PDA

View Full Version : 2 step henndigo not getting hair to black???



earthymamawitch
October 20th, 2011, 09:34 AM
well i'm trying to dye my hair back to black that's been bleached out and dyed purple with special effects, which had then faded out to a weird pinkish purple. I don't want the bleach damage any longer (even tho I used ktani's method of coconut oiling beforehand and it did help) nor do I want the roots and constant upkeep. my natural color is super dark brown. in my hairball test, I used mehandi's yemeni light henna first, mixed as per usual with chamomile tea, dye released and then left on the hair for 4 hours with heat and got a clown orange with a slight pink overtone (probably from the sfx) washed, dried overnight and then this morning, applied mehandi's indigo, mixed with hot water and a pinch of salt and applied immediately. let process for an hour and a half and washed out, only to get a weird kinda gross light orangey brown that somehow also has greenish tones in the light. i reapplied indigo for another hour, with heat this time, and it darkened a tad bit but only a bit, *maybe* medium greenish brown but still not anywhere near black. what the heck did I do wrong??? will it darken as it oxidizes or is that all i'm gonna get? would there be any benefit to doing a 1 step henndigo on top of the previous application to maybe deepen it, or another full 2 step? and would the end result be at all improved next time by using a higher dye content henna or leaving the indigo on longer or anything else? i know indigo does demise pretty quickly so wasnt sure if that would have any benefit... would there be any benefit to using a protein filler first? I've had years of experience with henna but this is throwing me for a loop and I'm wracking my brain for possible solutions here. I really want to go deep dark ravens wing black and this just isn't even cutting it, it's not even a dark mahogany brown much less black.

Jenn

ETA: 3 hours after the indigo was washed off and the hair dried, it seems to have darkened a little more to maybe a burgundy brown, its less orange and about a shade darker - still not anywhere near black tho *frustrated sigh*

Catia
October 20th, 2011, 07:36 PM
Catherine's Yemen Light has the lowest lawsone content of them all at 1.67% (hence the "light") and indigo really works best with more lawsone to cling to. Is this a hard and fast rule? no. I just thought I'd point it out if you're having problems. Regardless of the type of henna used it is really common to have difficulty achieving true black with so little henna buildup in the hair. If you have more of her Yemen Light, go ahead and use it, it will just take a bit longer to build up is all ;)

Other then that, your application methodology seems perfect :thumbsup:

Also keep in mind that it will continue to darken over the next couple days too. Often when I do my roots and they come out too red (because indigo will always be a finicky beast) it will usually darken to blend in a couple days :toofers:

cmg
October 20th, 2011, 08:10 PM
I went black for two years or so with some really crappy indian henna. Your hair might be too damaged from the dyes and bleaching to sustain the new henna and indigo from only one application. I had a similar problem and it got better after the second and third application. But not perfect, until the hair grew out.

But like Catja says, it will be easier with a higher lawsone content and it will darken during a few days.

I suggest trying again, the full 2-step process, but be very careful not to "cook" the indigo. I too think you did everything right, but you can have it in for 2 hours or even more if you like. Two hours usually does it.

Hot roots:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_roots

coffinhert
October 20th, 2011, 08:42 PM
I think you need more henna on your hair for the indigo to stick to, and if your hair is damaged it might take a few applications. Luckily as it's good for your hair you can do three hennas in a week. Make sure you rinse it out real well, as if the indigo sticks to henna that is going to fall out in a few washes, thent hat indigo will fall out too. Best to rinse it really well so you are at your actual baseline. But more henna-indigo two steps will get darker each time. Henna really darkesn over time, and the indigo will only stick to the hair where it has henna on it. A protein treatment (something cheap like avocado will do) can strengthen your hair and make it better for the henna. Also put in 1 tsp salt per 100g indigo, and use distilled water for hte indigo, those help it stick.

jeanniet
October 21st, 2011, 12:37 AM
You do need a good henna base, but I don't know how much the previous dye/bleach issues would affect the outcome. Also, indigo doesn't do well with hot water, so trying using just warm water rather than hot. I would try repeating the two step (I know, it's a lot of work) with a higher dye content henna, and see if you get a darker end result.

coffinhert
October 21st, 2011, 08:19 AM
My hair is bleached, stripped, and dyed and I can get it pretty dark with hendigo. I haven't done a two step, I just mix them. However I didn't start using indigo until I'd already hennaed my hair maybe 6 times, so there was a good base.