Henna safely covers gray hair, deepening and brightening brown hair and adding a beautiful reddish shine.
You can achieve beautiful shades of red through dark brown and black by adjusting your henna with other herbs such as chamomile, indigo, cassia or amla.
Henna will keep your hair soft and shiny!
Use Indigo to naturally dye your hair deep reddish, brown or black shades,.
Combine Henna and Indigo for your perfect shade.
What is Indigo, Indigofera tinctoria ?
Indigo powder is from the ground leaves of the indigo plant which contains a deep blue dye used for centuries for textiles including the original blue Levi Strauss jeans!
The leaves are harvested, dried, and ground into a powder for use in textiles, arts, and as a natural hair colorant.
Indigo combined with a henna application on hair can produce deep rich red/brown shades through a rich jet black color without any chemicals!
This is considered safe for those with chemical sensitivities and during pregnancy or while nursing. A doctor should be consulted if you have any concerns.
Indigo with Henna is a great replacement for modern chemical dyes if you are having a reaction or eczema caused by chemical color.
What it does ?
Indigo blended with henna creates a medium brown to rich deep brown hair dye.
Indigo applied over henna treated hair makes a lush black hair color.
Adds richness, shine, and texture.
Covers gray hair.
Use as often as you like for healthy dark brown to black hair color.
Non drying.
NO chemicals, preservatives, PPD or nut derivatives.
For BROWN dye:
Go brown, auburn, chestnut, or chocolate with your hair naturally!
For Brown, auburn, chestnut, or chocolate hair coloring use a 1 step process by combining indigo with henna.
Things You'll Need :
Natural Henna Powder
Natural Indigo Powder
Lemon or lime juice
Mixing Bowl and Spoon
Old Towls or Rags
Paper Towels
Saran Wrap or Plastic shower Cap
Plastic Gloves
Carrot Bag or Cone/Plastic Bag for easy application to roots
Procedure :
First, Prepare henna paste and allow to sit for 12-24 hours until the dye has released.
See : How to Mix Henna for Hair Color
Second, Mix indigo into the henna paste, you may adjust the consistency with warm water until it’s the consistency of thick yogurt.
Allow to sit for 15 minutes
Apply the indigo/henna paste to dry or damp hair in sections, completely coating all the hair down to the roots.
It’s easiest if you Start from the back and move forward. Wear gloves to protect your hands from being stained and drape an old towel over your shoulders to protect clothing.
Wrap your hair in a shower cap or plastic wrap and allow to soak in for 1-6 hours.
Rinse or shampoo to remove any residue.
Condition to soften hair (some people skip the shampoo).
Repeat: Monthly for healthy, thick and shiny, dark locks
Tips :
The higher proportion of indigo to henna the darker the color will be.
The longer you allow the paste to soak in the darker and richer the color will be.
Takes about 2 days for the color to oxidize and show it’s true shade.
For BLACK or Deep Brown dye:
Go bold. black and deep brown hair naturally!
Use henna first for your base tone and then indigo to create rich black hair color in this 2 step process
For Black and deep brown hair coloring use a 2 step process.
Apply henna to your hair for a deep red base
then apply the blue indigo to create the rich deep browns and blacks.
Things You'll Need :
Natural Henna Powder
Natural Indigo Powder
Lemon or lime juice
Mixing Bowl and Spoon
Old Towls or Rags
Paper Towels
Saran Wrap or Plastic shower Cap
Plastic Gloves
Carrot Bag or Cone/Plastic Bag for easy application to roots
Procedure :
First, Apply a henna paste to your hair to create a rich red base.
See : How to Mix Henna for Hair Color
Second,Apply indigo over the freshly hennaed and washed hair to create the deep black color.
See below how to prepare Indigo.
Mix indigo with warm water until it’s the consistency of thick yogurt.
Optional, add 1 teaspoon salt per 100 grams of indigo powder for darker color.
Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Apply the indigo paste to dry or damp (previously hennaed) hair in sections, completely coating al the hair down to the roots. It’s easiest if you Start from the back and move forward.
Wear gloves to protect your hands from being stained, drape an old towel over your shoulders to protect clothing.
Wrap your hair in a shower cap or plastic wrap and allow to soak in for 1-2 hours.
Rinse or shampoo to remove any residue.
Condition to soften hair (some people prefer to just use conditioner).
Repeat: Monthly for healthy, thick and shiny black locks.
Tips :
Takes about 2 days for the color to oxidize and show it’s true shade
For a scent you may add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to your paste mixture.
General Tips :
How to store it ?
indigo powder: keep in fridge, or cool dark place.
paste: use immediately as indigo paste does not freeze or keep well.
How Much do I need ?
Short Hair 100 Grams
Shoulder Length Hair 200-300 Grams
Long Hair 400-500 Grams
Disclaimer :
We recommend you perform a strand test before using any of these recipes or products on your hair to be sure you like the color and result.
Test the product on a small section of your hair or on hair harvested from your hair brush.
When using natural products please keep in mind that every product will react and color your hair uniquely. The result will be different and unique on everyone depending on hair type and condition. There are many ingredients and recipes to try, have fun experimenting!
You may deep condition after the herbal dye treatments to counteract dryness.
What it looks like ?
Indigo powder is a medium to bright green powder from the ground leaves of the plant and smells like fresh peas, very strong and pungent.
When mixed into a paste it is a dark rich green that slowly shows blue dye on the top and will appear a navy blue/blackish color with time.
History and Use
Indigo has been used for centuries as a textile dye, and hair colorant.
It is what, until the advent of chemical dyes gave blue jeans that special navy shade and Is still used to dye the beautiful flowing blue robes of the Berber tribes in Northern Africa/Morocco.
Source :
http://www.hennacaravan.com/how/indigo.html
