Is it possible to use indigo gloss without henna?

[Sigrida]

Hello all, do you have any ideas? I would like to darken my middle brown hair, but I don´t want to use henna because of its permanency. So I am wondering how would an indigo gloss look on my colour. I dont want to go all black, just darker and colder brown.

Anyone has an experience with indigo gloss? What if I added cassia to it?

[Katze]

My friend dyed her hair with indigo (sold as 'black henna' in a natural foods store) many years ago - she has a sort of light auburn brown color - and got a greyish gloss effect. It wasn't pretty. Not sure if you can just gloss with indigo and get what you are looking for - strand test? :)

The two-step traditional process of henna and indigo, as far as I know, really only does give black (but I am not a henna head, only a henna artist ;) ).

What about some kind of deposit only color (i.e. no peroxide) to get what you are looking for?

[Sigrida]

Thank you for the warning - it did not occur to me, that it could give greyish results....

A deposit only colour is a great idea. But I am a bit vary of every chemical colour, because every time I use them for darkening it takes couple of months and previously darkened hair have orange tint.

And I think, that herbal and natural colours are much more fun :)

[pullanmuru]

Indigo is blue-green dye so if you want a blue-greenish tint to your hair then that's the way to go. I'm not even sure how much it would stick on it's own but they used to dye jeans with indigo so I suppose it would stick to hair as well.

However if you want darker brown, you need to add henna to the mix.

[bunnylake]

I have heard mixed things about indigo so I am not sure. I've heard that indigo is very hard to remove but also that it washes out! I was under the impression that you need henna first, but I could be wrong.

[SweaterFreak]

I have seen Herbatint in my Whole Foods, not sure if it qualifies as a deposit-only dye, but it looks like something that is alternative to henna.


http://www.aviva.ca/shop/products.asp?itemid=2165&catid=238

OOPS wrong thread

[KittyBird]

Indigo needs henna to stick to the hair. Two step henna and indigo gives black, if you want brown you'll need to make a mixture of henna and indigo. Both indigo and henna are very permanent and indigo in particular is extremely difficult to remove. On some people indigo washes out right away, on others it never goes away. There are quite a few indigo removal threads here, I think it would be wise to have a look at those before doing anything with indigo. ;)

Lush Caca Noir could be a good option, this is also henna and indigo, but it seems to wash out pretty fast. I've used it in the past and the result was a rather cool brown that faded a lot after 3-4 washes. If you're looking for something that's not permanent, try deposit only dyes. This thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=100712) is making a list of safe ones. Good luck!

[pullanmuru]

I have seen Herbatint in my Whole Foods, not sure if it qualifies as a deposit-only dye, but it looks like something that is alternative to henna.


http://www.aviva.ca/shop/products.asp?itemid=2165&catid=238

OOPS wrong thread

I've used Herbatint and it's very permanent. It does fade somewhat but not entirely. And it does damage hair.

[Oubli]

Indigo doesn't gloss, not really - you need the Henna to give it something to grab onto.

Indigo is as permanent if not more permanent than henna.

Check out Walnut Husks to dye hair brown.