Changing my locks (of hair)

Hair Dye.
Scary stuff. (But pretty colours)
Even scarier when you have allergies.
(to be honest thought, lots of things are scary with allergies)

My natural colour is dark blonde - that nothing shade that sits between golden blonde and light brown. I didn't actually start playing around with my hair colour until university.
My first foray was using a gradual bleaching foam, I used it very sparingly and avoided getting in onto my hands (disposable gloves) and scalp.
I really did not enjoy being a blonde.  It lasted maybe a few months after I got to the colour I wanted.  Also high upkeep to maintain the roots.

So I allowed the blonde to grow out and went back to my normal colouring.

About 10 years ago, when I first started teaching I decided I wanted to go brown.  But I was terrified of using a chemical hair dye because of my allergies.  And I still am terrified of using a chemical hair dye.  Not going near that stuff!

So whats an allergy queen to do? Turn to henna.   But Rosie you say, henna makes your hair red!

I used Lush's CaCa bricks, which come in several tones from brown to black.
Initially I used 100% CaCa Brun, which uses a mix of indigo and henna to create a brown tone.
It was a lovely brown, but still I wanted more!

Now the thing with henna is it actually penetrates the hair follicles and so the natural highlights and tones of your hair is mimicked.  So it looks natural.  But the hairs get saturated and you cant just keep dying your hair, so it should be at minimum every 6 weeks or so.  I dye my hair every term holidays- every 3 months.  The regrowth only shows in the last fortnight or so because of how well it takes the hair tones on.

This shows the natural tones in my hair, it's not a flat colouration.

However because of this henna is a serious commitment.  You cant bleach your hair for at least 6 months after colouring your hair (preferably 12 months) because SCIENCE will happen and you may fry your hair off, or end up with lurid orange (as in, orange the fruit) coloured hair.  Damaged to hell hair.  So if you get sick of the henna color you have to let it grow out and cut off any ends that have henna so you are left with virgin hair.  You also have to be careful over-dyeing henna with artificial dyes - again, wait 3 to 6 months.  I have tried doing a reverse ombre with the Noir henna, but it never takes and I think this may be from the henna particles from previous layers filling the follicle.

You know how you have an image of yourself in your head that you really want to be?
I wanted to be a red-head.  Life goals.  Seriously.

I gradually mixed the CaCa Brun with CaCa Marron, then 100% CaCa Marron (chestnut red/brown), mixed CaCa Marron with CaCa Rouge and now for the past 6 years I have been using 100% CaCa Rogue.  In sunlight is it LURID!  Not so shocking in artificial lighting or cloudy days, when it looks more auburn.
I have application down to 10 minutes.  Also because my hair gets repeated layerings of the henna I only use 1 square of the 6 in a brick and essentially focus the colour on my roots.  When my hair gets longer it may require 1.5.  With the full colour changes I would use 2 full blocks to do my waist length hair - my hair is now 6 inches below my shoulders.  The Lush North America forum has a veritable mine of information on how to tweak the blocks for different hair types and colours. 

Even though my application is fast, it needs to sit on the fair for at least 2 hours (some people leave it overnight, I haven't needed to).  To wash it our, I soak it with conditioner to loosen it up, rinse with warm water, wash properly with shampoo, rinse and repeat until all of the grains are out, so that you don't stain your towels or pillows. 

When people first meet me, they think my red hair is natural.  And they keep believing it until someone opens their big mouth (not me!).

The only downside is that I think the rosemary in the henna irritates my scalp, so for 2 or so days afterwards my scalp's itchy.  But 3 days every 3 months I can cope with.  I've not had swollen eyelids or any other major allergic flareups.

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

I am wondering about trying pure henna so I can eliminate all of the items that aren't really helpful for my allergies but at the moment I have a stash of Henna blocks to use up.

What have your experiences with dying hair using henna?

Shampoo and sneaky allergens

Shampoo was a difficult area for me to find something that worked and I didn't react to.  I used to be a huge fan of Lush Shampoos, in particular Daddy-O (cos its purple and smells of violets).  But the reality is that they have far too many allergens in that I am sensitive to.  When I started the strict RPAH Elimination Allergy Diet I had to change many aspects of my routine that you wouldn't think of.  It took my 4 weeks to figure out that my toothpaste was the cause of the rash around my mouth. I spent a fair chunk of time and money buying hair products and I thought I would talk about the items I keep repurchasing because they are safe for me.

I should say first that I am very lucky with my hair.  Its not excessively dry - I do heat-style it frequently during term time when teaching, which is why I look for "moisture replenishing" products, I can get away without conditioning if I'm not styling.  It takes a few days for me to get greasy.  My hair is dead straight but I dont have issue with static and it grows quickly.  So I dont look for major help with my haircare products (unlike my skin). Therefore I tend to keep things simple. 

I tried the no-shampoo routine with Bicarb and Vinegar (cept I had to use Citric acid because of the amines in vinegar).  Yeah, no. Didn't care for it too much.  I worked through massively greasy bit and my scalp had adjusted, but I didn't find the "wow" factor that many people rave about.  And when it came time to re-dye my hair, I needed a shampoo and conditioner to get the henna out and couldn't be bothered going through all that again.

The shampoo and conditioner I am currently using is Tresemme Moisture Rich Shampoo and Conditioner (light blue label below). 

Why do the new bottle crumple?  Why?!

Shampoo Ingredients : Aqua (Water), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Ammonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Tocopheryl Acetate, HelianthusAnnuus (Sunflower) Extract, Corylus Avellana (Hazel) Leaf Extract, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Seed Extract, FoeniculumVulgare (Fennel) Seed Extract, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl, Hydrolyzed WheatProtein, Dicaprylyl Ether, Lauryl Alcohol, Quaternium-22 Polyquaternium-39, Polyquaternium-10 Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, ButyleneGlycol, Citric Acid, Hexylene Glycol, Triethanolamine Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone Methylisothiazolinone,Butylphenyl Methyl Propional Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool Parfum (Fragrance)

Conditioner Ingredients : Aqua (Water, Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Dimethicone, Cyclohexasiloxane, AsparticAcid, Quaternium-18, Parfum (Fragrance), Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Isostearamidopropyl Ethyldimonium Ethosulfate, Linalool, HexylCinnamal, Limonene, Panthenol, Geraniol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, PEG-9, Hydroxycitronellal, Citronellol, Amyl Cinnamal,Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Methylisothiazolinone, Butylene Glycol,Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Seed Extract, Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Epilobium AngustifoliumFlower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Extract, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (SweetAlmond) Seed Extract, Corylus Avellana (Hazel) Leaf Extract

The ingredient list isn't short, but there are some good things in there such as the camellia sinesis oil which is well known in AB for its excellent hair conditioning abilities.  Both have some keratin in as well, but I'm not too sure how much of a true benefit they provide at the levels they sit at.  on the plus side the scent is very mild and you cant detect it the next day apart from smelling "clean" so I dont get a headache from it.

Once a week I use the clarifying Tresemme Deep Cleansing Shampoo (green label above).  This helps greatly with product build up, this was an issue I had because I am very fond of styling my hair. 

Ingredients:
Water (Aqua, Eau), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Ammonium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Disodium EDTA,Dicaprylyl Ether, Lauryl Alcohol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Geraniol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citric Acid, Methylchloroisothiazolinone,Propylene Glycol, Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Green 5 (CI 61570), Methylisothiazolinone, Ascorbic Acid,Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Extract, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Triethanolamine,Hexylene Glycol

I was concerned about the Grapefruit and Lemon extract but they are very low on the list and as I use this once a week I think that reduces the risk of allergen build up.  I have not noticed an increase in hives or such after using this product.
I tend to focus the conditioner on the lower 10 cms of my hair. I tend to use 2 full bottles of shampoo to one bottle of conditioner - no matter the brand.  You can see that the Moisture Shampoo is the new bottle and the conditioner is still the old bottle!

If I don't condition I will use Schwartzkopf Extra Care 6 Miracles Oil Essence.  
Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, Caryocar Brasiliense Fruit Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, GardeniaTahitensis Flower Extract, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Moringa Pterygosperma Seed Oil, Octocrylene, Parfum, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool,Limonene, Coumarin.

This is the second hair oil I have tried. The first one was Aldi's Lacura Argan Oil.  Didn't really like that - was too heavy for normal wear so I tend to use that as a hair treatment.  To be honest - I only bought this was because it was 50% off at Woolworths.  But I do like it and have found it to be light enough to use frequently, I can also use it as longer treatment if I apply more.  Also no irritation from this one.

Schwartzkopf can be a bit hit-and-miss for me.  I cant use their hair-sprays, but I haven't been able to pinpoint what it the trigger for me, so I just avoid all of them.  I tend to use Tresemme hairsprays or VO5 (blue cans - never ever the pink cans) hairsprays.  

What I trialled along the way was Schwartzkopf Extra Care Nutri-Protect with Rose Oil, but this provided too much moisture for my hair and my hair would look sad and lank the very next day, but did not irritate my skin.  I wash my hair every 2 to 3 days, and have a collection of dry shampoo's that I rotate and use when the urge strikes.  Typically I go for Klorane but have also started branching out into Batiste.  One important thing I have to do is check to see what the main powder - Corn Starch (Maize) or Rice (Oryza Sativa).  I avoid any dry shampoo that has corn starch.  Made that mistake once.

Overall I tend to get for Tresemme products because I've not had a bad reaction to any of them.  that for me is the main selling point for buying hair products.
What do you look for when buying hair products?