Indigo as a Hair Dye
How do you dye your hair Fabulous Black hair with indigo, even if you're blonde or gray?
Dye your hair first with henna, then dye over that with indigo.
|
Partly
fermented, dried, powdered indigo leaves, often referred to as 'vashma'
or 'bashma', showing the release of blue dye. |
Indigo is a plant that has
a blue
dye in it. You probably have indigo dyed cloth in your closet, in
a pair of blue jeans. Jeans are dyed with indigo. People
have
used indigo alone or in combination with henna to dye their hair black
for at least 4000 years. During the 19th and 20th century indigo was
such
a common hair dye in Europe and the US, that it was marketed as "black
henna". Henna is never black, henna never dyes hair black, but
powdered
indigo resembles powdered henna and it DOES dye hair black. So,
when
indigo was sold as hair dye, it was called "black henna". When it
was sold to dye cloth, it was called indigo. There are are still many
boxes
of indigo in stores marked "black henna" as a legacy of this old
misnomer.
Some boxes of "black henna" are real indigo. Some boxes are cellulostic material and PPD, para-phenylenediamine, a hazardous aniline (coal tar) dye. If you open a box of "black henna" that is indigo, you'll see green powder that smells like frozen peas. If you mix that with water, you'll see a blue glaze form on the surface after a while. If you plop some wet indigo powder on paper or cotton, blue dye will leak out. Indigo hair dye looks like what you see above. This indigo is from Mehandi. If you open a box of "black henna" or "black mehndi" and the powder is brownish black or black, it probably has PPD in it. If you mix it with water, blackish brown liquid will leak out. That stuff is not henna. It's not indigo. It's chemicals and it may hurt you. Indigo is a bit of a chore to use as a hair dye, but the results are gorgeous! |
| Indigo, Indigofera Tinctoria This will tell you want the plant is, and what you need to know to learn how to dye hair with it. Click on the following links to learn more about using indigo to dye your hair: Mix Henna and Indigo for Brunette Colors Mix Ancient SunriseŽ Indigo to Dye Hair Black over Henna Dye Hair Warm Black with a One Step Henna-Indigo Mix Over Chemically Dyed Graying Blonde |
Dye Graying Light Brown Hair Black with the Two-Step Henna-Indigo Process Dye graying roots black with the Ancient SunriseŽ two-step process of henna and indigo |
