Goodbye Henindigo - Hallo PPD hairdyes ! 'Grey' reflections...

Don't know where to post this, as I'm trying to attract responses from both sides of the haircolouring divide i.e. natural and herbal versus synthetic dyes. If I post it in the 'Recipes for henna and herbal' forum, I may only attract those who are eager to keep me in that field. :shrug:

I'm thinking of giving up on henna and indigo... The problem is that I have 50% grey showing every week (fast growing hair!) and much as I love the 'natural' aspect of henna and indigo - I just can't cope anymore.

The palaver of mixing carefully (varying the recipe - trying to find the right balance) applying, waiting hours, washing out - and the after smell... it's all getting to me, and ruling my life (or so it seems).

Also, I have just come from H4H and have noted various complaints over time concerning itching skin, headaches etc. following henna/indigo/henindigo. I can relate to this as my head is itching as I type this, from a pure indigo gloss last night. And yes, I always rinse well, shampoo twice, condition, rinse, condition, rinse again... you get the picture. Also, I was aware that I felt shaky and irritable in the hours following, and can't help wondering if there is a link - especially as I seem to notice this after each application.

Seems to me I may as well shake, itch and tremble with commercial dyes as with natural ones. :shrug:

Just to let you know, I'm medium dark - and so have to use both henna and indigo to get a good result. Don't suit the red of henna alone anyway.

Oh, I don't know... I'm sorry, I'm so fed up with the whole business right now that I don't know what to do. I've been doing henindigo/henna for nearly two years now - so it's not as if I haven't tried to work with it. :luke:

It's ok for those who have little or no grey. I'd be fine if that were the case. It's the blasted greys causing the need for frequent rootings, with all the work that natural colouring entails!

I'm seriously thinking of returning to other forms of hairdying (no, I am not ready for grey) and I suppose that means some degree of PPD exposure?

Anybody else made this decision? What did you do for colouring? Are you glad you made the change? Or did you regret it and return to henna etc?

Please share - because I don't want to do anything that I will regret in the long (!) run. :rolleyes:

Look up the kinds of hairdyes used in countries where PPD is banned? That's the suggestion my boyfriend gave me once when I was fussing about the chemical. I haven't yet acted on it, mostly because I'm happy with henna.

A semi or demi permanent would also be a thing to consider, as those (to my understanding) don't really use PPD. Since you'd have to update the roots anyway, I'm not sure how much more maintenance a demi or semi would be over a permanent dye.

That was quick. Thanks. Yes, a semi or demi would be the choice over a permanent anyway.

I didn't know that PPD is banned anywhere - but then I'm a little slow. :shrug: I'll google that...

I'm obviously out of my forte on the chemical side of things, but, honestly, if the process and upkeep is making you happy, there's no harm in switching (I won't lecture you on the damage side of things, you know that already).

You can search for a non-PPD black dye (I assume these exist) or just to an allergy test before each application :)

My favorite no fuss hairdye is Loreal Color Pulse. Comes in a can like a mousse, foam, very easy to apply, does drip a little bit but it's not much fuss at all--it's possibly the easiest dye I ever used. I don't know if it'd have the color you want, though.

PPD was (at one point) banned in Sweden. I don't know if that is still true or not.

ETA: Germany and France are also reported as having banned PPD as well, but the articles I've seen so far are saying it in a sort of "word of mouth" fashion, and I've yet to find real proof. :shrug:

I'm not ready to go grey neither and I have grey showing every two weeks. I try to stretch the time between henna/indigo but I can't go more than three weeks without dying. And I'm a bit fed up too.

My hair is a very dark auburn and my greys are actually sparkling white hairs. I have to henna and then indigo because the orange line on my roots is too visible. I apply henna only on my roots. Let sit for about 2 hours maximum and then apply indigo on the orange line for 15 minutes only. It is not too messy not too much time consuming. However as I said earlier I'm a bit tired.

I tried a very expensive semipermanent salon dye a couple of moths ago. It faded after the second wash so I went back to henna/indigo.

I don't rule out trying another chemical dye in a future. Or at least alternate it with henna/indigo from time to time. On the other hand, henna has made wonders for my hair and when time to dye arrives I have the hardest time considering the chemical option.

I'm right here with you. I am a henna user, and though i love the natural aspect of it, and condition of my hair, i am growing VERY exhausted in doing this. I dont have three-four hours of head on sit time. I totally miss that happy 20 minute color job of my pre henna days.

I have to henna at least every two weeks, and its driving me batty. Yes, every two weeks I have these glaring white roots in strips along with my mouse brown hair. It is so not a good look.

I havent done indigo to get a more natural shade, as i'm terrified of the impossibility of removal (ie green!), and the gray strips of my hair when i henna go toward pink, I am not happy now lol.

I am considering going with something like natural instincts to try to match up to the browner roots and heck my eyebrows! I tire of trying to match them.

Celebrian, I'm so happy you started this thread. I've been stressing about this a lot lately, because I just hate the way my hair looks when the grey is starting to show again. I have/had light brown hair with reddish highlights, but the henna/indigo/cassia mixture makes it more of an orangey-brown. I don't mind the color really, and I love the shiny, strong condition, but my now ashy-grey brown roots look so icky next to the hennaed lengths.

I'm thinking of going in the direction of lightening my hair overall and putting in highlights to camoflage the grey. Is this a horrible idea? Until henna, I had never done anything to my hair, so I am clueless.

Catch-22 here!

I got tired of the salon visits to get my silvers covered. Also, my hair wasn't in good condition from all the chemical processing. When I joined LHC, I read about henna and decided it was too much work. So, I'm growing my roots out.

For my hair, I think it looked worse when there was a new line of gray/silver/white roots showing against the dyed parts. It took a while to grow out of that stage. Fast forward to almost one year of growth, I now have about 3 inches of silver coming in. It looks ok. However, I think a solid hair color -- blond, brown, red, black, gray, silver OR white looks best.

I was reading about "natural" hair dyes like coffee, molasses, sage, rosemary. And I have done some experiments with coffee and sage. But these don't seem to cover the grays. Maybe, someone has found different results?

I am wondering how it would be to alternate between henna/indigo and box hairdye. Say using box hairdye for roots and then after 2 or 3 months doing a 2 step with henna/indigo? That way you don't feel tied to a 2 step time consuming process every couple of weeks. And of course you'd have to figure out which box dyes play nice and safe with henna/indigo. One of my friends does it this way. if you're worried about itchiness and headache then that would be a reason to use only those things that don't produce that reaction.