Indigo Quality!

[RavennaNight]

Here I go again with another thread about INDIGO! It seems like a monthly ocurrence now :p.

So this is my 4th hennindigo 2 step. Time flies! Anyways... For the last 2 times, I used some "indigo" I got cheap, Hana "black henna." It had been tested on this board and it seemed all was well. It was okay. But in retrospect, I am doubtful of the quality/purity of this product. This time around I used the indigo from HennaSooq. Lemmie tell you folks, the differences between these two products is beyond VAST! The Hana was grainy, like there was sand in it or something, and harder to apply. It is a more sage-green powder, and when mixed it turns green then dark blue-green like it's supposed to. But when it stains a towel or paper towel, it wipes away greenish-brownish. The indigo from HennaSooq, on the other hand, was a much smoother consistency. Don't get me wrong, it IS indigo, not fun to apply, but not grainy and seemed to stick to my head more. As for dye release, when it stained a paper towel or my rubber glove, and I wiped away, it stained BLUE. True, no denying, blue. And the powder was much brighter green. I wish I had pics of this to show. I guess this post would be a disclaimer about Hana black henna.

[Aisha25]

Wow..was the one from hennasooq was it sandy like the one from Hana? Was it easier to rinse out and did you get a better staining on your hairs?

[Akiko]

RavennaNight, I am glad you found something so much better and easier to apply.:) Hana is for hair. It is not BAQ. So it's much less expensive, but grainy. I noticed the difference when I compared Hana with indigo from H4H. I don't know about HennaSooq since I have never ordered from them. But it sounds great. I should have really thought through when I introduced that store. Well, now we know.

I sifted Hana with two layers of stockings as suggested at HennaTribe(?). And it was so much easier to apply, but sifting is quite time consuming and pain to do. I could not do full indigo with Hana after the first shot. It's just too messy. Glosses with sifted hana worked for me. Now my hair is dark enough and henna does not turn my hair so red. So I just seem to need henna only.

Did you mix indigo with just water? Catherine at H4H was talking about mixing indigo with Instant Vanilla pudding to make paste, which sticks to hair better. Others say use cornstarch. You have to boil water and add "cornstarch in water." It will thicken. Then add indigo, I think. Also add a teaspoon of salt for the color to stay in hair.

I have not tried any of the above. But I keep reading the same kind of posts at H4H forum. You might check it. If you have a chance, please take a picture of your nice hair and post.

[RavennaNight]

The verdict is out. I rinsed out. Easier rinse, less black gritty stuff to rinse. And the dye quality? I got the exact black from the hennaforhair e-book. It's that black-as-your-kitten black they talk about.
:happydance:

[Aisha25]

WOah:eek: oh my goodness!! I have to some how order from there I have to dont know how but I must:pray: I am so glad you try this one Ravennanight now I know all indigo is not the devil himself.

[Aisha25]

RavennaNight, I am glad you found something so much better and easier to apply.:) Hana is for hair. It is not BAQ. So it's much less expensive, but grainy. I noticed the difference when I compared Hana with indigo from H4H. I don't know about HennaSooq since I have never ordered from them. But it sounds great. I should have really thought through when I introduced that store. Well, now we know.

I sifted Hana with two layers of stockings as suggested at HennaTribe(?). And it was so much easier to apply, but sifting is quite time consuming and pain to do. I could not do full indigo with Hana after the first shot. It's just too messy. Glosses with sifted hana worked for me. Now my hair is dark enough and henna does not turn my hair so red. So I just seem to need henna only.

Did you mix indigo with just water? Catherine at H4H was talking about mixing indigo with Instant Vanilla pudding to make paste, which sticks to hair better. Others say use cornstarch. You have to boil water and add "cornstarch in water." It will thicken. Then add indigo, I think. Also add a teaspoon of salt for the color to stay in hair.

I have not tried any of the above. But I keep reading the same kind of posts at H4H forum. You might check it. If you have a chance, please take a picture of your nice hair and post.
Do they ever say what kind of salt to use is it just salt to use for food?
I used hot tap water..For me the hana indigo stained everything blue everything BUT my hairs my nails turn a blue even my hands and espesially my tub but not the hairs:rolleyes:

[Akiko]

Do they ever say what kind of salt to use is it just salt to use for food?
I used hot tap water..For me the hana indigo stained everything blue everything BUT my hairs my nails turn a blue even my hands and espesially my tub but not the hairs:rolleyes:

Just regular salt for cooking.

With indigo, hennaed hair should turn reddish brown to black depending on the time of application. At H4H, a lot of people complain indigo is quite finicky. The color comes out different from batch to batch even it's the same crop.

BTW, indigo does not do well with oil. So hair should be clean to apply. I applied glosses both to wet and dry hair. I saw no difference.

On my hair, I saw color change with indigo along the length which has been chemically treated before. 3-4 cm of my roots, where hair has NOT been chemically treated, sees no difference. Henna does not change the color of my roots much to start with. It's really black even after henna, maybe a tinge of red. I can only see a red glow well in direct sunlight. So using indigo over that area does not make much difference.

I did full indigo once, and several glosses. I used Hana as well as H4H indigo for glosses. Now my hair is so dark over all, indigo does not change my hair color much even along the length.

So if your hair is naturally very dark like mine, you may not see any significant color change with indigo. Maybe indigo will tone down red highlights a little.

[Aisha25]

Just regular salt for cooking.

With indigo, hennaed hair should turn reddish brown to black depending on the time of application. At H4H, a lot of people complain indigo is quite finicky. The color comes out different from batch to batch even it's the same crop.

BTW, indigo does not do well with oil. So hair should be clean to apply. I applied glosses both to wet and dry hair. I saw no difference.

On my hair, I saw color change with indigo along the length which has been chemically treated before. 3-4 cm of my roots, where hair has NOT been chemically treated, sees no difference. Henna does not change the color of my roots much to start with. It's really black even after henna, maybe a tinge of red. I can only see a red glow well in direct sunlight. So using indigo over that area does not make much difference.

I did full indigo once, and several glosses. I used Hana as well as H4H indigo for glosses. Now my hair is so dark over all, indigo does not change my hair color much even along the length.

So if your hair is naturally very dark like mine, you may not see any significant color change with indigo. Maybe indigo will tone down red highlights a little.
Ohh I see so my hair will very little change with it I was wondering why I saw no difference I get little red in certain light only with henna and indigo I saw like how you say a less red in them with the light so I guess that is why. My natural color is too dark to see any change:). Thank you sooo much Akiko now I understand:smile:

[mooglewoo]

It doesn't appear to me that salt makes a difference at all. I've tried twice with salt, with no more staying power than without it. Perhaps it is time to try cornstarch...I've never heard of using that.

[Aisha25]

I just read at H4H that if you dont tightly cover the hair with plastic wrap or whatever then the indigo wont dye the hairs and that indigo doesnt work right if it exposed to air while its on the hair could this be true????????

[Akiko]

I just read at H4H that if you dont tightly cover the hair with plastic wrap or whatever then the indigo wont dye the hairs and that indigo doesnt work right if it exposed to air while its on the hair could this be true????????

I don't mean to hijack this thread. But no, that has not been my experience. There was a time I just used a shower cap. My hair was kind of loose in the cap. Other times, I wrapped my head tightly with saran wrap. Both yielded the same result.:) Maybe it's different from person to person?

[Aisha25]

Yeah I did not think so too thanks Akiko;) and Ravennanight for starting this thread:D

[Tai Shan Fan]

I just read at H4H that if you dont tightly cover the hair with plastic wrap or whatever then the indigo wont dye the hairs and that indigo doesnt work right if it exposed to air while its on the hair could this be true????????

That's interesting, I haven't heard that one before. I usually wrap mine up tightly - simply to stop the darn thing dripping over everywhere, not for any other reason and I've always got a strong dye whenever I've tried it. I also use high quality indigo and think that's the clincher with this.

ETA: I wonder if the tightly-wrapped theory works because it keeps the dye moist during dyeing time. I don't know about you, but I find indigo needs a lot of water, compared to say henna and after I've mixed it up, while I'm applying it, I often find I need to add a bit more to the mixture, as it absorbs so much.

[Akiko]

I am not sure if finer sift dyes better.

When I compared H4H and Hana indigo, Hana released more dye than H4H and its dye release time was faster. I had to wait 5-10 minutes extra for H4H indigo to see dye release.

I expected H4H indigo would release dye faster and more because the powder is so much finer. But the result was just the opposite. As for coloring hair, both works fine for me. But they feel quite different if applied without sifting.

The idea of hair not exposing to air is coming from indigo fiber dyeing. When you soak fiber in a vat of indigo solution, you want to make sure not to disturb the solution so that air won't get mixed into the liquid. Indigo dyeing is so different from other dyeing process.

[Aisha25]

Me too I have too add alot of more water in the indigo cause it gets to thick to apply it has to be runny to get through to all the hairs. For me no matter how tight I wrap or keep it warm it still drips and get not any difference in my hair color just looks like I hennaed.