. I understood why this happened, I should have dyed it again a day or 2 later. But over all great product and worth a try.

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stephisticated on 10/15/2009 8:02:00 PM more reviews by stephisticated

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

First off, I'm allergic to hair dye, I had a severe reaction to PPD last year and had my face swell up; very terrifying. I vowed never to dye my hair again but this is obviously an exception because it's natural. I have to say the process is pretty annoying but it's very much worth it. I break it down by grating it and then pour hot tap water over it and mix it into the paste. Honestly, I actually like the smell of it unlike most people. It smells like tea and coffee and I don't find it offensive. I use 3 cubes, leave it on for 3 hours and it gives awesome results. I have a kind of mousy - medium brown hair colour and it turns it into a nice, deep chestnut brown colour and makes it extremely shiny and healthy.

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blueskies on 3/23/2009 6:11:00 PM more reviews by blueskies

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

My hair is naturally brown/auburn. I've dyed it black a couple times in the past (with standard, chemical dyes) and while I liked the look, I felt bad about putting harsh products in my hair. I had tried a henna/indigo mix once in the past with little success, but decided to give Lush's version a chance. The preparation and application process is not that bad. I only need two squares (out of six in the bar) to cover my entire head. I grated them using an ordinary cheese grater. I then put the powder in a glass bowl and mixed with a ceramic spoon, using only water as per the instructions. Now the first time I did this, I used water heated up in a pan, to just before boiling point. The second time, after reading on Lush's website that heat is actually detrimental to indigo, I just used hot water straight from the tap, which proved to be hot enough (more on that later).

On to the application. That part was fairly easy. I have fine hair and not that much of it so covering everything was no big deal. Keeping the stuff for 6 hours was a bit more annoying. The smell is not terrible, but not quite pleasant either, and it is strong. As the mixture dries it gets really hard and sandy (I let it air-dry, no cling film). The biggest pain about the Caca is getting rid of it. I stayed under the shower head for a while, to at least get my hair moving again. Then I used a lot of conditioner, rinsed, conditioned again, rinsed, shampooed, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed. It takes a *lot* of time, especially in my shower which has no pressure!

And... yes, as implied above, I did the whole thing twice. In three days. As I said, my natural hair is not particularly dark, so after a single application, it had turned a rich dark brown, but not dark enough to my liking. I had read that multiple uses would progressively lead to darker results, so I braced myself and repeated the whole thing. After the second time, my hair was really dark. Not the "blackest of blacks", but very dark, black under most lightings. Overall I am satisfied at the results. The colour is nice, the product doubles as a pretty good conditioning treatment, and is 100% natural. Now I wonder how long it'll stay. I will update.

Update: It's been a little more than a week now, and the colour has already faded quite a bit. I don't wash my hair every day, and I don't use harsh shampoos, so I don't see why this would fade so fast. I'll use the last two squares of Caca Noir I've got in a couple of days, and see how that goes.

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*TOP REVIEWER* muppitonastring on 3/15/2009 9:56:00 PM more reviews by muppitonastring

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Olive   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

I was drawn to this since it is ready mixed with other stuff and is available near me. If I had more money, I would do what the henna enthusiasts do and get super sifted Jamila etc and make my own blend. The SA convinced me to get Noir as opposed to Brun because I have dark brown hair anyway and she said that Brun would barely have an effect. I wish I had gone with my instinct and got Brun instead. I’m not too fond of the blueness of Indigo, I feel it looks very harsh on me even though I have dark features and olive skin, I need warmth with my hair and I am badly missing my natural hair colour now :(


I have waist-long fine untreated hair and got this purely to diminish the 50 or so grey wiry hairs on either side on my head. I have used henna and indigo separately a few years ago and preferred henna because it gave a blended natural look. Anyway, the Caca Noir has made little difference to my grey hairs, individually they are *slightly* less bright than usual but because the rest of my hair is darker now, they are still very noticeable. I know that henna is not going to completely cover greys like PPD dyes, but this henna had a negligible effect. My mum uses Pakistani red henna (very bright red that I’m scared to use) that her nice friend got her and she gets very good coverage on her hair which is all grey…so I have seen that it is possible to cover grey hairs with henna. Maybe red henna is more effective than indigo in covering greys? Caca Noir is more indigo than red henna. I kept the Noir on for 4 hours, the label suggested 1-4 hrs and I thought leaving it on for longer would give a really rich colour. I also wrapped with clingfilm as suggested (and added a scarf on top to keep everything in place) in order to make the colour more red as opposed to brown…but I have to look hard to see the redness. If you want a black tint to your hair and greys are not an issue, then great, this works, try it.


There is a lot of contradictory information about how to use henna generally and these Lush ones are no exception. Everyone here comments that boiling water should not be used but that is what Lush instructs to use. Some are saying that the mixture should be kept on for 6 or 8 hours whereas Lush say 1-4 hours, in the literature that I got. I find it quite confusing and trial and error seems like the only way to go about it. The henna process is very messy and laborious but I would happily accept that if I got decent results because I’m not willing to use commercial PPD dyes. I did get a really bad headache with this as well but again, I would tolerate that for a good result. I don’t know if it was the weight on my head, the head-wrapping, the essential oils or the ‘perfume’ in this that gave me the headache. I have pretty shiny hair anyway since it is untreated so I didn’t even see a marked difference in that regard. I am kind of hesitant to try the Brun because of this experience. I had pretty good results with The Body Shop’s brown henna once so I might just go back to that.


By the way, I broke this into smaller pieces before adding the water and it was still pretty hard to mix, so I think the grating advice is spot on to get a smooth mixture quickly. I also found it was a good idea to swish my hair around in a bucket of water before shampooing this out in order to get the clumps out easily and avoid causing a blockage in my bathtub (I poured the clumpy henna water down the toilet instead). £6.80 in the UK for 325g/6 cubes. On waist-length hair 6 cubes was enough.


Ingredients: Indigo, Coca Butter, Red Henna, Irish Moss Powder, Clove Bud Oil, *Citral, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Citronellol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume. *occurs naturally in essential oils.


Sorry for the really long review but I wanted to mention what I thought was important :p

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Sim_Arik on 2/22/2009 6:06:00 PM more reviews by Sim_Arik

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

This product didn't work too well for me in terms of getting a black uniform color. Right after I washed henna and dried my hair I didn't notice any results what so ever. Only the next day I realized that it kinda added the reddish tone to my hair which could be seen on the sun. After couple of washes I noticed hair getting a tiny bit darker but it is very insignificant. I was holding this mess on my head for 6 hours just like instructions said, added a bit of olive oil to the mixture as an extra moisturizer for hair since henna can cause drying effect. The only thing I could have done wrong was dissolving Caca with boiled water as opposed to the hot tap water (I wish I read reviews here before dying my hair) so that could possibly interfere with the indigo. I still have 3 cubes left so I'm gonna give it another try when I have 6 free hours, this time using tap water, to see if it works. If not then I'll have to look for other alternatives.

On the positive side, my hair felt much stronger and it is still very shiny (and I dyed it 2 weeks ago) so I do recommend it as a hair treatment once in a while, it does make roots stronger.

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*TOP REVIEWER* happylynngilmer on 1/21/2009 12:59:00 PM more reviews by happylynngilmer

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry, Fair   Hair: Black   Eyes: Hazel    

UPDATE: this stuff seems to fade pretty fast compared to mehendi.com's bundle. I've returned to mehendi.

I don't like grating this, but due to the indigo and it's fast dye release, I don't like it sitting in hot water. It takes a ton of rinsing/washing to get it out, but OH the color. I am in love with the color. 3 cubes does a full-head. Caca Noir is one shade from darkest black possible, with nearly NO red at all. Just in the sunlight. $21 for 6 cubes at LUSH. (not local, but within driving distance).

So....I grate it with a plastic (not metal!) cheese grater from Save Mart. Add to it a pinch of salt. Add hot tap water, mix with wooden spoon, apply. Wrap in saran wrap, and cover with a beanie. Let sit for 3 hours. Rinse rinse rinse. Rinse more. Then I use diltued shampoo to get the rest out because Suave conditioner just sticks to the cocoa butter and makes chunky hair. But the shampoo DOES NOT affect my color AT ALL.

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smudged_eyeliner on 7/30/2008 10:37:00 AM more reviews by smudged_eyeliner

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Green    

YUCK. Im sorry to bring the rating down, but to me, this was horrendous. I wont describe how I used it (as everyone else has done a good job of describing how to use it) my hair was dark brown before i used this and only slightly darker afterwards. Yes it was shiny, but my hair is shiny anyway and it was such a chore putting it on, especially when the results are rubbish. Once it was on my hair, the smell was pretty bad, but the worst part was when i tried to rinse it out, it took FOREVER, it literally felt like someone had backcombed my hair as much as they could and then dumped mud mixed with gravel into my hair, it was so tatty, it was ridiculous, it triggered a HUGE migraine (one of the worst ive had) I had put it on my hair early in the day because my fiance and I had a special night out planned that evening.....we had to cancel because my migraine, due to this product, was so horrendous. After I finally rinsed my hair, I literally could not get a comb or brush through my hair, my hair has never been as tatty as that, it was almost matted. Im glad to know im not the only one to have suffered a migraine due to this awful product. I cant help but wonder how I hated it so much, when it has good reviews...perhaps is because my hair is long and very thick, maybe thats why it didnt work as I followed to instructions to the letter, but if thats the case Lush should warn people on the label. This is one of the worst products Ive ever used...my head hurts just thinking about it. Its a shame because ive loved every product ive ever used from Lush (their bath bombs are to die for!) but i wont be touching this ever again.

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*TOP REVIEWER* hollyc01 on 7/30/2008 7:40:00 AM more reviews by hollyc01

Age: 30-35   Skin: Very Dry, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

Just wanted to add my comments to those already posted. This is a terrific henna. When mixed properly it has a creamy pudding texture that distributes very easily through the hair. Don't bother with the cheese grater, just take a large heavy bladed kitchen knife and scrape it off. This goes very quickly and spares your knuckles!! I wrap my hair, only because the henna will dry on your head and then shed little specks throughout the house if you don't. I do believe, however, that allowing the henna to dry on the head exposed to the air acheives darker less red results. I think it is important to wash hair first with a good clarifying shampoo so there is no residue on hair to prevent the product adhering to the hair. I don't shampoo the henna out of my hair. I use a cheap conditioner and comb and rinse it through several times. I think when it is freshly done, the colour is less stable and washing immediately with soap removes it before it has a chance to mature on the hair. Your hair may look slightly oily doing this, so don't plan on a big night out. Shampoos the next day with a colour sparing shampoo (I like TIGI Thick Massive Hair) I agree with the other reviewers also, the colour will be at its truest approx. 3 days later (it will darken) This is a heavenly dark brown black. No granny Blue Black here. I got no green from this like I have from the Colora black henna. Also too, unlike other hennas, using boiling water WILL interfere with the development of the indigo and render your product almost useless. Hot tap water only please.

Gorgeous shine and enhanced body. The colour fades gradually and left no demarcation line in my med/dark hair.

Oh, and when they say not for use on light hair, "they ain't kidding". I've heard that using black henna on blond hair results in turqoise!

Henna is a pain in the neck to do, time consuming, fiddly, messy, but it is the best alternative for those wishing to avoid chemicals. Hmmmm, I think I'll go throw some on now!

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giggle7658 on 7/29/2008 8:11:00 PM more reviews by giggle7658

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

I am going to be very detailed about this product to help you guys out .
First off I have very dark hair naturally almost black with cool undertones. I put some carmel highlights in and have been trying to cover them ever since as my hair grows out to my natural dark brunette color. Well, in the last year I have resorted to permanent hair dye by Loreal to cover the carmel highlights. I use the dark brown creme excellence. Which is excellent hair dye by the way and I love the tube of conditioner that comes with I use it on a weekly basis. Well, I am getting tired of dying my hair. I notice that as I continue to dye it breaks more and more of my hair off. I wish it wasent so because I just love this hair dye. My hair is just to fine to take the abuse. It also leaves alot of red in my hair because to get the dark brunette in hair dyes you have to cross the red barrier. So I have left a lot of red in my hair which I dont want, I wanted to go back to my dark brunette hair, one color, no highlights. I decided to look up henna and found the Lush Caca Noir. After spending lots of time reading reviews and tips I decided to go to the Lush store. Luckily one just opened close to were I live. At the store I was suprised that it came in a brick and it was green. There are six squares in a brick. I bought it for $20.95 and took it home. I broke off three peices for my very long, fine hair. You have to break this down before adding the warm/hot water. I decided to grate the squares with the very small end of a metal cheese grator into a plastic bowl. (On a side note I would reccomend buying a plastic bowl, a brush at sallys for highlighting hair. The one that has the brush on one end and the pick on the other, you will also need a disposable spoon to whip the ingrediants together you will be throwing all this away when you are done.) The cheese grator grated this very very fine which was perfect. I let the graded Caca Noir sit for the night because it was getting late and I wanted to work on this in the morning. I found the grating a little tedious but if you are patient it is not the bad. After grating I decided to read some more reviews to make sure and confirm I was doing this right. I was a little concerned as I ran across a review that said not to use ANYTHING metal as it will turn your hair green when the CACA reacts with the metal. Just using the metal cheese grator I was a wee bit concerned but I decided to move forward. The next morning I covered my bathroom in some newspaper as I heard this process was messy took off my jewlery and then divided my hair into small sections with disposable plastic clips. I then decided to use very hot water from my sink faucet as I have read the indigo dye in the Caca Noir DOES NOT like boiling water! If you heat this product too much it will destroy the Indigo which turns your hair the black/dark brunette color. I thought about using the kettle and boil water and then let it sit for 10 minutes but decided to forgo this idea because my kitchen sink water comes out very hot. I started mixing a small amount of hot water (not boiling but very hot) into the bowl of CACA. And started stirring with my plastic spoon. Then I added some more water and again and again in small amounts until I just had the right consistancy. It has to be like cake batter. Then I added about 1/2 teaspoon of salt directly to the CACA. The salt helps the Indigo develop and hold its color on your hair. I then took it to the bathroom were all my newspaper was laid out and began the process. It is a messy process but I did not find it irritating at all. I used the Sally's highlighting brush alot and this saved me in this process. Make sure to coat from the root all the way down to the tip of your hair. I was using disposable plastic gloves but found the kept slipping and I just couldent the coverage that I needed so I took them off and just used my hands. I also would reccomend that you have washclothes that you dont mind getting stained all over to wipe up messes. The dye will dye anything that it sits on for over 5 minutes so get it off anything that it spills on. I decided to work on my hair first since there was alot of the CACA going everywere and clean spills when I was done. After I was done with coating each section with CACA and then putting it together in a plastic clip with the last section eventually I had covered my whole head. I just had enough CACA there was none left when I was done. Closer to the end of the last section my CACA started to harden so I had to go back to the kitchen to stir in and mix a little more hot water. After it was done I looked like something that crawled out of the swamp.. I did not do a strand test just because everyones reviews were so good, but my hair was hardening green so I was a little worried my hair was turning green. On a side note the smell did not bother me at all as I have read it does others. After about 2.5 hours I got antsy and decided to wash off in the shower. I rinsed my hair with a shampoo that is not very expensive about 5 times to get all the hardened CACA out. There was green all over the shower but comes out easily with water. I let my hair air dry and it turned almost all the red in my head a very dark brunette and my medium brunette ends very dark as well. My hair now matches a hair peice I ordered that was too dark. Before my husband could tell I had a hair peice in because it was darker than my hair but know he could not tell. Overall I am very happy my hair was not green LOL! a but beautiful dark dark brunette when done. It also takes about three days for the color to fully develop.I will be reusing my three bricks that are left when the color starts to fade. Next time I will leave it on longer maybe over 4 hours:) I also did not wrap my hair in saran wrap. Saran wrap is if you want redder highlights. I was trying to get rid of red so decided last minute not to wra

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