How to Make Brown Color

While repeated applications of henna will turn the red darker, this can take a very long time. For those people who want instantly, dark red tones with brown shades, henndigo (henna + indigo) is the best way to go. By upping the indigo-to-henna ratio, darker shades of brown, mahogany and “cherry black” can be obtained.

By itself, indigo dyes hair a blue-black color. Adding henna warms the color to reddish rather than blueish undertones. As henna is a more permanent dye than indigo, hendigoed hair may lighten and appear redder after a few weeks. 

Some people like to reapply indigo more frequently than henna to prevent the red peeking through; other enjoy the variation in color.

Indigo is a much less stable dye than henna. Freezing the paste or powder causes it to lose its dyeing properties, whereas henna can be frozen in both forms. Indigo also dye-releases much more quickly than henna, begging to degrade after twenty minutes. For this reason, the henna paste is mixed up hours before dying to let the dye release, and the indigo paste is mixed just before applying to the hair.

If your hair is gray, you can mix henna with indigo, and you will get brown. A bit more of indigo than henna will make your gray hair dark brown. It will be a permanent color.

The following will not make your hair darker: coffee, beets, tea, molasses, wine, blueberries, grape juice, and putting henna in a cast iron pot. 

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Henna and Indigo for Gray Hair