Lessons to be learnt from Henna

It was another nice weekend. The allotment continues to produce and I’m hopeful that in a few weeks the celery will be ready as well. I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with Dear Heart and also pottering around my newly decorated study. I so can’t bear the thought of it being cluttered and have sorted out a number of bags of things to be disposed of via eBay/Freecycle/charity shops. I can’t believe some of the stuff that I have carted from place to place with me over the years. For example, I was about to put a set of juggling clubs back on a shelf when I stopped to wonder when I last used them. The answer was well over 10 years ago!

I also found the time between picking produce and organising my desk to henna my hair. Getting henna to actually take on my hair is a recent thing. I’ve been using chemical dyes on it for over a decade. I usually go for a shade of red or purple. I did once dye it back to its natural dark brown but it looked so dull. I dye partly to cover up the grey hairs (my family all go grey very young!), but also because I feel more like me when my hair is a bright colour.

Every few years I used to read something about how bad chemical dyes were and I’d worry about the waste created by the variety of bottles and gloves. So I’d go off to the Body Shop and buy a packet of their henna and apply it with great hopes. It always made my hair look slightly redder but never covered the grey. This perplexed me because I’d also read endless stuff about people ending up with really fiercely coloured hair they’d acquired by accident.

Last summer I got quite into the idea of rinsing my hair in tea or coffee and herbs after reading this post and the discussion about it on Brocantehome. Although it made the hair very shiny and did add colour to some of the grey, quite frankly, I could simply not see myself shivering in the shower every weekend as I attempted to pour the brew over my head again and again.

My first attempt with Lush henna was just as disappointing as in the past. Then I realised that I had not followed the instructions. I had grated it and poured boiling water on. BUT I did not allow it to cool and then reheat in a Bain Marie. I’ve questioned Dear Heart over why this should make a difference from a science type person point of view and he couldn’t say. Anyway this has proved to be the missing link. I’ve also discovered that just doing a small amount and concentrating of areas of grey is just as effective as attempting to smear my whole head with it. I wrap my head up in a turban to prevent drips and then just glide around the house getting on with things for a few hours. No nasty smell. No turning the base of the shower pink. My little block from Lush has lasted for ages.

I suppose the moral of this story is that if things don’t seem to work out initially, go back and try again from time to time. If it doesn’t work out, well you’ve lost nothing and if it does…..