Henna Lush

The Lush company (England) differs from other cosmetic companies in the naturalness of its products and the use of manual work in the manufacture of cosmetics. One of the product lines: hair care products, among which henna occupies a special place.

In the company, the entire production process is organized by hand: the collection and processing of original natural ingredients, packaging, the manufacturer's label sticker, which indicates the expiration date and even the name of the employee who made the Lush product. This is one of the few companies that do not test their products on animals, which is an important positive factor for the prestige of a European-level company.

Henna is obtained from the dried and ground leaves of a plant called lavsonia, which grows in the tropics. The upper leaves of the plant are used for dyeing textiles and leather, and the lower leaves are used to prepare hair dye. Colorless henna is obtained from the stem. The younger the shrub, the richer the tint effect. In addition to coloring properties, henna has a number of advantages: it restores the cellular composition of the skin, treats dandruff, relieves irritation, strengthens hair, and is an excellent conditioner, making hair thicker.

Lush henna has the appearance of compressed bars resembling chocolate bars, with various natural additives (coffee, cocoa and others), which allow you to diversify its shades (from light red to black).

This natural dye is not very large expiration date - up to 12 months. Freshness can be determined by color: fresh - green. At the same time, storage conditions also affect the shelf life. It is stored in a dense, well-closed package, as it begins to oxidize when opened. The powder becomes darker, collects in lumps and loses activity. Expired henna cannot cause harm, the only thing is that the saturation of the coloring result will be weaker. Users of henna also pay attention to the fact that as the expiration date expires, the amount of oils in it decreases and the smell weakens. This is a positive factor for owners of a heightened sense of smell.

Henna Lush consists of directly henna (ground leaves of lavsonia), cocoa butter, pearl (Irish) moss algae powder, clove oil, various essential oils and perfume compositions. To give a different tone, ground coffee beans, nettle powder and other ingredients are added. Colorless henna is contained in the Jasmine and Henna hair mask.

Lush henna line presented 4 color solutions:

• Brown: includes ground coffee beans; it gives the hair an intense brown color; nettle powder (one of the ingredients) heals the scalp, adds shine to the hair, makes the roots stronger.
• Chestnut: a combination of red and black henna, supplemented with ground coffee beans, oils - gives the hair a red color with a fiery tint of fresh chestnuts.
• Red: traditional, creates a red color with an orange tint. It includes rosemary and clove, lemon oils.
• Black: contains cocoa and clove oil, can give both a bluish-black tint, and at the first staining, only shade the existing natural color with a cold sheen. It depends on how the tool is used.

All types of henna can be mixed with each other in different ratios, achieving an infinite number of shades.

• When using black henna to get black with blue tint let the hair with the paint dry in the open air.
• If you wish to receive brown shade, then you need to cover the hair with cling film.
• If you wish to achieve red shade when diluting henna, do not use water, but red wine.
• Purple, iridescent shade in the sun is obtained by diluting henna with hot juice of freshly squeezed beets (without the use of water).
• Honey golden tone will be achieved by diluting henna with chamomile infusion.
• Noble shades of dark color obtained by mixing the dye with black coffee.
• It is desirable to add to all these mixtures a few drops of essential oils this will evenly distribute the dye through the hair.

In the absence of a desire to experiment with natural ingredients, it is better to purchase Lush colored henna, which will give the hair the desired shade without much hassle.

To achieve an excellent result, experts advise you to follow some rules.

For painting you need:

• grater,
• gloves,
• towel (probably, after painting it will not be possible to wash it),
• hairbrush, hairpins,
• paint brush,
• containers for breeding (glass, and preferably porcelain),
• kneading tool (wooden spatula),
• any floor covering (so as not to stain it: film, newspapers).

Very important: it is not recommended to use henna on hair that has recently been dyed with artificial dyes. It is advisable to try to color the initially small curl to make sure that the desired result is achieved. For a short haircut, 30-50 g will be enough, for an average length of 100-150 g, for long ones up to 250 g, one cube is approximately 50 g.

Important rules:

• Grind henna with a fine grater.
• Pour into a container, pour hot water (75-80 degrees), stir thoroughly until the lumps disappear, put in a water bath (up to 3 hours), in winter you can use a warm battery. The hotter the henna, the brighter the color. A microwave oven is not allowed for this.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil (avocado, shea, coconut, jojoba).
• Comb hair thoroughly.
• Wearing gloves, until the dye has cooled down, apply to thin strands of cleanly washed wet hair (washed with shampoo without the use of masks, balms), carefully smearing the root line of the hair.
• After painting at the roots, a dye is applied along the entire length.
• Hair with henna applied is not combed, but rather slapped to the head so that the henna does not move from the roots to the tips.
• Cover with a package if necessary, insulate.If a red tint is not desirable, the head is not covered with anything.
• Withstand the required time.
• Rinse off with a conditioner or hair mask. If necessary, comb out the "dust" with a comb. You can use a mild shampoo.
• Thorough washing of hair with shampoo is carried out after three days.

If the color is too bright, it can be muted by applying warm vegetable oil for 30 minutes. Chemical brighteners are not allowed to be used.

For more information about hair coloring with Lush henna, see the following video.

Keep the dye on the hair from a quarter of an hour to eight hours. Some leave it even overnight and longer. It all depends on the desired result: the longer you hold, the more intense the color will be.

Painting over gray hair using henna is quite realistic. However, you should be aware that if you use it in its pure form without additives, you can get a bright red color. In order to get a brown or reddish tint, you need to add dried rhubarb leaves, basma, red wine and other ingredients. If at the first staining the gray hair was not dyed enough, the coloring should be repeated. When using basma, it is recommended to paint in two stages: first, paint separately with henna, and then with basma. The result is a delightful chestnut color.

Consumers believe that Lush henna rightfully belongs to good cosmetics, since, having only natural ingredients in its composition, it does not harm the hair in any way, but on the contrary, lifeless, dry hair before using henna, after its use, acquire a healthy look.

Henna heals hair, strengthens it, stimulates growth.

Homemade masks prepared on its basis are very effective. Hair after them becomes strong, soft, elastic, shiny.

The disadvantages of using this coloring agent include the troublesomeness of painting, it takes a lot of time, you need to be attentive to expiration dates and storage rules leftovers. But the effect is worth it.

In the East, henna is considered a love spell: it gives rise to passion. There is an opinion that men cannot refuse anything to a woman painted with henna. This is most pronounced after the first time of coloring. We make wishes and charm. It is impossible to refuse us: after all, we have Lush henna!