Indigo help

[curlychica702]

Hi i dyed my hairblack with indigo doing the two step process (henna mixed with grapefruit juice for two hours, then indigo mixed with salt for two hours). And three days later re-indigod for two hours. But last night when i washed my hair (using shea moisture shampoo, sulfate free) and then conditioned it alot of blue came out of my hair like the bathtub water was blue lol. Is it normal for blue to rinse out or doess that mean the indigo didnt take? My hair still looks black but i did notice a reddish hue in the sun.

Also i have hair type 3c so my hair can get really dry i feel that the indigo really dryed out my hair and i have read that indigo doest like oils or deep conditioning but obviously i cant avoid those for long, so how can i maintain and continue using indigo (i plan on using indigo only 1x -2x amonth because my hairs naturaly super dark brown so i wont get any weird green tones) to get the blue black hair color i love and keep my ultra curly hair from drying out?

Oh and i did notice after the second indigo my curls loosend some, is it normal or maybe because i did the second indigo treatment only days after doing henna/indigo.

[Helix]

If the dye was rinsing out in the shower that either means your henna didn't take or the indigo did not successfully bind with the henna, (Indigo can be a bit tricky b/c it has a quick dye release time so you have to work fairly quickly with the application before it becomes useless).

From what you've described it sounds like your henna didn't take to your hair so you may have to redo it in the future. Indigo needs henna to bind itself permanently to your hair. Otherwise, it's just temporary and will rinse out.

I henna and indigo my mothers hair for her on occasion, but I do each process separately because she likes her hair to be a rich black color. The henndigo mixture is used to achieve a dark brown color.

The packaging my indigo comes in says it shouldn't be mixed with anything but water and maybe a tablespoon of salt to help it bind to the henna.

The curl loosening and dryness you speak of sound normal. Henna can loosen curls but that's b/c it coats your hair strands making them heavier. It can also be very drying which is why I do a henna gloss on my mom's hair, (The traditional mix is just too drying for her). Maybe henna glosses might be an option for you as well?

HTH