Dyeing your hair with henna and indigo ~ detailed instructions

If you have never dyed your hair at home, the first time may seem messy and hard work but it does get easier with practice.

1) Cover everything in old towels or newspaper, and wear old clothes.

2) Decide on the proportion of henna and indigo. You can mix indigo into henna to get shades of reddish-brown to auburn to brownish black. Remember every person will be different and the results could vary depending on the pH content of your hair on the day of application.

However, here is a rough guide:

-Pure henna will be reddish orange

-Equal portions of henna and indigo will give you a light brown colour.

-One part of henna to two parts of indigo will be dark brown to blackish.

-For guaranteed jet black hair, this process has to be done in two steps, maybe over two days. First apply henna all over, leave for at least a couple of hours and rinse off. Then, within a day, repeat the process with indigo.

Caution: Pure indigo, applied without henna, will give a bluish tinge to grey hair and greenish hue to blonde/ash hair and will dry your hair out too.

Quantity: 100g of powder for every six inches of hair. Curly hair will need more. 200g is usually enough for shoulder length hair.

3) Mix in a bowl with warm water- about 300ml for every 100gms should give you the correct coating consistency but it can vary with the level of humidity in the air. First, mix henna with the water, cover and leave for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. If indigo is also being used, add it to the henna paste just before using. (This is because henna molecule takes a while to release colour but indigo, when mixed with water, remains active for only about an hour). Mix well to remove lumps. Add some more water if it feels dryish otherwise it will not coat the strands properly.

 4) Apply the mixture using plastic gloves, starting at the back.

For whole head, I use a brush to apply a blob to the roots in one section and then spread it to the ends before moving on to another section. Some people prefer to use their hands or foam. Cover your entire head, and wear a shower cap or wrap it in cling film. Make sure you wipe off any drips that run down, or you'll have streaks on your face and neck (can be scrubbed off!).

5) Keep the colour on for between 45 minutes to 4 hours. The longer the time, the darker the colour. Rinse the mixture off with water and then shampoo as normal. Hair will feel rough at first but silky smooth as it dries. The colour will deepen over 2-4 days. Reapply as often as you like for the desired effect.

Henna and Indigo available from www.lovehennahair.co.uk

Jyoti