View Full Version : Indigo questions
francine
January 19th, 2009, 01:22 PM
I've been hennaing my hair for 2 years now, about once a month. My natural color is a rather boring shade of brown; with 2 years of henna on my virgin hair, it is a dark reddish brown now.
I'm thinking of using some indigo. If I put indigo on my hair, would it really turn black? Or a very dark brown? Will the indigo fade? Is so, as it fades, will my hair experience greenish phases? Or just less darkness?
Unofficial_Rose
January 19th, 2009, 02:10 PM
Indigo can be a bit unpredictable, but I'd say you'd get a very dark brown in half an hour. Much more than that and it might go black. I don't think you'd get any green with all that henna underneath :)
I've only indigo'd over full-strength henna'ed hair once and I got very dark brown in 20 mins! However it did fade to a reddish-brown.
Akiko
January 19th, 2009, 02:16 PM
You can get anywhere from reddish brown to black depending on the ratio, method (one-step or two-step) and the length of time you apply. Also, multiple applications darkens the color.
If you have never read ebook (http://www.hennaforhair.com/freebooks/)at hennaforhair, I would recommend you read it. Especially Chapter 5 & 6. Two-step turns hair much much darker than one-step. I have also heard two-step fades less than one-step. I did two-step, mainly straight henna and an indigo gloss. It has been quite permanent.
The ratio and the length of application is something you need to figure out yourself. Two people with the similar starting hair color can end up different colors... But there are sample pictures of colors in that e-book.
This is just my personal experience, but indigo did fade for the first few applications. Usually after 3 weeks, red henna color becomes more visible. You will not experience greenish color as indigo fades. You will just see more and more henna color.
If you want to try indigo, maybe buy a small amount. Use it for various strand tests and patch test for allergy. Some people are allergic to indigo . They get itchy scalp and bumps. Also you might find indigo smell quite unpleasant. Indigo smell bothers me much more than henna.
skydancer7
January 19th, 2009, 02:18 PM
My experience with indigo is that it turned my hair blue-black in 30 minutes.
I have natural light brown hair, and had henna underneath.
The indigo did not budge, so I was stuck with black for a while.
Indigo is definitely unpredictable. I have a bad taste in my mouth about it because it doesn't budge once it's in my hair.
Good luck, and strand test first! Then see if the strand fades after a couple weeks.
RavennaNight
January 19th, 2009, 07:54 PM
I dye black with 2 step process henna then indigo. I have to leave the indigo on for a looong time for the blueblack I like, 2.5 hrs. But I am naturally blonde, so it takes longer to get darker.
kdaniels8811
January 20th, 2009, 02:57 PM
I did a strand test and still ended up with much darker hair then I wanted. The strand test was fine! I ended up using honey treatment to lighten, the avatar shows what I ended up with. I first used indigo/henna, which gave me too much red. Then indigo/henna/alma which really darkened my hair. So be careful. You may want to check out buxus? as an alternative
francine
January 20th, 2009, 04:46 PM
Hmm. I want to go darker, but I don't want black. I'd like to get close to black, but not quite, and I like the idea of it fading to what I had before, in case it's too dark for me to pull off.
I did a strand test (1/2 hour), and it came out a little darker, but nowhere near black. I just can't help but think it's going to wind up a lot darker than I want it to if I take the plunge.
Should I or shouldn't I?
Shorty89
January 20th, 2009, 05:01 PM
I only indigoed my tips. I left it on for two hours and it is now black. I can't say if it will fade because I'm new at this, but that's my two cents.
Akiko
January 20th, 2009, 05:53 PM
fracine, did you do one-step or two-step? Sound like you did two-step. I wonder gradually building up a darker tone with a gloss might be safer?
Girltron
January 20th, 2009, 06:09 PM
I two-step inside out, with the indigo first and the henna second. The first step makes my hair pretty much black, but the second step restores the red shine so it becomes ultra dark brown.
Be warned that indigo comes in nearly inactive strengths and stain the heck out of your bathroom in no time flat strengths. Catherine's indigo lately has been seriously strong stuff. I think it's a freshness matter.
Indigo will wash out a bit, but not hugely. Not at all after a couple of treatments. I notice, though, that the honey lightening crowd has had a few success stories with henndigo hair, so you can always try that. With henna you don't have to worry about green colors; a little henna gloss can always turn greenish hair back to brown.
Themyst
January 21st, 2009, 03:03 PM
Great thread. I'm going to try out a hairball test with straight indigo right now.
Beloved
January 21st, 2009, 07:00 PM
I used Lush Caca Noir (which is actually indigo) and it made my hair dark brown/ or a warm black, but definitely not the blue-black I had hoped for. It faded after a few weeks. I didn't have henna underneath, just my natural dark brown hair. So if you are going for dark brown, noir from lush is one to try.
Themyst
January 21st, 2009, 08:04 PM
I just finished my hairball test and it looks acceptable to me - it's dark like I want.
Unfortunately, I am unable to imagine what my entire head of hair will look like based on this hairball. We'll see. This is all kind of fun anyway.
Delilah
January 21st, 2009, 08:17 PM
I used to 2-step my hair with henna and indigo. The 1-hour indigo application would take my dark-brown henna'ed hair to soft black. 2 applications would make it blue-black.
Don't count on it washing out, it didn't on me.
wintersun99
January 21st, 2009, 08:18 PM
I used to 2-step my hair with henna and indigo. The 1-hour indigo application would take my dark-brown henna'ed hair to soft black. 2 applications would make it blue-black.
Don't count on it washing out, it didn't on me.
Ditto for me. In my case, 30 min. indigo (2nd step) took my hair to very dark brown (black indoors) and it did not fade. Ever.
sweetbluesky
January 25th, 2009, 11:13 AM
I have soft black hair. I would like to make my hair darker. Will Indigo do this for me? I would like to be as black as possible, blue black, pitch black, whatever you want to call it. Will this increase shine? I have read Cassia will increase shine. Should both together do the trick? Anyone tried this on natural black hair? TIA
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