Help! My hair won't stay black!

[joiekimochi]

I'm not sure if this belongs here, Conventional or Herbal, so feel free to move it to the right place.

A couple of weeks ago, I dyed my chemically-lightened hair black with Surya Henna Brasil Cream. It was amazingly dark and soft and silky. Unfortunately it kept washing out. And out. And out.

So I dyed it again a week later with the remaining dye in the bottle (despite its tiny size I did manage to get 2 uses out of it on my BSL hair), leaving it on for almost 3 hours.

And it still washed out. And out. And out.

My hair is 80% back to pre-Surya shade, and at the ends, it's perhaps 100% back to original. And it's been less than a month.

I heard that 2-step henndigo would lead to the indigo being washed out as well, leaving the red behind. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm looking for a non-chemical way to return my hair to black permanently. A one-shot deal. That preferably didn't stain my expensive white towels and satin pillowcases.

If LHC hadn't helped make my hair so shiny and healthy, I wouldn't bat an eyelash at the thought of using chemical black dye. But now I just don't want to undo all the good things I've done to my hair!

TIA!

[manderly]

Sorry, I would suggest a demi permanent dye (much more permanent that it sounds, and not damaging barely at all) but you don't want to do chemicals. :shrug:

[spidermom]

I came into this thread thinking "head-bands, barrettes, clips" because I read "my hair won't stay back". Some people have more luck than others with indigo. It seems to be the ones who think it goes too dark and want to lighten it who have the worst luck with it, like indigo will only stick if it can spite you by doing so. haha Might be worth a try. Keep thinking "I hope this stuff doesn't go too dark," and you'll probably be fine.

[Fractalsofhair]

If your hair is naturally black, I think you can redo the indigo as needed. Not 100% sure though.

[VintageBrooklyn]

I have to laugh at Spidermom here!!! It's so true!!!
I use henna and indigo as a two step and I also coloured my hair with permanent chemical dyes for years, but the damage is not worth it in the end, what it did to my scalp was just not nice!
I think you should buy some good quality henna (I use moroccan henna as it works good with Indigo), I leave it on for around 3 hours then I wash it out and use Indigo with a tsp of salt and leave that on for 2 hours then I wash it out, condition and it makes my hair black with minimal fading. Good thing is, the henna and indigo seem to build up and biuld up over your hair with continual use, so if you are ready for a commitment, go for it!

:)

[ArienEllariel]

I came into this thread thinking "head-bands, barrettes, clips" because I read "my hair won't stay back".

Me too. :rolleyes:

[Anje]

How damaged is your hair, particularly at the ends? I've heard that sometimes damaged hair simply won't hold dye and needs a protein filler or the like to get the dye to stick. (It seems possible to me that real henna might also fill this role, but don't take my word on that.)

FYI, for other folks:
Surya Henna Black Cream Ingredients:
Deionized water (aqua), dipropylene glycol methyl ether, cetearyl alcohol, cetrimonium chloride, sorbitol, lawsonia inemis (henna) extract, arnica montana flower extract, phyllantus emblica (amla) fruit extract, paullinia cupana seed extract, honey extract, chamomilla recutita (matricaria) extract, achillea millefolium extract, malva sylvestris (mallow) extract, corylus avellana (hazel) seed extract, daucus carota sativa (carrot) seed extract, euterpe oleracea (acai) extract, zizyphus joaseiro bark extract, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, malpighia punicifolia fruit extract, bertholletia excelsa (brazil nut) seed extract, hydroxyethyicellulose, orbignya oleifera (babcu) seed oil, benzyl alcohol (and) dehydroacetic acid, essential oils (rose flower oil, cananga odorata flower oil, jasminum officinale (jasmine) oil and santalum album (sandalwood oil), citric acid.
Main contain: Aminomethyl propanol, 2-amino-6-chloro-4-nitrophenol. HC blue 2, HC yellow 5, HC red 3, HC yellow 2, HC yellow 4, HC red 1, disperse violet 1, HC violet 14 D rodol hemp, disperse black 9.

Looks like conditioner with a few colors in it to me. I'm not sure it's supposed to be permanent.
ETA: Looking at the reviews here (http://www.iherb.com/surya-henna-brasil-cream-hair-coloring-hair-treatment-black-2-31-fl-oz-70-ml/7903?at=0), I'd say this isn't a permanent product, which is why it's washing out. I'd say to give a 2-step henna + indigo a try. At worst, you might need to reapply the indigo occasionally.

[Snowcold]

The funny thing is, my hair wouldn't stay black even with chemical dye... I'm a natural ash/dark-blonde and my hair turned brownish after a while. Even after dying over it a few times. It was only the lower part though.

But I gave up and now it's reddish from stripping it. It's a beautiful, sort of natural red. But I don't think I could get the top part to be the same color. :( Ah well, going back to blonde anyway!

As far as for Indigo... I really don't have a clue!

[manderly]

In that case, I agree with Anje. Your hair may be very porous and you may benefit from using a filler prior to coloring :)

[dropinthebucket]

Indigo can be very, very permanent and a great natural choice for black. It can also be incredibly finicky, and for some people, washes out and washes out and washes out. Why it sticks permanent for some and not others is a good question - some people say their more porous hair soaks it up like crazy, others say their more porous hair lets go of it like crazy. So I dunno. But it's not your only choice - Manic Panic in black might be worth trying. Elumen might also be worth trying (I haven't tried it yet, but have some on the way! excited!) - it's supposed to be non-damaging, and has no peroxide. It will have to be re-done every month or so, but then, so does chem dye if it fades. And so does indigo, if it doesn't stick at first. Maybe someone with more experience with Elumen can tell us more about it? Other than that, I'm not sure how to get black. Myself, I would just worry about the black dye having the highest concentration of PPD, but that's just me.

[jaine]

I read that the first application of indigo tends to wash out for most people, but successive applications become more and more permanent. It "sticks" better if you indigo within a day of doing henna. And it sticks better if you add a pinch of salt to the indigo mix.
If the indigo comes out looking like too much blue, you can do a henna gloss on top of it to warm it up. I wouldn't do indigo without henna on light hair, because it would come out green or blue.

I used many henna / indigo / henna / indigo / henna applications over the space of about a week, to cover up blonde highlights. It worked pretty well although it has definitely faded to a dark reddish brown, not black like it originally was. If you want too keep it pure black permanently, you would probably have to repeat the 2-step henna + indigo when the indigo begins to fade.

[joiekimochi]

I have naturally black hair, so I don't have to worry about roots. It's my length I'm upset about. And considering how Surya Henna is supposed to be the easiest dye to apply, and how I managed to even dye my own boobs when dyeing my hair, I'm sure I'd make a bigger mess with henna. Oh well. I guess I'll get the two-step done at the Ayurvedic salon in town. It'll cost more but if it proves to be permanent, it'll be cheaper than having to buy Surya Henna every month (that thing ain't cheap, too).

Thanks for your help, everyone! :D