Indigo? Blue.

[Fractalsofhair]

I want to get a bright blue on light blonde hair with natural dyes. I have the light hair naturally and I'm curious as to use indigo to get a blue. Anything but a weird faded blue is ok with me. Has anyone tried this?

[akurah]

You mean like this? http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/jonathan/

[Fractalsofhair]

Ideally a bit lighter, but that does seem a good idea and I think it could work! Is there anything I could mix with the indigo to make it a lot lighter? Also, how damaging is indigo for the hair? I know henna is very good for it, but IDK about indigo.

[akurah]

Why not just use Manic Panic? Less likely for it to go haywire, and more removeable too. I don't know how permanent indigo is, but I do know that indigo+bleach=buttugly green

[Fractalsofhair]

I currently use manic panic, but the parabens in it bug me a lot! I love the color I get, but I get hives, sores and other nasty things from it, so that's why I'm curious as to if there's a natural way. I wish it would last longer as well, since I've had the streak for almost a year and it fades quickly to a light blue and lasts there for a while. I might just try the indigo and deal with it being darker. Bleaching would be a very bad idea for my hair at this point though.

[akurah]

I currently use manic panic, but the parabens in it bug me a lot! I love the color I get, but I get hives, sores and other nasty things from it, so that's why I'm curious as to if there's a natural way. I wish it would last longer as well, since I've had the streak for almost a year and it fades quickly to a light blue and lasts there for a while. I might just try the indigo and deal with it being darker. Bleaching would be a very bad idea for my hair at this point though.

If you're allergic to parabens, you should try a different brand of hair dye... Clairol Jazzings comes to mind, as does a few others. Some of the ones I googled seemed to contain parabens except for Clairol Jazzings, but I didn't check all of them. Here's a list of some punky brands of hair dye, if you can dig up ingredient list you may be able to find a brand free of parabens: http://haircrazy.info/Reviews/by-manufacturer/

[Fractalsofhair]

Parabens are my worst allergy, but I have allergies to a lot of the chemicals. The allergies have gotten worse over the last few months though. Fd&C dyes bug me a bit also, and most other chemicals in products(I'm not sure of the total yet), and nearly all fragrances. Hopefully my allergies to chemicals won't get any worse, since I was usually able to deal with the manic panic if I was careful to leave it a few inches from my roots and wash my hair in a sink, which was just a lot of work. But I will check from that website!

[morguebabe]

try Special Effects

[GlassEyes]

try Special Effects
Agreed. Best unnatural dyes EVER.

However, on unbleached hair, blue is the most temperamental, as it turns green when the dye washes out. So beware.

[Kirin]

Step away from the indigo.

You may desire blue hair, but indigo is a natural dye and subject to "user may vary" type of results, same as with henna. There is no way to calculate the finished color, and if it goes wrong, you can't bleach indigo out. Indigo can be VERY permanent, and will never bleach out, only to green and stay there until the hair is eventually cut off.

[Bloodflower]

Your say your hair is light blonde. Indigo is blue. That means blonde (yellow) + blue = green.

Indigo doesn't change the color of your hair but adds a layer of color around it. Since that layer is still somewhat seethrough the result depends on your natural hair color (see above). If you do several applications of indigo it might add enough layers so that you hair appears blue. Most likey it will turn black, tough. There is no guarantee this will work.

Collect some shed hair and try indigo on it. And always keep in mind what Kirin said: indigo, especially after several applications, is permanent.

[Fractalsofhair]

Ah, thanks everyone. I'll give up the blue hair I guess... :( It sounds like the most likely result is green, which is not something I'd want, unless it's a pretty green! I actually wouldn't mind it being permanent, since redying my hair isn't fun and just takes up time. Blue is a pretty color on me, so I don't mind the fact it's unnatural, and I doubt most employers would freak out about it. At the jobs I've applied to, I've only gotten complements, since it seems to be if you have healthy shiny hair, dress neatly and appropriately in a suit or such and look clean etc, they don't mind odd hair colors.

One thing, my hair is more of a silvery blonde, does that possibly change the color it will turn out being?

[spidermom]

You might try just one strand of your hair, maybe 1/2-inch wide, in an inconspicuous place. Then if it turns a weird color, you have saved the rest of your hair and do not have to look at the weird strand all the time.

But do a patch test for allergy, first. Just because it's natural doesn't mean you won't have a bad reaction to it.

[spidermom]

Ah, thanks everyone. I'll give up the blue hair I guess... :( It sounds like the most likely result is green, which is not something I'd want, unless it's a pretty green! I actually wouldn't mind it being permanent, since redying my hair isn't fun and just takes up time. Blue is a pretty color on me, so I don't mind the fact it's unnatural, and I doubt most employers would freak out about it. At the jobs I've applied to, I've only gotten complements, since it seems to be if you have healthy shiny hair, dress neatly and appropriately in a suit or such and look clean etc, they don't mind odd hair colors.

One thing, my hair is more of a silvery blonde, does that possibly change the color it will turn out being?

Yes, it certainly would. Not all shades of blonde are yellow-blondes.

[kwaniesiam]

Use special effects to get blue. Mix a wee bit of purple in with the blue to avoid it turning green when it washes out.

[Moonstruck]

Strand test and find out! Haha, I'm really curious - you'll have to post pics if you do it, please! I remember my friend dyed a stripe on the underside of her hair green and it looks AMAZING, and it was really easily hidden. But whenever she put her hair up or in a braid, she'd have this beautiful vibrant green pop out. Mmm.

[Dorothea]

I once did an indigo patch test on a snip of bleached hair. A murkey, slimy-looking green was the result. Rather nasty.

[Fractalsofhair]

Hmm, I must get samples! Where does everyone here buy high quality indigo from? Price isn't a huge issue, but it might put off the time till I order it! I think I will do a strand test on a lock of hair cut from the underside, or from shed hairs. Depending on how that turns out, I'll do a streak in my hair. A black streak isn't the end of the world, and even a light green could be OK if it looks pretty and not like I tried to dye my hair a few months ago.

[jootsing]

Do post about how it turns out if you try it!
I've thought about doing my ends (red hair) with the indigo vat I sometimes dye fabric with; it's finally getting long enough that I'd be willing to experiment and just sacrifice the ends if it didn't turn out well.

[Norai]

Henna for Hair also sells indigo - I'd guess that their indigo is of a similar quality to their henna, but I haven't tried the stuff I bought yet. (their website is hennaforhair.com)

[Presto]

SarieQ indigoed one of her sons' hair. He was a very light or platinum blond to begin with. When I saw it he had nearly a year of regrowth and the indigo on the ends had faded to a medium sky blue. I didn't see it after the initial application, just a long while afterwards. It was still a nice color. :)

[Fractalsofhair]

Oo yay! Good to know it doesn't fade too badly!