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/...&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!

[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 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...