So I am considering coloring my hair with Henna and/or indigo.  My hair at the moment is dark brown/faded black, partially chemically black toward the ends from dyeing it a year ago.

My question is this, I have read conflicting things in regards to dieing your hair with indigo.  I know that indigo is a blue-black color on lighter colored hairs on its own, and that is why it's combined with henna to make it black and not blue.

Has anyone ever, or heard of anyone who has colored their hair with only indigo with out first coloring with Henna?

I ordered some samples which I am waiting for in the mail, so I may just have to dye some hair from the ol' hairbrush with henna and without henna and see waht happens.

I read the book on Henna for Hair on the Hennapage.com but I didnt really find an answer to my question.

Also I don't think Henna itself helps to bind the colors to the hairs, but does anyone know if it does or not?  would indigo still stay on your hair without the henna?

/discuss!

I don't have any answers for you - I've never used henna.  But there are several gals on the boards that have used it and might be able to answer your questions.

well i hope they catch a glimpse of the thread! I also posted a similar thread on the forums at Hennapage.com, however Im a guest there and dont know how many views they get normally.  I ordered samples of both henna and indigo, so if push comes to shove I will find out myself! and then let everyone else know, hehe.

Well, since I've only henna'd and indigo'd my hair twice, I'm not an expert on them, but I'll try. Being a stickler for information, I went to the forums on hennaforhair.com for months before I took the plunge. Anyway, from what I read, it is possible to just use indigo, but it seems like it fades faster than the two step henna and indigo process. There's a recipe for just indigo on Henna For Hair's mixes page, but to me, the results look rather *blah* compared to the folks who used the two step method.

Since you ordered samples, you can try both methods before you use it on the rest of your hair. I think that might be the best way to see which method works best for you. It probably didn't, but HTH somewhat.

I used indigo by itself but only after I had henna'd a week or two previously. It worked, but I think it works better when it has the henna to "grab" onto!  

Just a note: Be sure before you use indigo that you will not want to lighten your hair soon - apparently when you try to bleach out indigo it turns your hair ashy green, and doesn't fade or wash out at all.  :-[

Mellie

excelent info! thanks guys! yeah Im ganan try it out with the samples all ways and see what comes out best.  Also thats unfortunate about your hair turning green X_X  I will never go lighter with my hair though so I am not too worried :)  its already almost black on its own, im just going the extra step and making al the way black, but I want a nice natural "asian" black, if you will.  The results from indigo are perfect, so Im pretty excited to try it!