Advice on using henna to dye hair dark brown/ black?

[ladybirdsarelovely33]

My hair is naturally dark brown / black but probably 30- 40% grey
I was using hair dye but want to use henna now after a couple of allergic reactions.
Not Lush products tbh.
Any advice on what you use ?
I heard indigo was good?
Also do you use conditioner to wash it out?

My only experience is Lush but anyways - I do use conditioner to wash it out. Also only henna will cover grey, not indigo - so to go dark you would need to cover with henna first and then get the indigo to take on top of the henna.

You need body art quality henna and separate indigo. I use a high % lawsone henna - lawsone is the dye molecule. Have a gander at the long hair community forum. They have a section on there ' henna and recipes ' or something like that. They really are experts and will give you lots of ideas.
I've used henna for over ten years. ,I buy it from eBay and I'll happily shares the link if you want. I apply my henna. Leave for a few hours or overnight ( the more grey I'm going, the longer I need to leave the henna on for) then when I rinse the henna out, I apply my indigo and leave on for an hour at most and get lovely dark brown. I used to just use henna but I've now got a completely try centre parting and henna alone makes it day glo orange ( though the henna I'm currently using does give a bright Ruby colour after an overnight app, but warm colours don't suit me, but it is so beautiful).

I then rinse out the indigo and I'm done. After a few applications to whole head, it's possible to do roots only. You can also do a one step method where you mix the dye released henna with the mixed indigo and then apply for a few hours but you might find the greys went covered enough or the indigo fades really quickly.

Just looked on eBay, I typed in 'henna baq ' and the first option, the sojat one is the one I use. U.K. Seller so no customs or ^^ shipping costs.

Rubber thanks. I can't see the one you mention. Can you post the links pls?

When you mix it up pop a bit of conditioner into the mix. It is worth also in getting a shower cap to pop over your hair when the henna is on it.

Thanks Occams Would you advise mixing up Henna and indigo powder together?

I have used henna and indigo from www.henna-boy.co.uk in the past. I used to mix henna with warm water and a good squirt of lemon juice, then leave (bowl covered in cling film) in a warm place overnight to "release" the colour. The next day I'd mix a similar quantity of indigo with warm water until smooth, mix with the henna mixture then apply. I'd wrap my hair in cling film, pop on a hair turban then leave for a few hours. When rinsing, applying loads of conditioner really helps to rinse the paste out smoothly.
Gorgeous dark brown colour, and really shiny - but goodness quite a faff! I'm currently growing out the grey, but it looks rubbish, so I might go back to henna/indigo soon.

I dont recommend conditioner to wash hair with heena. but you can use as it has no harm though.

@Artura would you have to wash your out and dry it and then apply the indigo the next day?
Or do you just towel dry it?

Anyone heard of Amla powder too?

No I just mix them up and apply together (but as in my msg above - mix the henna with water/lemon juice the night before to allow the colour to come out, indigo is added when it's been freshly mixed). I've added amla as well as I heard it was better for keeping curls (I have curly hair) but I'm not sure if it makes much difference.

Henna is great but you do need to do a bit of research to find out the best henna/indigo combination to get the right brown shade. If you go to hennacat (dot) com that site will tell you everything you need to know.

As for washing out the best and easiest thing to do is the "mermaid" - get in a bath of water and submerge your head, this will wash most of it out. Then massage a lot of conditioner into your hair and submerge again. Then get out of the bath really quickly so the henna doesn't stain your skin (although I've never had issues with this).

Trying to get the stuff out with a shower head is a real bitch and takes aaaaages.

Ok so I have just done it - a lady come and applied henna and Amla powder. My hair where the grey bits are look orange!
She said 2 more applications a couple of weeks apart will get me dark brown.
Any one know if that is right, in your experience?

IT may do. It will definitely deepen in colour from the orange it is now to maybe more of a ruby colour. However, henna is orange and translucent and won't go dark brown on greys. It may not show as orange on dark hair until in sunlight but it will show lots more on greys in any light. And the regrowth won't have as many layers of henna on so your roots will always be brighter and not matched in. I used to use just henna but with my greys I need indigo too to cool things down on the greys.

IT may do. It will definitely deepen in colour from the orange it is now to maybe more of a ruby colour. However, henna is orange and translucent and won't go dark brown on greys. It may not show as orange on dark hair until in sunlight but it will show lots more on greys in any light. And the regrowth won't have as many layers of henna on so your roots will always be brighter and not matched in. I used to use just henna but with my greys I need indigo too to cool things down on the greys.

Link for the henna I use
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-Organic-Natural-Rajasthani-Sojat-Henna-Powder-2016-BAQ-Hair/172850610179?hash=item283eb30003:m:maWSKPSaKMLMhjI32CWg_Wg

I also don't use lemon juice for my henna anymore. Warm water is all. Dye release is much faster, henna mix is less drying.( lemon juice is required for skin use though)
You may also find, like me that a one step henndigo ( henna + indigo) is not enough to cover your greys. I have had success by applying at 8pm and wrapping in cling film and leaving the mix on till the morning but if I leave the mix on for a couple of hours, the roots are brassy still.

Thank you for the link Rubber. Do you have one for the indigo? Do you do 50/ 50 henna / indigo?

I do a two step process.henna step one, then indigo step 2. So I apply the dye released henna (and even though I have waist length hair and lots of it, I still get away with 100g) to almost dry hair washed with just shampoo ( mixed with warm tap water, it releases in about an hour...much faster than it did with a bit of lemon juice added and the colour to me looks less orange than it did with lj ) leave this on overnight as I find this easier on my neck with the thickness and length of my hair. Rinse out then wait till hair is almost dry again, I don't use shampoo or conditioner at this stage. Then when ready to go, I mix up 50 g of indigo with half a teaspoon of xanthan gum a teaspoon of salt ( as indigo likes it alkaline) and warm water, mix well and apply as soon as possible. I leave this on for up to an hour.

I tend now to do roots only and down the lengths slightly with the indigo or therapies the roots end up looking lighter than the lengths. This is due to build up.

Henna is very permanent, indigo less so. However, after a few applications it fades less and less.

I'll be back with a link on the indigo in a mo. I will also post a timeline of my hair tomorrow as I'm going to redo my roots. I'll show them before anything, then after the henna only and finally after the indigo to hopefully give you some idea.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-100g-200g-Beautiful-Organic-Indigo-Powder-from-Rajasthan-Shipping-Included/282098199356?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Great thanks Rubber.
The lady who put henna on my hair said it's better to apply on slightly greasy hair. What do you think?

Also what does the xanthan gum do?

Look forward to seeing the pics!

Ive found it colours better on clean hair.

The xanthan gum is added to the indigo as its not as well behaved as henna, it drips and is got as pleasant to apply as it feels chalky if that makes sense. The xanthan gum increases its slip and really reduces drips.

You are a star Rubber

Ok, here are the pics.

1. grey roots pre henna
2. henna 75% indigo 25% left on overnight ( did a one stop as wanted to show you what a henndigo does on greys)
3. length shot in dim daylight ( lighter area was previously bleached)
4. 2nd indigo(100%) only applied to roots to blend in and get rid of orange

Hopefully you can see that leaving the henndigo on overnight sorted the lengths as they have many layers of henna and indigo on them but it left the roots looking orange and brassy. I applied a small amount of indigo only to just the roots. Left it in for an hour and it really took away the orange. Indigo is active for a few hours maximum so if I left it on longer it would have gone darker or even black.

As I said in a pp, I don't usually do a one step process but thought that it'd be helpful for you to see how a one step covered greys. I've tried w one step before with a higher indigo % but the roots just went greyish brown and the indigo faded quickly leaving a cold gold tone.
As a two step, the henna you apply isn't competing with the indigo, it is at its most concentrated. It can lay down a good layer for the indigo to then bond with. The red I get on new grey roots with henna alone is darker and more Ruby that the henndigo pic above snd I only need to leave the indigo on for half an hour.
I defo prefer the two step process.

1, 2 & 3

4,