Description
Natural black hair dye – organic indigo leaf powder.
Ingredients : indigofera tinctoria powder.
This organic natural black hair dye is available in quantities of : 100g,200g,600g,click on the drop down list to select your quantity.
All of our indigo hair natural hair dying products are from Tamil Nadu, a region tucked away deep in the south of India.
Use indigo on dark hair to get jet black hair colour. On lighter hair colour, and grey hair, use henna first, followed by indigo to get black hair. Henna will turn light hair colours auburn red, and indigo after the henna will turn your auburn hair black, or brown if you leave it in less than 30 minutes. Take your time to go through the links below to understand more about how henna and indigo work.
What is indigo ?
Indigo Natural Black Hair Dye is originally from India:
Indigo’s real name is indigofera tinctoria. In old times Greeks and Romans imported cakes of pigment called “indicum”, meaning “from India”, and this led to the name indigo.
Indigo is a plant that produces a dark blue dye which we all know as the colour used to colour blue jeans.
Indigo Dyes Hair Brown and Black
Indigo hair dye turns hair brown through to black when it is applied after henna. Even 100% grey hair goes brown or black when indigo is applied to hair after henna.
However, indigo it will only ever stain the skin blue, not black.
Our indigo hair dye contains only indigofera tinctoria. The green colour indigo dye powder is made by crushing and then sieving the dried leaves of the indigofera tinctoria plant. The powder is sieved multiple times to ensure the finest powder consistency. Nothing at all is added to the indigo dye powder. It is packed into a re-sealable poly bag and foil sealed straight after sieving to ensure freshness and potency.
About Indigo
There are many types of indigo plants and indigo powder. Some are poisonous and some are contaminated with toxic chemicals.
The indigo we sell and promote, which we consider the safest for hair, is the powdered leaves of the indigofera tinctoria plant. It’s a greenish colour powder that looks a bit like henna but smells different to henna. It does have a strong smell. Our natural indigo plant hair dye has not undergone any chemical process. Powdered indigofera tinctoria leaves have been used safely as indigo plant hair dye, for centuries, to colour hair black and brown.
The method of extraction, however, can be critical in assessing the safety of indigo plant hair dye. If indigo is chemically extracted, as it is for use in fabric dyes, then other chemicals can contaminate it. This method often results in purple crystals, not green powder and it is sold as “indigo”.
Blue colour indigo powder is “vat indigo”, which means it has been fermented, and probably undergone an extraction process in which chemicals are used. This is not a safe indigo plant hair dye to use.
Which Indigo ?
There are many types of indigo plants and indigo powder. Some are poisonous and some are contaminated with toxic chemicals.
The indigo we sell and promote, which we consider the safest for hair, is the powdered leaves of the indigofera tinctoria plant. It’s a greenish colour powder that looks a bit like henna but smells different to henna. It does have a strong smell. Our natural indigo plant hair dye has not undergone any chemical process. Powdered indigofera tinctoria leaves have been used safely as indigo plant hair dye, for centuries, to colour hair black and brown.
The method of extraction, however, can be critical in assessing the safety of indigo plant hair dye. If indigo is chemically extracted, as it is for use in fabric dyes, then other chemicals can contaminate it. This method often results in purple crystals, not green powder and it is sold as “indigo”.
Blue colour indigo powder is “vat indigo”, which means it has been fermented, and probably undergone an extraction process in which chemicals are used. This is not a safe indigo plant hair dye to use.
Where is organic indigo black hair dye from ?
The climate of Tamil Nadu is tropical in nature with little variation in summer and winter temperatures. While April-June is the hottest summer period with the temperature rising up to the 40ºC mark, November-February is the coolest winter period with temperatures hovering around 20ºC, making the climate quite pleasant. Surprisingly, Tamil Nadu gets all its rains from the north-east monsoons between October and December, when the rest of Tamil Nadu remains dry. The average annual rainfalls in Tamil Nadu range between 25 and 75 inches (635 and 1,905 mm) a year.
How much indigo do I need?
We recommend the following quantities for mixing henna and indigo,and we recommend that you reduce these quantities by about 10 to 20gms for really fine hair, and double the quantities here for really thick hair. [If you’re in a country that doesn’t use grammes, sorry, just try to adjust according to the weight of the pack , eg 50gms = a quarter pack of the 200gms bag of henna, 100gms = half a pack & so on:
- short to chin length hair – 50 gms henna / 30 or 40 gms indigo
- shoulder length hair – 100 gms henna / 70 or 80 gms indigo
- mid back length hair – 200gms henna / 140 or 150 gms indigo
- hip length hair – 300 gms henna / 210 or 220 gms indigo
What colour will I get with henna and indigo ?
Henna and indigo will always make your hair colour darker, not lighter. Your henna hair colour is determined by your starting colour. Henna will slightly deepen darker hair colours and will add mild red low lights to your hair.
On lighter hair colours your henna colour will be much more noticeable. You’ll get auburn hair colour on light brown hair and chestnut brown tones with red lowlights on darker brown hair.
Blonde hair will turn fiery red.
Grey hair will go orange red, and you’ll need to use indigo after the henna to tone it down to brown, through to black.
Indigo after henna will always get you to brown within 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
Indigo after henna will get you to black within 50 minutes to 1 hour.
We recommend our henna hair colour starter kit for your first time application,which comes with everything you need, including a very detailed Instructions Booklet to answer all of your questions and guide you through the first time application process.
Pre mixing Henna & Indigo
Applying henna and indigo separately, in two separate stages, gives you maximum control over your end hair colour and ensures the best colour take on 100% grey hair. We do not recommend pre mixing henna and indigo pastes for 100% grey hair until after at least your third henna & indigo application. This allows for colour build before you start applying the hair colours in one step. You will still need to do the 2 step application process in between to make sure you colour new grey roots as they come through.
Combining your henna and indigo using a one step hair colour process, which saves time, is suitable only for those without grey hair or with less than 10 % grey hair.
If you are new to henna and indigo, we recommend you start with one of our henna & indigo beginner hair colour kits which comes with everything you need, and a detailed Instructions Booklet to help you get started.
Herbal Hair Colour: Start Your Herbal Hair Colouring Journey with a Natural Hair Dye Kit
Anita Andrews (verified owner) –
Fantastic product. Covers grey hair really well when used after henna.
Kate (verified owner) –
I use indigo without henna! It makes my white hairs go a gorgeous purply-blue, which gradually fades to lilac, and the brown hairs get darker, with a blue sheen. I get compliments on it constantly.
Arabella Moore (verified owner) –
OK – so I left a long review under the BAQ Organic Henna – and don’t want to bore everyone again – so read that if you want to know more about how I mix this up etc. Suffice it to say I have used this Indigo with Henna for about 10 years and it is probably the best single beauty/health decision I have ever made in my life. About aged 40 when I started, already a fair amount of grey. My natural colour is dark brown and my hair is long, just down past my shoulders. Once I got my hair in good condition from using RH products I could experiment sometimes using just henna – which makes the greys into wonderful chestnut highlights – so natural – lots of compliments. Apart from the first couple of goes I soon found that I could mix my henna and indigo separately and then mix together and apply in 1 hit – leave 2 hours or so and hey presto the colour I wanted. I also found I could change the darkness of the brown by using more or less indigo in the mix. So it is a very flexible dye. Whatever you do, the end result always looks lovely and your hair so well conditioned. You must never go back to salon or normal shop dyes – keep using this and your hair will look soft ,shiny, silky – forever! Mine was previously, parched, frizzed, sticky from years of salon dye and I could not grow it properly long because it broke off or just looked dreadful. If you have your own water supply – I recommend using bottled water to mix. We have our own supply and once he filters that adjust the PH needed changing – how did I know – because my hair started to show a bit green! Corrected by a visit from the water pump people 🙂 I also did get a bit of green when I first started using RH – this green was on the lower half of my hair where it was excessively bleached by salon dye. I contacted RH and they advised another separate indigo application (mixed with bottled water) and I can confirm that this did work. I can also confirm that after maybe 1 or 2 dying sessions the green was no longer a problem – so it was just a question of sorting out the poor old hair that had been damaged by the salon. I now have lovely long dark brown hair & there are some natural looking subtle chestnut highlights even though I would not dare just use henna any longer as I would be very red (with all the grey I have). I mix my henna and indigo in separate bowls and then mix the two together (equal proportions) and apply in one go to get my dark brown. I don’t need to cover my whole head of hair with dye any longer. Total 6 tablespoons of dye for my long hair now – as the whole head is already well coloured. It’s tried and tested – I do it about every 6 weeks or so. My hair is always beautifully conditioned. I use an excellent organic shampoo with almost no conditioner, just a little organic hair oil on the ends of wet hair before washing. I put an egg in my indigo mix. This works for me. It is nature’s amazing treat for us – why use the horrid salon dyes when you can get these amazing results with RH? x
Sylvia (verified owner) –
Quality, reliable product and great, personalised customer service. I love the rich colour this product imparts, especially when combined with henna. I wouldn’t buy from anyone else!
Sandra (verified owner) –
I used the organic indigo today. Wow it’s worked so well, too well in fact I’ve been transformed into a raven headed maiden! rather than a dark red brown 56 year old. It’s amazing though because indigo and henna dye is incredible as I am almost completely gray now but you’d never know.
I used boiled Evian water (rather than local spring water) which I left to cool to tepid before adding it to the indigo powder. I added a few small pinches of salt. I covered my hair with clingflim and a plastic bath hat and then left the indigo on for 1.5 hours. I will photograph the amazing results for you tomorrow.
I think the problems I was having were possibly from not using Evian but local water and also because I was not covering my hair. I have never had to cover my hair up until now and the results have always been superb – maybe due to the almost total greyness now it needs that extra boost of being covered.
Anyway I am so happy now, thank you so much for your help and support.
Lauren –
Hello Sabrina,
I didn’t forget about giving you feedback. I decided to wait to re-do the henna + indigo until I had enough roots to cover again, so that I could see how well it was working.
I did the henna two nights ago (made with cooled boiled water + sat 30min before applying. No egg for conditioning, no arrowroot gel), followed by the indigo yesterday morning. NO conditioner, not even pure argan oil, after rinsing out the henna and washing with gentle shampoo (no sulfates, parabens, etc). Indigo made up with Evian water and nothing else; left on for approx 30min. Cool water used for rinsing and washing both times.
I now have a head of very rich, very dark chestnut hair (with tiny flashes of bronze lowlight-type accents), so close to my natural colour that you wouldn’t know I had coloured it. This is EXACTLY what I want.
Comments:
My hair is very dry, curly and (relatively) thick (not what it used to be, but still thicker than average). I was cringing at the thought of not using ANY conditioner after the henna, leaving it overnight, then trying to get a comb through it before applying the indigo in the morning! I was expecting a massacre — a Medusa, a cloud of hair like a spent dandelion, tons of knots, etc. It didn’t happen. The condition was actually OK despite nothing to moisturize it. No horrible dry/fried texture and no knots. That is a testament to the gentleness and conditioning properties of the henna.
I was too skimpy with the indigo (because last time I made too much and ended up throwing some away). I’ll use more next time.
Last time I did the whole lot myself. This time I did the henna (more time-consuming) and got my hairdresser to do the indigo, but I realized that’s backwards: I need another pair of hands to make sure I cover all the grey roots. Where I got the henna onto the roots, they’re covered, but I missed a few bits underneath and at the tips of my ears. It’s not the end of the world. Because these products don’t “cook” my hair, I can do it again in two weeks if I want to.
I may experiment next time and leave the indigo on slightly longer. Just to see what happens — I don’t want to go blue-black or even brown-black. Without going red, I want to stay on the chestnut spectrum.
I’m a lot more confident now. My whole head didn’t turn flaming orange (or blue, or green). I haven’t ruined my bath.
I’ll finish off the ‘test’ batch of indigo next time, then go back to the original stuff I bought. And mix it with Evian.
Many, many thanks for the after-sales support and coaching. I am telling people about this. My hairdresser works from home, so she isn’t tied to salon products, and I know she has at least two clients who are allergic to standard hair colour. If she can get her head round the technique, she should be joining your customer list.
I’ll send some better photos when I have some. And I’ll be back for more when I run out (and look at some of the hair care products too).
Best wishes,
Lauren
Anonymous –
So happy to have found all this info… Has made such a difference….can now carry on using hennna…with my greys coming through! Henna first & then the Indigo…making a lovely dark brown!Thankyou..Makaela Day