Henna hair dye is something that I've only used once in my life, and it was such a messy experience that I vowed to never use it again. Of course, now that I'm a bit older and perhaps a little wiser with my product choices, I decided the time was right for me to re-experiment with this ancient form of hair colour.
My hair is naturally dark brown which rather limits my colouring options, unless I want to bleach it to lighten it first. I did this a lot throughout my teenage years whilst at college, and although I had a lot of fun, I ended up completely ruining my hair to the point where it was snapping off every time I tried to drag a brush through it, so you could say my love affair with bleach ended at that point! For the next couple of years, I let my hair recover and didn't use any dyes on it during this period.
However, when I reached my late 20s, I started to see some inevitable grey hairs starting to appear here and there, so I decided to seek out some natural hair dye alternatives. I've tried numerous brands with varying levels of success, and have mostly stuck with a basic semi-permanent dark brown shade to match my natural colour. Lately though, I've been craving a bit of a change and after some late night online browsing, I stumbled across Saacch Organics.
Sacch Organics are an all-natural haircare brand that specialises in plant-based hair colours which can be used on all hair types and by all ages. They're particularly useful for those who have sensitive and hypersensitive skin, as well as consumers who are looking for dyes that are free from the common irritants of PPD (Para-Phenylenediamine), Ammonia and Peroxides, which are regularly found in most mainstream hair dyes.
Instead, Sacch Organics use a 100% naturally derived formula based on herbs that are grown and harvested to Ayurvedic traditions. Indigo Leaf Powder and Natural Henna form the base of this powdered semi-permanent hair dye, and there are several colours to choose from. I know that these dyes can't and won't lighten my naturally dark brown hair, but I picked up the Burgundy shade in the hope that it would add a nice reddish tone and cover up my greys - if your hair is much lighter than mine, you're more likely to achieve the colour shown on the box above.
Inside the box, I found:-
- Natural Hair Colour (75g powder)
- Natural Hair Colour Protect Shampoo (50ml)
- One pair of Gloves
- Hair Cap
- Applicator Brush
- Instructions
Before applying: There's a lot of conflicting information online about how best to use Henna/Indigo Leaf Powder, and the instructions provided with the box just say to 'apply it to the hair' (which didn't help matters!), but it seems like it's down to a matter of personal preference as to whether you want to apply it to dry, dirty, clean or wet hair. In the end, I washed my hair with a clarifying shampoo to remove all traces of dirt and any product build-up, then I left it to partially dry so it was still damp, but not soaking wet.
Next, I covered the bathroom floor with lots of newspaper and made sure that I had some old towels nearby to mop up any spillages. The purpose of any 'dye' is to stain and it's always better to be safe than sorry as my mum always says! To protect my skin, I applied a barrier balm (anything similar to Vaseline will do) on my ears, around the base of my neck and hairline to prevent any weird marks, and tucked in an old towel around my shoulders - I'd recommend wearing a T-shirt that you're not precious about as well, just in case!
The instructions were simple and easy to follow, but they didn't tell me how much of the Natural Hair Colour powder to use for my hair length. After a bit of googling, I decided to use the whole packet and hope for the best! Thankfully, this worked out for me and was more than enough to cover all of my fine, shoulder-length hair - if you have longer/thicker hair, you may need two boxes to be on the safe side. I mixed the powder with 1 cup (235ml) of lukewarm water and blended it in a bowl until it became a 'spreadable paste'.
Applying: Firstly, make sure you've got your gloves on! If you've ever used any kind of Henna product before, you'll know that it smells pretty bad and this was no different - it's kinda like damp, earthy woodland mixed with lots of mud; I enlisted the help of one of my housemates to do the back of my head for me and she almost gagged at the smell, but I soon got used to it. The paste is thick and tricky to apply - it's incredibly messy stuff and you will likely get it everywhere, so be careful. I found the included Applicator Brush to be mostly useless and ended up using my hands to slather it on, making sure that everywhere was evenly covered.
After around 20 mins of applying, I gathered my paste-covered hair up and pulled on the sexy hair cap to let it do its thing. The instructions state that it should be left on for 1-2 hours depending on the colour intensity desired, and I left it on for the full two hours. Once the time was up, I hopped into the shower and attempted to rinse it out with water only, as instructed, and my whole shower looked like it had had a bad encounter with the Swamp Thing. It took about half an hour to completely rinse it all out, and probably an extra half an hour to clean my bathroom afterwards. C'est la vie!
I wrapped my hair up in an old towel and then left it to air dry for the rest of the evening. It was pretty dark by this point, so I couldn't immediately see any difference, other than my hair feeling quite rough and dry. When I went to sleep, I made sure that I put an old towel over my pillow and then left my hair to do its thing over the next 24 hours. During this whole time, it smelt very damp and earthy and I couldn't wait to wash it.
Results: On day two, I gave it a good wash with the included Saach Organics Natural Hair Colour Protect Shampoo and my heart sank when I saw how much dye was coming out and going down the drain, but I needn't have worried. My hair was very tangled by this point, so I used some conditioner on the lengths and ends, rinsed it out and left it to air dry.
Now I could finally see the fruits of my labour! Inside, my hair didn't look any different - you could maybe see the tiniest tinge of red if you squinted hard enough. But outside and when the sunlight hits, it's transformed into a richer brown with a noticeable warmth of dark red which is really impressive considering that my hair is naturally dark brown to start with (check out my profile picture in the sidebar over there to see what I mean). Perhaps the biggest change though is in the overall condition - it's insanely shiny and just feels so much bouncier and full of life. Oh, and all of my greys are completely covered!
After nearly three weeks, I've continued to use the Colour Protect Shampoo and it stills looks pretty shiny with that lovely reddish tint, though not as obviously vibrant as it was in the first week. No signs of any grey and my hair feels really nice and soft still.
Would I use it again? Yes! Despite the mess and length of time that it takes to apply and rinse out, I'm very happy with the results and would certainly consider using this on a long-term basis to cover greys and give my hair an overall boost when it needs it. It feels good to use something that's 100% natural!
Saach Organics Natural Hair Colour in Burgundy* (£10.95) is available via LoveLula.com
Do you use natural hair colours?
