Riddle for the Day...

What kind of fun can you have with extra virgin coconut oil, cheap shampoo, chamomile tea and some ground up plant leaves?

Why...more of the Great Henna Experiment kind, of course! Yes, your friendly, neighborhood, crazy hair woman is back at it. This time I've enlisted my dear friend Kathy to assist as I attempt to lighten my auburn locks and turn them into spun gold with just a touch of fire.

Tonight's plan is two-fold: first we're going to attempt to lighten my henna'ed head several shades with a bleach cap (thanks to darling Marilyn's advice). I'm crossing my fingers that this will work as henna is notorious for being stubborn to remove. Right now my hair is slathered with coconut oil getting some nice, deep conditioning before I destroy it.

Next step will be to apply my new color concoction...following a recipe I gleaned from the forums over at Henna for Hair: lots of cassia dye-released with chamomile tea, and equal parts henna paste and buxus mixed with warm water (like a tablespoon each max). Going to let this mud simmer while we enjoy watching the latest Persuasion flick.

I've used buxus and henna before, but cassia is new to me. It is also a plant dye, but one with golden tones that usually don't show up unless your hair is super blond or all white. It will hopefully be the perfect carrier for the tad bit of brown and red from the other two dyes. I feel just a tad ridiculous using all the "natural" dyes when I'm bleaching the crap out of it right before I do it...sigh. There doesn't seem to be another effective alternative though, so I guess it will have to do!

Now, of course with experiments there are no guarantees about the results, so next time you see me I could look like Lucille Ball, Bozo the Clown OR (perhaps worst case scenario) Sinead O'Conner. Wish me luck!