Indigo Plant Dye Trials Part 1

Above: Final results after using Indigo powder.
I continue to play around and experiment with plant hair dyes. After my henna trials mentioned here, my cousin who assisted me with my application decided to try out the Indigo powder. Indigo is another plant extract with nourishing properties as well as the ability to colour hair. It is green in colour but will deposit a range of hues from midnight blue to an enriched black. There are various methods to mixing and applying the dye, one can experiment and find what works for them best. We bought our Indigo from http://www.chicchick.co.za. They advise on the following about Indigo Powder (extracted from their website):

What is it:A naturally derived, hundred percent pure herbal leaves that gives deep blue color free from chemicals and PPD. 

What it does:Indigo can be used, along with henna, to cover gray hair, dye hair jet black, dark brown or light brown. It can also be mixed with other herbs such as cassia and amla to create more radiant shades.  Indigo with Henna is a great replacement for modern chemical dyes especially if you experience a negative skin reaction or eczema caused by chemical colour.

Why you’ll love it:

• Indigo,  blended with henna,  creates a medium brown to rich deep brown hair dye
• Indigo applied over henna treated hair creates a lush black hair color
• It adds richness, shine, and texture to your hair
• It covers up greying hair
• Use it as often as you like for healthy dark brown to black hair color
• It includes no chemicals, preservatives, PPD or nut derivatives

What else you need to know:Indigo is a 100% chemical free hair dye that helps to enrich your hair’s dark colour with repeated application and use. It gives a natural and attractive indigo blue tinge to hair.  Indigo powder is from the ground leaves of the indigo plant which contains a deep blue dye that has been used for centuries for textiles. The leaves are harvested, dried, and ground into a powder for use in textiles, arts, and as a natural hair colorant.

What’s not in it:

• Ammonia
• Metallic salts
• PPD
• Lead
• Pesticide residue
• Peroxide

The cousin did not have time to do a henna treatment and then go over it with indigo. She had used a permanent black hair dye about a month back and so was really wanting a colour boost. She is quite good at researching about all aspects of hair for her own fro and so she opted to go with mixing the Indigo powder with water and leaving it for about 15mins for the colour to release and then applying it to her blackish hair. She then waited for about 30-45mins and then thoroughly rinsed her hair. Her hair was a very black - maybe on the harsh side but that was more or less what she wanted. I still think it would have been a richer black had we kept it on longer and had we done the henna treatment first but what mattered was it still toned the hair without any damage. We will try the henna first route next time.

Above Left: Before application of the Indigo Right: Applying the Indigo

 

 Above Left: Complete application of Indigo Right: Covered with cling wrap/plastic

 Left and Right: After 30-45mins the plastic was removed 

 Above Left and Right - Once the Indigo was thoroughly rinsed out 

Using pure plant dyes does require patience and time but the benefits are numerous and certainly worth the time spent.
Have you used Indigo powder?

As always safely find what works for you and listen to your hair.