Balea Proffesional Coffein Shampoo review

Today I am going to make a review of the coffein shampoo by Balea (dm brand). I decided to try this shampoo because I have read a few studies about caffeine being helpful against hair loss. I didn't try the conditioner yet since I don't think it would have been very relevant to the anti hair loss aspect since conditioner doesn't touch the scalp.

As you can see, the package is not too fancy nor too simple. The shampoo comes in a 250 ml tube. According to the label, it contains biotin and pomegranate extract as well. This shampoo is silicone free and is not tested on animals.

On the back it has the ingredients list:
AQUA, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, GLYCERIN, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CAFFEINE, GLYCOL DISTEARATE, PARFUM, PANTHENOL, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, HYDROXYPROPYL GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM BENZOATE, CITRIC ACID, PEG-55 PROPYLENE GLYCOL OLEATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, LAURETH-4, ALCOHOL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, HEXYL CINNAMAL, CITRONELLOL, BENZYL ALCOHOL, BIOTIN, BENZYL SALICYLATE, PUNICA GRANATUM FRUIT EXTRACT

As you can see, it does contain sodium laureth sulfate, so beware if you are trying to avoid that ingredient.

As you can see, the opening of the bottle allows you to squeeze the amount of shampoo you need to use and as it sits on the bottom it's quite economic as well since you get to use even the last drop of the product.

The shampoo's texture is a little bit runny but the bottle cap helps with that as you can take just the amount you need to use without wasting it. It has a whiteish-transparent colour and it smells pleasant, not too intense, neither too weak, however I find that the perfume does persist in my hair for about a day or two after using it. It also produces enough foam to clean the scalp really well without leaving any residue or buildup behind.

My opinion:

I really like this shampoo as it seems to help with my hair shedding a little bit and I also love the fact that it cleans my scalp really good (usually in the winter I tend to get little scalp flakes because my scalp gets quite dry, but the shampoo cleans them just well). Also, it doesn't dry hair at all, which is also a plus for me. 

All in all, I think it's really worth the price (it's actually pretty cheap at just 1.35 euro) and it's also effective in combating hair loss as it states.

You can find this product in the dm drugstores in Europe.

Until next time, 

HennaRedhead/ ParkMiki~

Henna

As this is my first post on the blog I'm going to talk about henna. Exactly, the word in my blog title as well. I will explain my henna routine and recipe, as well as a little history about henna, so this post might be a little long, but informative for the ones who are interested in this topic.

What is henna?

 Henna is a plant, scientifically called lawsonia inermis. The henna that we use for tattoos and colouring the hair is the powdered form of the plant. It has been traditionally used with the purpose of dyeing the hair and painting the skin (temporary tattoos/mehndi) in the Ancient Egypt, North Africa and India for centuries.

Are there more types of henna?

No, the only 'real henna' is lawsonia inermis. Henna does not come in different colours, period.

However you can get different colours by mixing your henna powder with other things such as indigo (for brown/chestnut/dark brown shades) or cassia (for copper/auburn shades to dilute the colour strength of the pure henna). I recommend only purchasing henna from local Indian markets as the boxed versions may contain harmful chemicals such as sodium picramate, therefore the dying method will not be too natural anymore.

How to dye your hair with henna?

First of all you need to soak the henna powder in warm water or tea to get the dye release. Usually I warm a cup of water until it's close to the boiling point, then I take it off the stove and let it sit for a minute or two. Afterwards I put it over my henna powder and mix it well with a wooden spoon (using metallic tools may influence the henna colour and quality). I cover the bowl with a paper and let it sit for about 5 hours in a warm environment as this encourages the dye release. To find out when your henna is ready to use just put a little bit of the mixture on your wrist and let it sit 2-3 minutes and wash it off. If it left an orange stain there, then it means it's ready to use, if there is no stain yet, or the stain is very faint you should let it sit more to release more dye.

When the henna is ready you can apply it on your hair (I like to apply mine right after I wash my hair, while it's still wet) and let it sit for anywhere between 2 hours to overnight, if you can take it. I usually only keep it on my hair for about 2 hours each time.

Some people like to also add a teaspoon or so of something acidic like vinegar or lemon to their mixture as they have noticed better dye release that way, but be cautious while doing this as using big amounts of acidic things can dry your hair.

If you would like to get only some reddish shades in your hair, or a reddish tint, you can make a henna 'gloss'. This means to dye release just about one or two tablespoons of henna, depending on how intense do you want your colour to be and your hair length, and mix it with a lot of conditioner (about half a cup). You can let this mixture sit on your head for anywhere between 30 minutes to a few hours.

Please, keep in mind that henna is always PERMANENT, so don't try it if you hope it will wash off after a few washes or anything like that, if you'd like it gone after a few washes, just try a semi-permanent hair dye and you will be fine. There have been people who managed to lighten the henna or even to bleach most of it out, but I do not encourage you to try that.

Also, before using henna, please try a strand test, as henna come out different on every hair colour, that's what is unique about it. You can make a strand test by dye releasing a teaspoon of henna and applying it on a ball of your shed hairs or on a strand in the back of your head to see what colour comes out and decide if you like it before actually pouring the henna all over your head.

If anyone would like to know, my initial hair colour is a medium brown with natural red tones. I am using a henna/cassia (50-50) mixture every 3-5 weeks on my roots and I just apply any leftovers on my hair length. I do not use anything acidic in my mixture, as I found that they dry out my hair.

Henna can cover white hair as well, however, keep in mind that white and very light hair will turn out really orange by using henna, so you may want to try just a gloss first, and please always, always, always strand test before putting it on your whole hair.

What I really love about henna is the fact that it shows as a different colour in every light. Mine looks brownish indoors, auburn outside in the shade, bright copper in the sun and a dark auburn in fluorescent light. So, basically you have multiple colours in one and the colour doesn't run off, like the one from box dyes does. Also I find that I have was less hair falling when using henna than using box dyes (I had to cover some blonde highlights a few years ago and I might have had an allergic reaction to the semi-permanent dye as my hair started shedding a lot then and only returned to my normal shed rate after a few months, horrifying experience).

So, I think that's it, if you'd like me to answer any questions about henna, just post them in the comments section. I might make a henna mixing tutorial with pictures in the future if anyone would be interested in that.

Until next time, 

HennaRedhead/ ParkMiki~