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Henna & Indigo
Henna & Indigo
Mixing Henna
To dye release henna you need to mix with acidic liquid (lemon, apple, lime, orange or coffee or tea) overnight, cover with plastic wrap and leave for at least 8 hours. Can be left up to 48 hours. (NOTE: for brown hair colour best to mix henna with coffee or tea not acidic liquid)
When mixing henna it will look a bit lumpy like mash potatoes. No need to mix until all lumps fall out, cover with plastic and leave overnight. When ready to use, stir thoroughly, lumps will just fall out and henna mixture will be soft and easy to apply.
Henna Before Rest
Mixture will look like mash potatoes at first. No need to try and mix until smooth at this stage. Just cover and leave to rest.
Henna After Rest
Once rested and stirred, henna will mix into a very smooth paste – lumps fall out.
Different Methods
Method 1 – One-Step Application
- Combine the powders together (using proportions mentioned in colour chart) leave to develop (1-2 hours approx). Apply to hair. For combination method, mix with tea or coffee instead of acidic liquid as it will weaken indigo; OR
Method 2 – Two-Step Application
- Mix and leave henna overnight for dye release with tea or coffee.
- When ready to dye hair, mix indigo (with water only) and add to henna mix stirring thoroughly. Apply to hair and plastic wrap. The natural heat helps to saturate dye.
Suggest adding amla powder to mix (if available). Amla can be added to both henna and indigo together or separately
Black Hair
Two-step application only of first putting on henna (after dye release) washing out and applying indigo second
Make sure to use same amount of indigo as henna or more, as resulting hair colour can be brown if insufficient amount of indigo to henna, even in the two-step application.
Once henna is dye released, any remaining henna can be frozen for another day – no need to waste. Freeze in a plastic bag (cone bag is good as it has the tip).
Other herbal powders can be added to henna mix – amla, aloe vera, hibiscus, manjistha, bhringraj, brahmi, shikakai, etc. Mix well and apply from scalp to hair ends. Plastic wrap hair and leave on for as long as you can but not less than 2 hours. The longer the more beneficial and glorious the colour.
If using indigo after henna make sure to put amla powder (preferable but not essential) in with indigo as this will make indigo easier to handle and will condition hair too.
Wash out henna and towel dry hair. Put indigo with amla powder in a bowl, mix into a paste with water only (no acidic liquid). Apply to hair immediately (no need to rest). Wrap hair with plastic wrap (cling film etc) otherwise powder mask will dry hard and more difficult to wash out of hair. Also, when wrapped natural heat helps to circulate dye. Leave on hair for at least an hour for black hair or 1.5 to 2 hours for jet black hair.
Black beard tends to need a longer time to process so 1.5 hours can give just brown or possibly black. Don’t be disappointed if it takes more than one application to get desired colour. It is a natural process. Once the natural process takes, it gets easier to get desired colour for future applications.
For two-step application of applying henna first and indigo second, henna on gray hair can give grays an orange-red, reddish brown or even a copper red colour. Amla powder does help to tone red down a bit. Indigo (which is naturally blue) on top of henna will give shades of brown or black. For brown hair (light or dark) leave indigo on for around 15-30 mins respectively, this will depend on how quickly hair takes to indigo so may need to periodically check colour has developed.
If indigo is left on for more than an hour hair will be black, so timing is important. One teaspoon (1tsp) of salt can be added to 100g indigo for quicker uptake next time, if indigo does not take first time round. May also take more than one application to get desired colour.
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