Indigo Hair Dye:
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 term indigo.
Indigo is a plant that produces a dark blue dye which we all know as the colour used to colour blue jeans. It turns hair brown through to black when it is applied after henna. Even 100% grey hair goes brown or black when indigo is applied after henna . However, it will only ever stain the skin blue, not black. Its’ botanical family is : Fabaceae (Leguminosae). Its’ species is: Indigofera. Indigo molecules in the leaves of the plant contain the dye which oxidises to dark blue. They are alkaline. They react with henna which is acidic to create incredible dark shades with undertones of red, burgundy, orange, brown, and even stunning blue black. Note that alkalis and acids have different effects on the hair. Acids generally will harden and contract the hair, while alkalis generally will expand and soften the hair shaft. So henna and indigo go really well together and make a great team !
Where Indigo Hair Dye Comes From | |
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| Tamil Nadu indigo field | indigo powder |
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| mixing indigo with water | freshly mixed indigo paste | indigo dye paste ready to use |
Renaissance Henna Indigo Hair Dye
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.
Here are pictures of the indigo plant and its leaves – http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?find=indigofera tinctoria.
What the Books say about Indigo
In their book Herbs: An Indexed Bibliography, J.E. Simon, A.F. Chadwick and L.E. Craker describe indigo as follows :
“As a medicinal plant, indigo has been used as an emetic. The Chinese use Indigofera tinctoria to clean the liver, detoxify the blood, reduce inflammation, alleviate pain, and reduce fever. ………….The powdered root of Indigofera is used in South Africa to alleviate toothache.”
What is Indigo Hair Dye ? More About Indigo
Black Hair using Indigo after Henna
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