Natural Allergy Relief

Every year at this time, I, like many others, suffer from allergies. I wake up feeling like my head is stuffed with cotton, my nose and eyes swollen, and it takes about half an hour to finish the “wake-up sneezes.” During the day, it isn’t so bad – just a lot of nose-blowing – but by nightfall, I usually have a headache, and my eyes itch terribly.

I have never found traditional allergy medicines to be particularly effective, and thus, I avoid them. Over the years, I have tried a number of natural remedies. Not all are effective for everyone, so give them a try and see what works for you!

Copyright: Five Seed

1. Bach Flower Rescue Remedy: I use this often for various stress-induced problems, and have read that it is a good remedy for allergies. I haven’t been consistent with using it for allergies, but I love this stuff, in general.

2. Peppermint Essential Oil: Many claim that using this on your throat, temples, and neck helps headaches and sometimes, allergy symptoms.

3. Pine Essential Oil: According to Suite101.com, pine essential oil applied on the throat or over the thymus gland “boosts the immune system and helps create balance in the body’s energy field and makes a big difference in allergy attacks and reactions.” Just be sure to dilute essential oils in a carrier oil (jojoba, olive, grapeseed, etc.).

4. Eucalyptus Essential Oil: According to many herbalists, and exitallergy.com, eucalyptus oil “effectively calms coughs and relieves nasal congestion… It is both an antiseptic and a stimulant with expectorant and antibiotic properties.” You can make your own eucalyptus salve (look for recipes that do NOT use petroleum jelly!), or place a few drops of the oil into your humidifier.

5. Apple Cider Vinegar: Many people use this multi-purpose product for allergy relief. Lindsay Edmonds at Passionate Homemaking uses it as an immune-boosting morning tonic (click here for the recipe). The folks at Earth Clinic claim drinking this tonic will help cure your allergies, and boost your immune system. Exitallergy.com says, “Apple cider vinegar contains many healing properties and is often used to ease the symptoms of sinus infection as well as to treat allergies developed from exposure to pets, foods, and various environmental agents. In addition to being rich in vitamins E, A, B1, B2 and B6, apple cider vinegar contains potassium, calcium, and magnesium. It reduces the amount of mucus in the sinus cavities, soothes sore throats, and will shorten the duration of colds when used with a chest compress.” I personally am in love with ACV and drink ACV tonic often.

6. Herbal Teas: I am an herbal tea maniac, and use them for nearly every health problem I have! Simple green tea helps combat allergies, thanks to its major immune boosting properties, according to Sciencedaily.com. Other sources support the use of nettle, red clover, alfalfa, licorice root, and chamomile to use in teas or tinctures. Please be aware that the use of these herbs may cause allergic reactions – just what you are trying to avoid! So you need to do your own research on this, and make sure these are healthy options for you.  (FYI: For swollen, irritated eyes, dampen two chamomile tea bags and place them over your eyes for about ten minutes.)

7. Neti Pot: These have been used by yogis for centuries with great success. I have used them before for colds, and love mine! If you don’t know what a neti pot is, it is basically a device used to rinse your nasal passages with a saline solution. Watch a demo here.

8. Local honey: This is a great remedy for allergies, as local raw honey contains pollens from your own neighborhood, which help desensitize your system. It’s a natural version of allergy shots. Just be sure to start slowly – 1/2 tsp. at a time. Otherwise, you may throw your body into “allergen overload.”

Remember, allergies are like anything else that attacks our bodies – our immune systems must fire up to fight them. This means we need to keep our immune systems as strong as possible. Click here for some immune-strengthening tips.

Don’t forget to do yoga – many believe it to be a great remedy for combating allergies. Remember to go slowly, as allergies deplete our energy resources. Don’t let your yoga practice become part of the problem. Shoulder stands and Plow Pose are recommended to help nasal drainage, but avoid remaining too long in Downward Dog, as that can irritate your allergy-burdened sinuses. Click here to go to Yoga Journal’s article on using yoga to combat allergies.

Here’s hoping for less sneezes this allergy season!

Getting Dirty…Again

I warned you last autumn that I’d try the 50% Dirtier Challenge this spring. And here we are! Spring. So let’s talk.

The 50% Dirtier Challenge is simply a fun little challenge with two goals (that you will, no doubt, hear me repeat again and again):

1. To encourage people to become more familiar and comfortable with their bodies, including the way you smell, the way your hair feels and how your skin feels when you shower less.

2. To make people aware of their water usage. Once you start noticing your usage in one area (in this case, showers), it is inevitable that you’ll become more aware of your water usage in other areas, as well.

Now, you may feel that you are plenty comfortable with your body and/or that you are a water-conserving maniac. However…please consider participating, anyway. For one thing, it’s always more fun to do something as a big, crazy group (LOL). For another, even I (and I already don’t shower often and am extremely committed to conserving water) have learned from the last 50% Dirtier Challenge – and my shower routine has reflected that. I’ll discuss more about this later, but for now, let’s just get down to the nitty-gritty.

What this challenge is all about.

I chose the name “50% Dirtier” simply because the ultimate goal of the challenge is to cut back on your showering by 50%. If you choose to go this route (and there are other alternatives I will describe in a moment), you can either cut the time of your shower in half, or you can shower half as often. Many people (including me) love long showers, and don’t want to give that up – so don’t. Just try showering, say, every other day, instead of once a day (or once a day instead of twice a day, etc.). Or, if you really feel the need to shower every day, time yourself (you’d be surprised how few people actually know how long they spend in the shower – I didn’t even know until I did this challenge last year!), then make a commitment to cut back to half that time for your subsequent showers during the month of May.

Now I realize that this doesn’t necessarily work for everyone for any number of reasons. But please don’t let that stop you! You can customize this challenge any way you want. Commit to trying it for one week (or heck, one weekend), instead of one month. Keep your regular shower routine, but wash your hair less often. Cut back on your shower time by 1/3 or 1/4. You can do anything you want – you don’t need to hit the 50% goal. Just try!

Make it a challenge and really get dirty.

This should be fun, but also challenging. The only actual rule is that you must set a goal that is a genuine challenge for you. Not necessarily super hard – but a comfortable challenge. Remember the goals of this challenge: to become more aware of your water usage (and potentially to learn to get by on less), and to become more comfortable with your body, just the way it is – sans constant scrubbing and shampooing!

Yes, get dirty! This is, in my opinion, the hardest part of the challenge. If you have followed Five Seed for a while, then you know I think the beauty industry pushes us to over-wash ourselves – something I think isn’t healthy for our skin or hair. I’m sure many of you have heard that washing your hair every single day strips it of its natural oils. The same is true of our skin. However, this “over-cleaning” of our bodies is deeply ingrained in our culture. I have written about this a lot in the past, so I won’t get into detail here, except to say that I know how hard it is to shower less often. It can be very uncomfortable for people. Every time I’ve experimented with showering or washing less often, it always pushes me out of my comfort zone. It’s hard to step outside of our habitual patterns (even those involving our beauty routine) and let our hair get a little dirty, or not jump into the shower the moment we break a sweat. We literally feel dirty, or gross. I think many of us even worry that everyone around us notices the slightest change in our routine and that they are judging us for being dirty, sloppy or lazy.

As uncomfortable as it may be, this is such a rich time to start exploring our thoughts, assumptions and habitual behavior. For instance: What really constitutes being “dirty?” Are you really dirty, or are you just experiencing different sensations in your body as it re-balances itself? Is sweat dirty? Are your natural scents truly unappealing or are you just used to smelling like soap all the time? I think these are serious and important questions to consider if you are trying to work in harmony with your body.

If you really give this challenge a genuine effort, I truly believe it will change you – maybe a little, maybe a lot. I certainly did not think there was much further I could explore, being careful about water conservation and having only showered every other day for years. But the last challenge did changed things for me. I committed to try to shower every third day, or to cut my usual 12-minute showers back to 6 minutes when I couldn’t go three days. Both of those goals were extremely uncomfortable for me – at first. I look back now and laugh, though, because I started showering every third day, for the most part, without thinking about it, once the challenge ended.

My goal.

I, like many, love my super long showers, so I’m choosing to shower less often this time around. During the last challenge, I pointed out that showering 50% less than my usual every-other-day shower would leave me showering every fourth day – something I couldn’t fathom! However…I have experimented with it for two weeks in preparation for this challenge and……..that’s what I’m going to do! I have found a better dry shampoo than the mixture I used last year, and I’m all set to get seriously dirty!!

Setting your goals.

Now please remember, this challenge doesn’t mean you can’t wash yourself at all! You can keep your regular facial routine, and use a good old soapy washcloth for cleaning out any areas that might get a little sweaty and/or stinky. Sponge baths are absolutely allowed and are surprisingly effective! You may also choose to go back to your usual routine during your moon time, which is fine – just re-join the challenge when you can.

The point is, no matter where you fall on the spectrum, there’s always a new path to explore that will lead you to unexpected places. So please leave your 50% Dirtier Challenge goals here in the comments section. Remember, you can make any goal you want, that fits your needs and lifestyle. Just try to make it a little bit of a challenge!

Let’s get dirty!

You can read more about last year’s challenge here.

Stay tuned – I’ll try to get a button up for those of you who want to use it on your blog. If you don’t want to wait, you can copy the above picture and just link it to this post.

Five ways to dye your Easter eggs with table scraps

What is more eco-friendly than natural dyes that come from food scraps that are heading to the trash or compost bin? Save your scraps and create some beautiful eggs this Easter!

Copyright: Five Seed

Leaves from your salad greens

If you peel off the outer layer of red cabbage leaves before cutting it for your salad, hang on to those leaves. Red cabbage makes beautiful eggs in various blue hues. Do you have a wilted bunch of spinach in your produce drawer? Use it to make hues of green.

Fruit skins and peels

Orange peels make Easter eggs in hues of – you guessed it – orange. Try lemon peels for subtle yellow eggs, and the skin from Granny Smith apples for light green.

Berries

Do you have neglected berries in your fridge that aren’t moldy, but are wilted enough to be inedible? These are perfect candidates for natural egg dyes. Blueberries make blue eggs, strawberries and raspberries make pink eggs, and if you add some turmeric to your blueberries, you’ll get nice green eggs! (Be sure to mash them before beginning the dyeing process.)

Soup scraps

Since many of us are still experiencing cold weather, despite the fact that it’s spring, you might still be cooking soups for dinner. Save the onion peels – yellow onion peels make yellow-orange eggs, and red onions make purple eggs. Try carrot scraps for yellow-orange, as well.

Beet juice from canned beets

If you love eating canned beets on your salad, you might not realize that you can actually utilize the beet juice in the can, instead of pouring it down the drain. This will make wonderful, deeply colored red-purple eggs.

The hot process:

Lay the eggs in a single layer in a pan. Fill with water, until the eggs are completely covered. Add the food scrap of your choice – the more you add, the more intense the color will be. (Two to four tablespoons is a good start.) Add ½ to 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Once the water has boiled, let the eggs simmer in the dye bath for 15 minutes. After that, you can remove the eggs and let them dry, or temporarily remove the eggs, strain the dye, and put the eggs back in the dye bath for a few hours, or overnight in the fridge. This process will most likely create a mottled look on your eggs.

The cold process:

Mix several cups of water, your food scrap of choice, and ½ to 1 tablespoon of water in a pan and let it boil, covered, until the dye becomes strong. This may take an hour or more, so be sure to keep the pan covered. Strain the liquid, let cool, then add your eggs. Let the eggs sit in the dye bath until they reach the desired level of color saturation. (You can leave the whole pan in the fridge overnight for a more intense color.) When they are ready, let them air dry.

This post was reprinted from my article over at Examiner.

Five natural, eco-friendly Easter egg dyes from your spice rack

Did you know that the items in your spice rack make great natural, eco-friendly dyes for Easter eggs? Give these five a try this year.

Copyright: Five Seed

Turmeric

Anyone who loves turmeric knows how intensely this spice stains counters, wooden spoons, and anything else it touches. This gives Easter eggs a beautiful golden hue.

Paprika

This spice, beloved by those who like Eggs Benedict for Sunday brunch, makes beautiful orange eggs.

Chili powder

A spicy addition to any dish, and a great way to create a brownish-red color on your Easter eggs.

Curry powder

Even in 1700 B.C., Mesopotamians knew the value of this spice. It not only tastes great, but gives eggs a gentle orange tint.

Dill seeds

This carminative seed makes brownish-yellow eggs.

The hot process:

Lay the eggs in a single layer in a pan. Fill with water, until the eggs are completely covered. Add the spice of your choice – the more you add, the more intense the color will be. (Two to four tablespoons is a good start.) Add ½ to 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Once the water has boiled, let the eggs simmer in the dye bath for 15 minutes. After that, you can remove the eggs and let them dry, or temporarily remove the eggs, strain the dye, and put the eggs back in the dye bath for a few hours, or overnight in the fridge. This process will most likely create a mottled look on your eggs.

The cold process:

Mix several cups of water, your spice of choice, and ½ to 1 tablespoon of water in a pan and let it boil, covered, until the dye becomes strong. This may take an hour or more, so be sure to keep the pan covered. Strain the spice from the liquid, let the liquid cool, then add your eggs. Allow the eggs sit in the dye bath until they reach the desired level of color saturation. (You can leave the whole pan in the fridge overnight for a more intense color.) When they are ready, let them air dry. This process will give the eggs a smoother coverage than the hot process.

This post was reprinted from my article over at Examiner.

Five beverages that make eco-friendly, natural Easter egg dyes

Eco-friendly dyes are cheap, easy to use, and readily available. You can pick them up at most grocery stores, but you’ll likely have them in your kitchen, already.

Copyright: Five Seed

Cranberry juice

Mix 1 to 4 cups of cranberry juice and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. This will make a bright pink color. 

Tea

Boil 2 to 4 cups of water. Add one tea bag for every cup of water and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. This will make a yellowish-light brown color. Experiment with different types of tea, as well. Green tea and chamomile tea can make yellowish eggs, while hibiscus or Red Zinger can make pink or purple eggs.

Coffee

Mix 1 to 4 cups of coffee (it doesn’t have to be hot) with 2 tablespoons of used coffee grounds, and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. This makes a mocha color. 

Grape juice

Mix 1 to 4 cups of grape juice with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. This makes a light purple color. 

Pomegranate juice

Mix 1 to 4 cups of pomegranate juice with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. This makes a reddish hue. 

The process:

Place each of these mixtures into a ceramic mug. If you are worried about staining, choose dark mugs.

Clean and dry your hard-boiled eggs thoroughly to remove anything that might prevent the dyes from adhering. Drop an egg into each of these mixtures, and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes. (You can put them in the fridge overnight for a strong, saturated color.)

Let them dry on a rack when the desired color saturation has been achieved.

You can add fun designs by drawing on them with crayons or by wrapping rubber bands around them before beginning the dye process.

This post was reprinted from one of my articles over at Examiner.

Factory farmed Easter eggs: Pollution, health risks and animal suffering

With Easter just around the corner, eggs are flying off the shelves at the grocery store. But the story behind the eggs is an environmental and ethical nightmare.

Pollution

According to the EPA, there are approximately 450,000 factory farms or AFOs (Animal Feeding Operations) in America today. These operations keep thousands of animals in small, enclosed places, allowing them little movement throughout the day. This creates a huge amount of animal waste being produced in one area. In the past, there has been little incentive for factory farms to responsibly manage animal waste, and in fact, our political system has largely protected these farms from legal consequences of waste mismanagement.

Ammonia from animal waste seeps into our rivers and streams, killing the fish that live there. Even low levels of ammonia are highly toxic to fish. The EPA states that, “Increased amounts of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from AFOs can cause algal blooms which block waterways and deplete oxygen as they decompose. This can kill fish and other aquatic organisms, devastating the entire aquatic food chain.”

Further, the gases emitted by this animal waste are extremely toxic to the environment. In 2008, The Washington Post stated, “Concerns about global climate change have brought new attention to the fact that modern agriculture is responsible for about 20 percent of the nation’s greenhouse-gas production.” The emissions from the waste on these farms contribute to smog and particulates.

Health risks

Animal waste gets into our water systems and can cause severe damage. In some cases (like the 1993 Milwaukee outbreak of cryptosporidium) the waste contaminates our drinking water with microorganisms that can cause illness or death. It can also raise the nitrate level, which is dangerous for infants, and can cause Blue Baby Syndrome.

The pollutants released into the air are equally dangerous. Emissions from the animal waste and particulates stirred up by animals can cause asthma, nausea, headaches, eye and throat irritation, lung inflammation, and various respiratory diseases.

In addition to all this, factory farms have, according to The Washington Post, increased “human illnesses caused by drug-resistant bacteria associated with the rampant use of antibiotics on feedlots…”

Animal suffering

One of the most horrific attributes of factory farms is the treatment of the animals. The 300,000,000 laying hens in American farms are housed in small “battery cages.” Three to ten of them live in each cage, and the extreme stress of their living conditions can cause them to turn on each other. Because of this, most laying hens have the tips of their beaks cut off, without anesthesia. The hens also suffer from severe health problems ranging from uterine prolapse to deformed feet.

In order to produce the most eggs possible, these hens are subjected to unnatural cycles of light and dark, and a period of “forced molting” (when they are purposefully starved for 10-14 days). Most laying hens are only valuable assets for two years and two laying cycles. After that, they are slaughtered. Because the Humane Slaughter Act does not cover poultry, the chickens are not always stunned before they are killed.

The male chickens escape the two years of torture, but not without a price. Because they are useless to the industry, they are killed immediately – gassed, crushed, or thrown into shredders or plastic bags while still alive. (Click here for more information from Compassion Over Killing, and here for a disturbing video on the lives of factory chickens.)

What can you do?

Don’t support the egg industry. Buy local whenever possible. Purchase eggs from your farmer’s market or a CSA.

Check with your friends, as well. You may be surprised by the number of people who have a backyard chicken coop.

Also, take a look at Compassion Over Killing if you want to help change the practices of factory farms.

For more information on this subject, check out the documentary A River of Waste.

Reprinted from my article over at Examiner.

Eco-savvy shopping: A guide to buying healthy, ethical, eco-friendly eggs

Today’s shoppers are bombarded with labels when they enter the grocery store – especially in the egg section. Organic. Cage-free. Vegetarian-fed. All these labels seem to promise healthy eggs, laid by humanely-raised chickens, in a way that doesn’t harm the environment. But what’s the reality behind those labels?

Vegetarian-fed

This label is often accompanied by pictures of chickens happily grazing in a green pasture beneath a golden sun. Nothing could be further from the truth. In most cases, these hens are living in battery cages, like most factory-raised laying hens, often in such cramped spaces that they cannot turn around or stretch their wings. This label only tells you that their diet is vegetarian. (Most factory farm chicken feed consists of beef scraps, beef tallow, and steamed, dried and ground chicken.)

Omega-3 Enriched

This means that chickens were fed foods high in Omega-3 fats – usually flax seeds. This label alone tells the consumer nothing about the welfare of the laying hens.

Certified Humane

This label was created by the non-profit group Humane Farm Animal Care. Farms using this label allow their chickens to roam freely indoors, and engage in normal behaviors (nesting, dust bathing, etc.). Forced molting is prohibited, and nesting space must meet certain requirements. However, farms are not required to let chickens go outside, and beak cutting is permitted. This label also says nothing about the chicken’s diet. Third party auditors ensure compliance.

Cage-free / Free-range

This is perhaps the most misleading label of all. It simply means that laying hens are given access to the outdoors. It is far more humane for them to roam freely in warehouses, rather than being stuffed into cages, but they are still lacking space, eating standard factory farm diets, and are subjected to typical factory farm practices, including beak cutting. Further, there is no third party regulation.

According to Robert Plamondon, author of several books on poultry farming, “All the ‘official’ free-range systems that I’ve come across are scams, at least by my standards. …The goal is to run a factory-farm operation while getting a price premium for the ‘free-range’ label. The best way of doing this is to discourage the chickens from going outside, through the use of doors that are too few or too small, and by other methods. If only a handful of chickens actually go outside, you’ve really got a confinement operation, and can run it like any other factory farm.”

Certified Organic

While this may provide the healthiest eggs, it still may not come from well-treated chickens. This label ensures that the laying hens have not been exposed to pesticides or antibiotics. The hens have been fed a vegetarian diet, and are not caged. They are required to have some outdoor access, but there are no standards to regulate the quality and duration of their outdoor time. Additionally, according to The Humane Society of the United States, beak cutting and forced molting are permitted under the certified organic label. Like Certified Humane eggs, this label is regulated by a third party.

Other misleading labels and one forgotten truth

Labels that essentially mean nothing include “natural,” “free-roaming,” and “United Egg Producers Certified.” Also, it’s important to remember that most egg farms, regardless of the label they wear, kill male chicks, as they are useless to the egg industry. Most male chicks are killed by gassing, grinding, or suffocation.

What can you do?

Despite the seemingly hopeless picture behind these labels, there are steps you can take to become a conscientious egg consumer. First of all, buy local eggs whenever possible. Buy from your farmer’s market or check out Local Harvest to find farms near you.

Put the word out among your friends that you’re looking to buy local eggs. There are many urban farms in neighborhoods all over the country – just do some exploring and you may be surprised by what you find!

Finally, if your only option is store-bought eggs, opt for certified organic eggs. These are the healthiest for you and the environment. If you are willing to take an extra step, write to the producers of your favorite organic eggs, and ask them whether or not they practice beak cutting. Express your dissatisfaction if they do. Consumer demands have the power to change the market.

Sources

The Humane Society of the United States

TLC Cooking

Union of Concerned Scientists

Robert Plamondon

The Gorgeously Green Diet, by Sophie Uliano (book)

This post is a reprint of my article over at Examiner.

Natural Haircolor: Henna

Like many women, I have always loved to play around with my appearance. Whether it was makeup, clothes or hair color, I tried just about everything. In my early twenties, hair color was my favorite way to change my appearance. I liked browns and reds, but I very often experimented with shades of blond. Or should I say orange. I could never afford to get my hair professionally colored, so I did it on my own – and as many of you probably know, bleaching your own hair can have disastrous results.

It wasn’t until nearly ten years later that I started to become aware of the chemicals in these hair dyes. The streaking kits are the worst, as many of you may have found. The fumes from those can knock you out, not to mention the irritation they cause the scalp. By the time I was 28, I promised myself I would not dye my hair anymore – I didn’t want those chemicals in my system. I also wanted my hair to be as healthy as possible – and pouring chemicals onto my scalp was definitely not contributing to the health of my hair.

I didn’t much think about it after that. I have to admit, I have been blessed with a naturally beautiful shade of hair (if I do say so myself). It is dark brown in back with light brown and dark blond natural highlights in front. These natural highlights hide the few gray hairs that have cropped up over the years, thankfully.

Despite this blessing from Mother Nature, I do get bored from time to time. Back in January, I found myself so bored with my appearance that I felt the desire to color my hair for the first time in many years. However, I never considered using the chemical-based dyes. Thanks to yoga blogger Callah, who wrote a guest post here about her experience with henna, I was dying to try it for myself.

Callah used Lush’s henna, which includes the dubious ingredient “perfume.” She talks about that a bit in her post. I decided to try to find a brand that was 100% pure henna, and ended up choosing Light Mountain, a brand carried by Whole Foods. I didn’t want to go too red (and that can definitely be a danger with henna), so I chose the auburn shade, rather than red (they have a surprisingly wide spectrum of color choices).

Callah’s post illustrated that using henna is definitely a messy experience. But I was up for the task. All I can say, though, is to make sure you have at least 5 hours to invest in this process.

Every henna product is different, so make sure you read the directions carefully, well ahead of time. This brand recommended pre-mixing the henna with water THREE HOURS before application. (This was not the only option, but it was the one I chose.) I foolishly did not take the time to set out newspapers in the bathroom as Callah wisely did – a big mistake! Applying this muddy mixture certainly creates a big mess no matter how careful you are! Once applied to my damp hair, I let it set for about two hours. Unlike with normal dyes, I was not at all worried about leaving it on for too long – I knew it wouldn’t hurt my hair and I wasn’t really concerned that it would get too red or too dark. It turned out to be a pretty relaxing experience (except for the mess, of course), allowing me the time to sit around and read for a bit.

The end result: fantastic. These pictures don’t do it justice, I have to say. I made two photo mistakes. 1) The pictures were taken indoors, and only natural light does henna-colored hair justice. 2) The pictures were taken from behind, where my hair is dark to begin with. The henna darkened the front of my hair significantly, which of course, you can’t see in these pictures.

(C) Five Seed

I couldn’t believe how much I loved the way the henna made my hair look. It started out super dark brown with an undertone of red. Within four washings, the color lightened a bit, and two weeks after that, the color had lightened significantly. Now, three months later, it is mostly back to normal, though I can still see a beautiful red tinge to it.

I love that you can use henna much more often than regular hair dye. It also – somewhat surprisingly – made my hair feel really soft and healthy.

There was one major downside for me, though (aside from the mess and how long it took). The smell. Now I know why Lush uses perfume in their henna! Henna smells a bit like alfalfa, a smell very familiar to me, having spent half my childhood on a goat ranch. It didn’t bother me at all for the first few hours. I expected the smell to wash out when I rinsed out the henna – but it didn’t. Later that night, when I went to bed, the scent was as strong as ever. And another day passed and another and another…yes, my hair smelled strongly of alfalfa for about a week. I got really sick of the smell and did not enjoy that at all!

However…I was happy enough with this product that I will definitely be using it again, alfalfa smell or not.

There is just something magical about henna. Rosemary Gladstar notes: “A wise old man told me that henna aligned with the polarities of the earth and attracted lay lines, powerful magnetic forces of the earth… I use henna as a transformation tool, not to cover natural hair color but to enhance it; to change not the way you look but the way you feel about yourself.”

Call me crazy, but I felt the henna magic when I used it. It is truly amazing, and I highly recommend it!