Indigo... Fading and reapplying?!

**TatsuOni** · February 10th, 2025, 07:51 AM

Originally Posted by Priska

Does it help if you -or I- keep the indigo on my hair overnight?

Indigo looses it's ability to dye a lot faster than henna, so no it unfortunately wouldn't. After a few hour the indigo won't do much good in your hair.

**maborosi** · February 10th, 2025, 03:00 PM

Yeah I remember I never left it on longer than an hour personally. It demises SUPER quick.

It is also the most staining thing I've ever used in my life lol.

**Priska** · February 11th, 2025, 10:04 PM

Good info thanks!

**paulownia** · February 12th, 2025, 12:00 AM

Use distilled water if possible. Add a pinch of salt or baking soda to it. It likes alkaline environment.
Indigo works 2 hours , then it stops dyeing.
No dye release necessary att all, just mix it and apply directly.
Use lukewarm/tepid water.

**maborosi** · February 12th, 2025, 03:40 PM

Good catch, paulownia! I forgot to mention that salt can be a useful additive. I had more success getting indigo to stick when I put a little bit of salt in my mix

I also felt like indigo smells like frozen peas. Does anyone else or is that just me?

**paulownia** · February 13th, 2025, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by maborosi

Good catch, paulownia! I forgot to mention that salt can be a useful additive. I had more success getting indigo to stick when I put a little bit of salt in my mix

I also felt like indigo smells like frozen peas. Does anyone else or is that just me?

One word - spinach

I forgot to write - clarifying and chelating before indigo is also a good idea.

**TatsuOni** · February 13th, 2025, 09:18 AM

I've never added baking soda or salt to my indigo. Neither do I ever clarify my hair. I don't use distilled water either. I guess I'm lucky that it still sticks quite good to my hair.

I think that henna smells a bit like hay and idigo just like some nasty dried plant. It doesn't smell good.

**Priska** · February 13th, 2025, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by TatsuOni

I've never added baking soda or salt to my indigo. Neither do I ever clarify my hair. I don't use distilled water either. I guess I'm lucky that it still sticks quite good to my hair.

I think that henna smells a bit like hay and idigo just like some nasty dried plant. It doesn't smell good.

Good to know!

**maborosi** · February 13th, 2025, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by paulownia

One word - spinach

I forgot to write - clarifying and chelating before indigo is also a good idea.

Oh, yes! Frozen spinach, peas...something very...vegetable-y.

Originally Posted by TatsuOni

I've never added baking soda or salt to my indigo. Neither do I ever clarify my hair. I don't use distilled water either. I guess I'm lucky that it still sticks quite good to my hair.

I think that henna smells a bit like hay and idigo just like some nasty dried plant. It doesn't smell good.

Not in the slightest, haha. At least I can tolerate henna- it doesn't smell too bad. But I've never been a fan of that indigo smell.

I wonder if having hard or soft water drastically affects indigo uptake?

**TatsuOni** · February 15th, 2025, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by maborosi

Oh, yes! Frozen spinach, peas...something very...vegetable-y.

Not in the slightest, haha. At least I can tolerate henna- it doesn't smell too bad. But I've never been a fan of that indigo smell.

I wonder if having hard or soft water drastically affects indigo uptake?

I had soft water in my old apartment and hard where I live now. I honestly couldn't notice any difference in how well the indigo stained when I moved here.