What shampoo/conditioner to use in hennaed/indigoed hair?

[YourEggcellency]

Maybe I am a giant dummy & missed seeing this in any of the multiple threads on henna/indigo/natural hair-dyes, but is there specific shampoos or conditioners to use when one has hennaed or indigoed hair?

I am just about to embark on the henna + indigo journey myself, after chemically dying my hair dark brown for at least three years. For chemically dyed hair, one must use special shampoos & conditioners formulated for dyed hair, so of course my first thought after deciding to change was what to use in my hair that would keep the colour.

If there are no required shampoos/conditioners for hennaed hair, I would love some recommendations in general. Right now I use Aveda Colour Conserve & Kerastase Reflection Chroma Reflect, & would like to change due to cones, sulfates, & price. I use shampoo every other time I wash, & conditioner every time.

TIA & if this is already covered somewhere, please direct me to the thread!

[young&reckless]

I've been useing cassia for about two years and henna for about 4 months and I have not really found that I needed to change my washing method.

I use CV poo bars and burts bees shampoo with Suave Naturals condish, but IMHO you can use anything.

Maybe check out the Reviews tab for recommended products.

[Madame J]

Since henna binds permanently to the keratin in hair, it shouldn't be necessary to use a special shampoo to prevent color fade. The only thing I've heard of that can leech henna out is oil. Some people have trouble with henna fade when they do heavy oilings too often. But henna is so healthy for your hair that you can rehenna if you experience fade without damaging your hair.

Personally, I'm back to using shampoo bars (from SCH right now, though I have a friend who makes soaps who will hopefully have her bars ready in a few months!) with a dilute ACV rinse (sulfate and 'cone free). But I don't henna, so that's a recommendation in general.

[halo_tightens]

I switched to henna several months ago, and I haven't found it necessary to change anything about my washes either. I can use pretty much exactly the same products as before, with similar results.

I also change things up now and then just for fun, and I haven't noticed the henna being a factor in any results with other methods that I tried out.

I would say, wash as normal! :)

[YourEggcellency]

It's good to know that I don't need anything special.

I'd love to get more suggestions though for what works for the hennaed crowd! I've been looking at Chagrin Valley shampoo bars, henna shampoo bars from buyhenna.com, & the Aveda Rosemary Mint conditioner. I haven't strayed too far from Aveda, though, so if any henna head uses other products with success, recommend away!

I also have very fine, very straight hair--not thin, but I would like to add more volume if possible.

[GlennaGirl]

Your Eggcelency: Does that mean you don't have any fade of the indigo, then? I definitely never had to change my washing (COing, mostly) methods for just henna, but with henna+indigo (one-step), I do experience fade with the indigo until several applications have built up...then it's a tightrope walk not to go jet-black from multiple indigo applications.

I'd much rather be able to "stop" things at a nice dark brown. :)

[YourEggcellency]

GlennaGirl: I am actually waiting on my henna + indigo mix to arrive--I haven't yet dyed my hair with it. I did not realize indigo was prone to fading (but I should have...duh), so do you think I should stick with my colour-saving shampoo/conditioners?

Ugh I am so tired of paying out the nose for salons, stylists, products...I was kinda hoping to get some cheaper shampoo bars & conditioners so I could spend all my money on pretty hairtoys. :P

[GlennaGirl]

Your Eggcelency: Well, I know that once indigo is in there, it's IN there. It's just that you may need to do an indigo gloss a couple of times before it "sticks" permanently. :)

I wouldn't bother with the color-saving shampoo. Just re-gloss a couple of times if/when you see fading; after that it should be permanent. I didn't mean to scare you--last time I did this, yes, it did become permanent but it took a couple of additional indigo applications. Like I said, just a gloss, so you use much less. It's just that my hair turned a bit *too* dark that way. I was hoping someone else might have some ideas, so I've bookmarked this thread and am hoping there are more replies soon. :)

[Xepher]

Hello Your Eggcellency! *Bows*

What GlennaGirl said is true. In my own experience, I had to use indigo about 2 or 3 times before it really stayed, but once its in... its never coming out, TRUST me. I've tried. Its been at least a year (maybe a bit less) and no matter what shampoos, conditioners, oils, etc I use, my indigo hasn't budged in the least.

If you're worried about fading though, and want to try CV bars, I say go for their Cafe Moreno shampoo bar; its supposed to help darken hair, so you can maybe avoid any fading by using that.

Enjoy your indigo =D

[YourEggcellency]

GlennaGirl: I've seen a shampoo bar (http://www.buyhenna.com/apps/webstore/products/show/1060428) that apparently helps those of us with darker hennaed/indigoed hair keep it that way, that you might be interested in trying. I have yet to order it, but I will at the end of the week, definitely.

I might order an extra application, then, of the henna + indigo mix (NO metallic salts, or anything but henna & indigo, according to the seller--who I can also review if you're interested, she's an Etsy seller named heavenlyhair), for glosses later.

Xepher: I'm liking the bowing, haha! I could get used to that...

I'm really interested in the CV bars, & am looking forward to ordering a few samples soon (damn, I have been spending so much on my hair since joining this forum, & I LOVE it). I don't particularly like the smell of coffee; does it smell strongly of coffee? I noticed there were many other herbs, & I wouldn't mind a faint smell at all, but I'd prefer not to have my hair smelling like coffee.



I am SO excited to switch from icky chemicals to awesome nature--& the fact that it's gonna be cheaper (sort of...I have a feeling I'll be spending my extra money on other hair stuff...) is pretty thrilling too.

[Xepher]

GlennaGirl: I've seen a shampoo bar (http://www.buyhenna.com/apps/webstore/products/show/1060428) that apparently helps those of us with darker hennaed/indigoed hair keep it that way, that you might be interested in trying. I have yet to order it, but I will at the end of the week, definitely.

I might order an extra application, then, of the henna + indigo mix (NO metallic salts, or anything but henna & indigo, according to the seller--who I can also review if you're interested, she's an Etsy seller named heavenlyhair), for glosses later.

Xepher: I'm liking the bowing, haha! I could get used to that...

I'm really interested in the CV bars, & am looking forward to ordering a few samples soon (damn, I have been spending so much on my hair since joining this forum, & I LOVE it). I don't particularly like the smell of coffee; does it smell strongly of coffee? I noticed there were many other herbs, & I wouldn't mind a faint smell at all, but I'd prefer not to have my hair smelling like coffee.



I am SO excited to switch from icky chemicals to awesome nature--& the fact that it's gonna be cheaper (sort of...I have a feeling I'll be spending my extra money on other hair stuff...) is pretty thrilling too.


Heheh, I'll bet you could! And you'd better get used to having your money evaporate now that you're a member here; its almost horrifying for me when I bother to think back on how much money I've spent/still spend on my hair :rolleyes: I could have bought a couple cars by now!

As for the CV bar, no, it doesn't really smell like coffee at all to me. It smells very much of cloves, so like a sweet/herby/black liquorice smell. Really though, even if the smell doesn't appeal to you, remember that you'll likely be using a conditioner and/or an ACV rinse after washing with a shampoo bar, so the smell won't linger in your hair!

[kdaniels8811]

Indian herbs - shikakai and amla - are dirt cheap and very effective in cleaning and growing healthy hair. If you are interested in going natural, you really should check out the articles on using indian herbs. A $2.50 box lasts me a couple months! And yes, my hair is hendigo'ed.

[marciedoo]

i've also done the dark brown dye for about 2 years and just switch to hendigo a month ago. i hendigoed once and henna'd once. i didn't change my shampoo/conditioner routine (i use lush products). zero fading...in fact, less than with commercial dyes. i LOVE the henna/hendigo concept. my hair looks amazing -- so shiny and feels so strong even after just a month. my grays are a bright flaming orange -- my "gray" is white, so it doesn't take any dye well. it is taking the henna better than commercial dye.

good luck and and enjoy....and get a bottle of cheap condish to rinse with (i used yogurt for my base on my second app and that made it MUCH better)

[YourEggcellency]

kdaniels8811: I'll look into the Indian herbs! Thanks for the suggestion.

marciedoo: Did you have any marked difference between the roots & the chemically dyed hair after you hendigoed? That's one of my major concerns. Good to know you are in basically the same boat & had such wonderful results. I'll also pick up some cheap conditioner & yogurt as soon as I get my stuff in.

[marciedoo]

Hi! I haven't noticed a difference -- you can't tell roots except for the gray which is now red (instead of gray). The first time, it only took a little bit of the dye. The second time, it is flaming orange (I used straight up henna). I'll do it again in about a week and let ya know :) This might be in my head, but my hair feels and looks thicker too. I really liked the yogurt to mix with, though. I think that's a keeper :)

[deko]

After hennaing I noticed that my hair don't like any protein treatments. I don't need any special pricey products, just regular shampoo & conditioner works fine. When you have several layers of henna in your hair it just doesn't fade.

[tamif27]

I have been shampooing with VATIKA and I like. It's the henna creme one IIRC. Other than that I just oil the ends either with VATIKA oils or almond oil. So far my hair likes. I like the Vatika brand stuff in general.

I'm trying some shampoo bars of various types and we'll see.