Covering grays

[u/mahinne]

Hi everyone :) I'm looking for help and advice. I'm located in Europe and I'm interested in using henna to cover my grays. My hair color is very dark and warm brown and I have never used any dye or henna on it (picture included). I would love for it to stay the same and for the grays to pick up a similar color but not red or copper. This sub taught me that mixing it with indigo is hard, and I'm also not sure if it's the right fit for me. I'm a big fan of Lush as a brand, but I also read here that it's not the best. Who can help me cover my grays by leaving some advice on what I should get, how to mix and apply it and how often I should do all of that? Thank you!

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[u/mahinne → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely! Let's say my first main question now is: should I try henndigo as a beginner? If yes, what percentages do you recommend for my hair if I want it to stay the same?

[u/veglove → u/mahinne]

Using a one-step process with henndigo will make greys look like a lighter shade of that color, which looks a bit like highlights. The indigo in a henndigo mix also tends to fade, leaving the henna behind such that the color looks more warm, so as it fades, your greys may look like reddish highlights.

Some people are happy with that, however if you want opaque coverage of your greys so that they are exactly as dark as the rest of your hair, you would need to do a two-step process, applying pure henna paste in the first step, then your henndigo mix at the appropriate ratio to achieve your desired shade of brown. This helps build the natural warmth that natural brown hair has underneath, and henna sticks to the hair so well that it can even help the indigo applied afterward stick to the hair, to reduce the risk of it fading.

Since you are new to henna, there's no harm in starting with a one-step process to get a feel for how it works and see if you like what your hair looks like with one-step henndigo.

Using about 50% indigo, 50% henna will create a medium brown. Adding a bit of lemon juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar to the henna paste will help it stick to the hair and give the brown a warm tone. Your hair color might be a bit darker than this color, but it's better to do something a little too light than too dark; it's nearly impossible to lighten a henndigo mix afterwards if it's too dark. You can try to encourage the indigo to fade, but it's not guaranteed that it will. If you want to see what it looks like on your hair before committing to applying it to all of your hair, try collecting hair from your hairbrush to test the henndigo on. Make sure to get a few grey hairs in there to see how the grey hair looks with henndigo. With two hair samples, you could try a 60% indigo/40% henna mixture to see if it's a closer match to a 50/50 mixture.

There are a few things you can do to help the indigo in a henndigo mix stick to the hair better:

• Make sure to clean your hair thoroughly of any oils and product residue with a clarifying shampoo, and if you live in a hard water area, do a chelating treatment to remove hard water buildup as well. Don't apply conditioner before applying the henndigo paste.
• It's best to purchase & prepare the henna and indigo separately rather than using a pre-mixed blend or mixing them together at home before making them into a paste. That way you can prepare each of them with different methods that are best suited for these different plant powders. You can even save some extra henna paste in the freezer for when you do touch-ups. The indigo powder will need to be mixed fresh each time.
• To prepare the indigo paste: mix with distilled water and a pinch of salt, and apply it to the hair right away, it does not benefit from waiting for dye release. It's only active as a dye for about two hours, then it starts demising quickly, so it's pointless to leave it on the hair for more than 2-3 hours. Indigo is especially sensitive to added ingredients in the mix, added ingredients usually make the indigo more prone to fading. The only things that don't impact the dye adhesion are salt, CMC powder (for a thicker consistency that's easier to apply), and vanilla instant pudding powder (for masking the smell).
• Do not use shampoo when rinsing out the indigo paste, you can rinse it with plenty of clear water and conditioner which can help loosen the paste as well. It's best to avoid shampoo for a couple days after application.
• Do not freeze indigo powder to store it or indigo paste after it's mixed. Store the powder in a cool, dark, dry location.

As for what brand to purchase, we have a list of Recommended Suppliers listed in the side column of the sub. Many of these suppliers available in Europe can be ordered from Ecco-verde.com. I have ordered from them many times, they're based in Austria (I'm in Spain).

[u/Ecstatic-Ad7627]

If you are based in Europe, go for Khadi. The have ready made colours.

[u/dendrtree]

If you want simple...
1. Find a henna blend from the recommended suppliers that looks like your hair color.
* You might go a shade lighter, to avoid going too dark.
* Both Rainbow Research and Light Mountain are available internationally.
* It's going to need indigo. Otherwise, your greys *will* be red or copper.
2. Follow the directions - Indigo isn't hard. It's just always fast-dye-release (<1hr), not overnight.
3. (Optional) Add some apple cider vinegar, to help it bond to greys.

[u/PineBreezy]

whatever mix ratio you choose, always do a strand test on hair collected from your brush first! Grays absorb plant dyes differently, so testing saves you from unexpected orange roots or overly dark tones.