Quick henna/indigo question

[zzirvingj]

I'm using henna to strengthen my hair and indigo to cover grays.

Do I have to apply them separately? I mixed my henna just now and am gonna apply it before going to bed tonight. I was gonna rinse in the morning and apply the indigo then.

I'm kinda lazy lol so I was wondering if I can just mix the indigo in with the henna tonight and add them both to the my hair at the same time?

My grays are extremely resistent. If it's absolutely best to rinse the henna out first and then apply the indigo then I'll do it that way. Just wanted to know if others knew if there was a difference....

 

[WyrdWay]

You can mix them together but I like them separate better. I read a bunch of people's recipes from this site
Henna for Hair: Dye hair with henna, indigo, cassia .... safely, beautifully!
and just modified what they did. You can just click on one of the thumbnails for a shade of color you would like it to come out like or just click on that is close to your texture

 

[LadyMacgyver]

I mix mine separate also but lately the indigo hasn't been doing anything for me lately.. I still see auburn color on my grays and I also see auburn mix my hair so not sure If I am doing something wrong or the indigo just does not take.

 

[IDareT'sHair]

If you have "Stubborn" Grey's I would suggest you do the 2 Step Process. Apply Henna, Co-Wash out/Apply Indigo adding a dash of Salt to Indigo also helps to darken.

It is also helpful if you use less Henna/More Indigo. For me, the Ratio of Henna to Indigo always determines the outcome.

This should successfully completely take care of those Stubborn Grey's.

 

[zzirvingj]

If you have "Stubborn" Grey's I would suggest you do the 2 Step Process. Apply Henna, Co-Wash out/Apply Indigo adding a dash of Salt to Indigo also helps to darken.

It is also helpful if you use less Henna/More Indigo. For me, the Ratio of Henna to Indigo always determines the outcome.

This should successfully completely take care of those Stubborn Grey's.

I have *VERY* stubborn greys so looks I'll have to do the 2-step process thing. The last time I did a henna/indigo treatment was like 2 years ago almost, and it's the only time I've tried it out. My greys were auburnish...not black like the rest of my hair.

So you say less henna/more indigo? When you say that, you're saying if I were to mix the two together then make sure it's more indigo, right? It wouldn't make a difference if I'm doing the 2-step process, right?

 

[zzirvingj]

One more quick question ladies...when can I actually shampoo my hair? Because my hair is pressed today and it's dirty. Do I shampoo, then henna then indigo? Do I henna, conditioner wash out the henna, then indigo, then shampoo out the indigo?

Or do I wait to shampoo after the entire henna/indigo process??

 

[Pompous Blue]

I henna + indigo my DH's hair. It comes out perfectly black using the 2-step process and my steamer (the love of my life)

I never let the henna sit to release the color and I steam both for 1 hour each.

1) Mix henna; immediately apply.
2) Sit under steamer for 1 hour.
3) Rinse out
4) Mix indigo with sea salt.
5) Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
6) Apply and sit under steamer for 1 hour.
7) Rinse out; co-wash
8) DC with steamer for about 30 minutes

Perfectly black hair....no burgundy or copper greys!

 

[2sweetnsugarland]

I had this same problem and it went on for over a year and I have some "serious" gray hair!!! I finally figured out what was wrong . . . I was not clarifying my hair enough "before" I applied the henna and then the indigo. Once I figured that out my hair came out a natural black. I mix a big batch of henna, usually one pkt full with orange juice and moisturizer and let it sit over night. The next night I apply it to freshly clarified hair, let that sit for 3-4 hours. Rinse it out, apply indigo mixed with hot water, rinse that out. Light shampoo. Deep condition and then braid/2 strand twist/seal with cator oil/flexirod my hair and let it dry over night. Hope this helps!!

 

[zzirvingj]

I henna + indigo my DH's hair. It comes out perfectly black using the 2-step process and my steamer (the love of my life)

I never let the henna sit to release the color and I steam both for 1 hour each.

1) Mix henna; immediately apply.
2) Sit under steamer for 1 hour.
3) Rinse out
4) Mix indigo with sea salt.
5) Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
6) Apply and sit under steamer for 1 hour.
7) Rinse out; co-wash
8) DC with steamer for about 30 minutes

Perfectly black hair....no burgundy or copper greys!

Wow, that is sounding ALOT better than letting it release for almost a whole day and sit on your head for like half a day before you can even do the indigo.

I wish I had a steamer! *le sigh*

I wonder if I could do the same thing, but using the "home grown steam method"?

 

[zzirvingj]

I had this same problem and it went on for over a year and I have some "serious" gray hair!!! I finally figured out what was wrong . . . I was not clarifying my hair enough "before" I applied the henna and then the indigo. Once I figured that out my hair came out a natural black. I mix a big batch of henna, usually one pkt full with orange juice and moisturizer and let it sit over night. The next night I apply it to freshly clarified hair, let that sit for 3-4 hours. Rinse it out, apply indigo mixed with hot water, rinse that out. Light shampoo. Deep condition and then braid/2 strand twist/seal with cator oil/flexirod my hair and let it dry over night. Hope this helps!!

Question: Is your hair wet when you apply the henna, since it is "freshly clarified"?

 

[Pompous Blue]

zzirvingj

Wow, that is sounding ALOT better than letting it release for almost a whole day and sit on your head for like half a day before you can even do the indigo.

I wish I had a steamer! *le sigh*

I wonder if I could do the same thing, but using the "home grown steam method"?

I don't know; I'll say not. The steamer I have puts out a lot of constant steam and I think it strongly infuses the henna into the hair thereby shortening the time it takes to receive the benefits of henna that I want.

Question: Is your hair wet when you apply the henna, since it is "freshly clarified"?

Oops! I forgot this step. Before I henna me or my DH's hair, I apply a rhassoul or bentonite clay mask to the hair. I use an immersion blender to mix it with coffee or rose water, apply it to freshly shampooed hair and get under the steamer for about 15 - 30 minutes. Rinse it out and thoroughly drench the hair with EVCO or Hairveda's vatika frosting. Then I mix and apply the henna.

HTH

 

[BlaqBella]

bumping....

 

[CourtneyD]

Hi,there.

What did you finally decide to do? I bought the henna and the indigo and now I'm sitting here TOTALLY confused. It "sounds" like it the whole thing is a trial-and-error experiment - that many different ways work and you just have to try one? If I want black/black hair and no red, no grays, it looks like I should:

1) Mix the henna (using guideline at henna for hair) but no need to let it sit out 12+ hours since my goal is strong hair and black hair. How long to sit, not sure... maybe ten minutes... Tips?
2) Apply henna to freshly washed/rinsed hair. (hair is still wet but towel dried)
3) Wait a few minutes... then
4) Rinse out thoroughly. No conditioner.
5) Apply pre-mixed indigo (water and 100% indigo powder) to hair, wrap in plastic and let sit for 1-4 hours.
6) Rinse thoroughly. Wash and deep condition. Wash out.

What do you think?

 

[mzteaze]

You have toilet the henna "cure" ESP if using body art quality henna. So mix it, let it sit for the correct number of hours THEN apply to hair.

Indigo usually only needs 30mins to sit before use.

Tips for application:

I found that henna still needs more time on hair than indigo for even black color. You have the order correct though.

 

[mscurly]

I use henna/indigo to cover my moms grays this is what I do:

Have her shampoo hair then apply my mix of henna and indigo. I use black tea as my liquid. I apply to her hair and leave it for atleast 5-6 hours. The rinse with conditioner only. Then I mix just indigo and water and apply that to the gray areas. Leave it on for a hour and rinse w/ conditioner and style as usual.

This makes my moms hair black. She has alot of gray and white hair along the front. After I do this treatment you cant even tell she had gray hair everything blends together nicely dark black.

 

[janda]

I'm still confused. If you want to cover grays, I thought you had to let your henna sit for dye release.

 

[Qurlyqt]

I'm certainly no expert but from what I've learned, the henna must deposit color onto your hair before the indigo can attach itself (sounds weird as I type it but that's my interpretation). I've done the 2 step process several times on my DH and I usually use henna that I've frozen previously (because I heard that it has even better color deposit). I leave it on him for 3-4 hours, rinse, apply indigo immediately after mixing, leave on for 45 minutes - an hour. Results are total black hair that looks natural! HTH