Indigo henna, a natural coloring with cool highlights for your hair

That’s it, you want to start with a plant-based henna coloring, but one small detail still puts you off: coppery or red highlights are not for you. Yet, you’ve heard that this is what you will get when doing a henna coloring. Don’t worry, many plants other than henna are used to dye your hair naturally, such as indigo plant-based coloring, which will “cool down” your color. So, ready to try indigo powder for hair? Follow the guide.

What is indigo?

Indigo comes from the indigo plant, a shrub from hot regions whose exact origin is unknown. Today it is mainly found in Asia, but it is also cultivated all over the world. From the leaves of the indigo plant, one can prepare indigo dye. This natural indigo blue dye comes from indican, contained in the leaves, which transforms into indigotin when exposed to air, the famous blue dye.

It is one of the oldest pigments used in fabric dyeing, but it is also used today in plant-based hair coloring. It offers a palette of colors ranging from light chestnut to black and allows you to “cool down” a plant-based color with tones that are too warm or coppery. However, be careful never to use it alone! Indigo cannot adhere to the hair fiber, and its bluish undertones would give an unattractive aspect to your coloring. Indigo hair must always be used in combination with henna or other natural pigments to create your natural color.

Henna and indigo: two complementary plants

Among the many dye plants used in plant-based coloring, henna and indigo are the most common. They complement each other very well: while henna adheres to the hair fiber and colors it, indigo adheres to the henna. This makes it possible to modify the tones of a color that is too warm, for example. Henna indeed has warm highlights ranging from golden blonde to intense red, whereas indigo coloring has cool highlights leaning towards blue or green.

Depending on the color you want to achieve, your hairdresser will subtly mix more or less indigo into your henna to obtain brown tones ranging from light chestnut to dark brown. The possibilities are endless with indigo henna!

How to use indigo to color your hair naturally?

As seen earlier, it is essential never to use indigo hair dye alone, but always mixed with henna. The amount of indigo present in the mixture will depend on the color you want to obtain. For a very dark color, such as the Black Intense or the Indian Black that we offer at Hairborist, you will have a high concentration of indigo, compared to a lighter color like a chestnut.

To apply your indigo henna hair coloring, it is recommended to first apply henna alone, then apply indigo in a second layer. This allows the hair to darken more clearly but also to better neutralize the coppery highlights of henna. Be careful, it is very risky to do your coloring yourself, and we do not advise it. Without perfect knowledge and mastery of indigo and henna, disaster is guaranteed!

To obtain a perfect coloring that meets your expectations, go to a Hairborist hairdresser near you. They will advise you on the choice of shade and will apply your natural indigo coloring in the best possible way. They will wash your hair with the Harmony Clean shampoo to prepare it well for receiving a plant-based coloring before proceeding with the treatment and will explain to you how to take proper care of your plant-based coloring. Put yourself in the hands of an expert to show off a stunning mane with your indigo henna!

Indigo on white hair: does it work?

To cover our white hair, we often tend to rush to oxidative coloring. However, plant-based coloring perfectly covers white hair. You can therefore perfectly use indigo henna to obtain a beautiful dark color to apply to your hair and thus mask your silver strands. In addition, the regrowth will be much less visible than with oxidative coloring. Indeed, it is several layers that concentrate the color, which gives a more gradient tone when the hair grows back, instead of a sharp demarcation that is much less aesthetic!

For your coloring to be truly effective if you have more than 30% white hair, use the principle of double application again and first apply your henna, then the indigo for white hair as a second layer. To obtain a balayage effect and a transparent coverage of white hair, you can, however, use indigo coloring for white hair in a single application. (Be careful, once again, never apply pure indigo but always mixed with other pigments) The result will be different, but it all depends on what you want!

Maintaining your indigo henna coloring

Your indigo henna hair dye allows you to coat the hair fiber, bring shine to your hair, and lasts longer than chemical coloring. Natural, ecological, and full of advantages, what more could you ask for? Nevertheless, it is important to take great care of your color so that it lasts as long as possible and your hair always remains silky and shiny.

The first thing to do to avoid damaging your hair and preserve your natural indigo color is to use a neutral shampoo, as respectful as possible. The Daily Clean from the Hairborist range is perfectly suitable. It is also advisable to apply a pre-shampoo treatment such as Renovator combined with a complex of essential oils to maintain the radiance of your color. For dark hair with indigo hair dye, choose, for example, the Aromactif Ebène. Finally, apply the Natural Color conditioner, specifically created for plant-based colorings such as indigo hair coloring.

With all these natural products, your plant-based color will last a long time, and your hair will keep its shine and radiance.