Chlorine, Henna + Indigo questions......

[UltraBella]

My daughter's best friend is not allowed to put chemical dyes on her hair, but her mother said that she could use Henna. She has ashy light brown hair naturally and she is wanting a rich brown color. I told her henna alone would not give her brown but henna + indigo might and I promised to ask here at LHC.

This young lady is on the swim team with my daughter and they practice 10 hours a week plus a competitive meet each weekend. Is it possible for the chlorine to cause issues with henna or indigo ? Their hair really dulls out and has that chlorine weird feeling to it. Would a good clarifying be necessary beforehand ? Will the chlorine fade the color ?

I am not very knowledgeable about henna or indigo, so any advice is much appreciated :)

[UltraBella]

No one here hennas or indigos and swims ???

[cheetahfast]

I swam a few times after using henna. I really didn't see a difference. The color did not budge or lighten. Now I also use buxus and it seems to have washed out faster after swimming. I noticed my hair reverting back to orange faster. This might not be true though since buxus seems to wash out/fade by 50% in four weeks no matter what.

I don't use indigo so no help there.

Also I don't swim as often as your daughters friend does, I'm just saying what I've noticed after a few swims.

[Kristin]

Not a swimmer, but I do henndigo. Indigo fades pretty quickly, even if I only shampoo 1-3 times per week, so I'd guess that it would fade pretty quickly for a constant swimmer. I've also heard that indigo will go green if you try to bleach it...not sure if chlorine would have a similar effect. I would wait until swim season ends.

[ktani]

Chlorine does not turn hair green, it is the copper in pool water and disinfecting chemicals can bleach hair, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=115

[Amber_Maiden]

The indigo will fade rather quickly. The pool water might make this happen faster. Maybe she could wear a swim cap?

[UltraBella]

They do wear swim caps, but swim caps do not keep your hair dry, just keeps it contained and streamlined.
Swim season is year round, so these girls really get frustrated hair wise. Chemical color fades quite quickly with constant swimming, and it sounds like the indigo will too, but I am super curious about the henna, since it is usually so permanent.
Maybe we will have to do an experiment ;)

[PeachyWavy]

They do wear swim caps, but swim caps do not keep your hair dry, just keeps it contained and streamlined.
Swim season is year round, so these girls really get frustrated hair wise. Chemical color fades quite quickly with constant swimming, and it sounds like the indigo will too, but I am super curious about the henna, since it is usually so permanent.
Maybe we will have to do an experiment ;)

Do keep us all informed, I swim regularly and I'd be interested in the effects of chlorine on henna, too! :D

[ktani]

Indigo turns green when bleached and henna can be bleached, so it comes down to the level of chemicals in the pool, which have already lightened their hair colour. It is not just about the chlorine alone affecting hair by possibly causing damage or lightening.

ETA: Therefore there is more than just a possibility that henna and indigo will be adversely affected too.

[Mesmerise]

I would be wary of indigo, as years ago my sister used indigo in her hair and it made it an odd blackish greenish shade :bigeyes: and she ended up having to use a black chemical dye to cover it! I think the henna + the indigo is supposed to stop it getting that green from happening, although with the pool chemicals I'm not sure what would happen.

I think henna alone would be fine, though. I've never had a problem with henna and chlorine, although I do seem to recall that when I was younger and hennaed my henna did fade a bit more when swimming. Although, I didn't henna all that regularly either...

[Nevvie]

I don't know much about the effects of chlorine (I swim in natural lakes and rivers) but one big problem I had was bleeding. Every time I'd get out of the water I'd have a little light brownish-yellow water dripping down my back. No matter how many tips and tricks I looked up and tried it didn't lessen the problem until 2-3 weeks after using henna-indigo. Now for me, this was annoying but no biggie as it didn't dye my suit or anything. For younger girls (depending on the age) it might lead to teasing since kids seems to tease each other over anything and everything.

[Hairizona]

I henna my hair and have been swimming in a chlorinated pool 3 times a week since last June. I never swam before and have been hennaing my hair since fall 2005. What I have noticed is that the chorine seems to lighten my hair and dull the color of the henna, as well as pull the color and richness of the red color out of my hair very quickly, leaving it more orange to brassy in parts of my hair that would bleach out, since I have light ash to dark ash hair color under the henna. I have had to increase the amount of time that I leave the henna in my hair. Before I swim, I braid my hair and wet it with water, apply a condish, pin my hair up around my head and go. Before getting in the pool, I put on a silicone swim cap. I swim for about 35-40 minutes. As soon as I get home, I rinse my hair, then rinse with club soda, then shampoo and use lots of condish. I think my hair is doing OK. My ends needed trimming again, but I have old damage and the last 5 inches will go that route.

[UltraBella]

Thanks everyone ! This has given us lots to consider !