Katam Thread?

[Bat]

I'm not sure there is a thread around and maybe I should post this in questions that don't need their own thread but here goes

the questions I have is can you use Katam for black ish color, and how well does it possibly bleach out, as in does it go green like Indigo?

while I'm growing out my hair AGAIN I want to be able to color it dark naturally, but still be able to bleach it in the future when my hairs long enough not to overlap

I'm aware you need to use henna too but not the processes

any advice would be appreciated

edit: or same questions but with Katha instead

[Nightshade]

It is virtually impossible to get actual katam and has been for years because of political strife and constraints on exports. Every "katam" I've checked in the last 5-7 years has been deliberately mislabeled indigo. Even at that, it's not really substantially different than indigo--it does not bleach out, it will still go greenish if you bleach it, etc. The process is more or less the same as indigo, which you can see here for brown and black.

I've not experimented with katha as much, but one of my customers has and she was resoundingly disappointed it its texture, application, and dye.

Honestly your best bet is a nontoxic dye like Manic Panic, because then you could at least pull some of it with a standard color remover to bleach.

[paulownia]

Maybe it's not possible to get katam in US but where I live ( Europe) it's available. Just much more expensive than indigo.
Katam is similar to indigo ( should not stand, likes basic environment so adding a pinch of salt or baking soda will help it stay)
Seems to be even more finicky than indigo.
Katam gives warmer tones than indigo but it can be gradually built to black. Just not cold black.
It bleaches through purple and steel shades, not green.

[Nightshade]

Maybe it's not possible to get katam in US but where I live ( Europe) it's available. Just much more expensive than indigo.
Katam is similar to indigo ( should not stand, likes basic environment so adding a pinch of salt or baking soda will help it stay)
Seems to be even more finicky than indigo.
Katam gives warmer tones than indigo but it can be gradually built to black. Just not cold black.
It bleaches through purple and steel shades, not green.

Aye it does pull more purple and steel, but when I've seen people really try to bleach through that into white-blonde it starts pulling green.

Overally I don't think it's a good option if you're planning to bleach in the future.

[paulownia]

I don't think it's a good idea to bleach through any kind of herbal dye
I just say that it's an option for people who want to play with dark shades and then not risk green hair if they feel like going lighter.
Risk of damage to hair is always there

[Bat]

Thank you both! Ilk have to stick with normal dye, manic panic never sticks to my virgin hair