indigo with salt (and dextrose) results

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Posted by iris on December 15, 2004 at 00:14:45:

Ha-hey! Adding salt to indigo really works! And dextrose too!

Background: my natural colour is dark blonde (kinda salt-and-pepper now), with
platinum blonde at the temples. I've been hennaing for a year and a half now, and I
love the rich red colour I get on the dark blonde bits, but the platinum blonde bits
simply refuse to become anything else than yellow, or yellowy carrotty after a couple
of applications. Those bits don't seem to oxidize either, for some reason.

I use Catherine's henna, and I treat it to the best of my abilities, so that's not it.
Terping or adding cloves doesn't help either. It's frustrating because those bits are
closest to my face, and they do something terrible to my skin tone. I've tried missing
them but then it looks like my temples are greying ;-) (If I remember correctly,
Elettaria used to have the same problem, and stopped hennaing because of it - I've
been thinking about doing that as well).

In any case, I've been trying to darken them with indigo. This also never worked
before, because the indigo simply will not take, no matter how well I treat it or how
long I leave it on or how much heat I use.

Tonight I decided to try the salt trick. Hennaed first, with the usual yellow result.
Then I mixed up about 25 g of indigo (over the counter boxed stuff), enough to cover
the yellow bits, and added a tea spoon of salt. Dye release after fifteen minutes,
added about five heaping table spoons of dextrose, and applied. Left it on for an hour
and a half. No heat applied.

It took! It turns out I missed one tiny spot, but the rest has lost the yellow, and
actually looks sort of - red?! Well, auburn. I'm so excited! It looks great!

The dextrose also really, really helped the consistency. Applying was easy, no clumps
fell off, it stayed where it was.

And it took! Yay! Many many thanks to whoever it was (Catherine? Meg?) who came up
with the idea.

Iris

Follow Ups

Hmmm....... Meg 10:40:34 12/15/2004 (2)
- Re: Hmmm....... Catherine Cartwright-Jones 12:10:40 12/15/2004 (1)
  - yes, check out the links! iris 19:26:46 12/15/2004 (0)
Damn, I wish I'd known that when I was hennaing! Elettaria 09:13:01 12/15/2004 (0)
Re: indigo with salt (and dextrose) results Catherine Cartwright-Jones 00:24:49 12/15/2004 (2)
- Re: indigo with salt (and dextrose) results clarissa 17:37:33 12/15/2004 (1)
  - Re: indigo with salt (and dextrose) results Catherine Cartwright-Jones 20:47:34 12/15/2004 (0)

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: Ha-hey! Adding salt to indigo really works! And dextrose too! : : Background: my natural colour is dark blonde (kinda salt-and-pepper now), with : platinum blonde at the temples. I've been hennaing for a year and a half now, and I : love the rich red colour I get on the dark blonde bits, but the platinum blonde bits : simply refuse to become anything else than yellow, or yellowy carrotty after a couple : of applications. Those bits don't seem to oxidize either, for some reason. : : I use Catherine's henna, and I treat it to the best of my abilities, so that's not it. : Terping or adding cloves doesn't help either. It's frustrating because those bits are : closest to my face, and they do something terrible to my skin tone. I've tried missing : them but then it looks like my temples are greying ;-) (If I remember correctly, : Elettaria used to have the same problem, and stopped hennaing because of it - I've : been thinking about doing that as well). : : In any case, I've been trying to darken them with indigo. This also never worked : before, because the indigo simply will not take, no matter how well I treat it or how : long I leave it on or how much heat I use. : : Tonight I decided to try the salt trick. Hennaed first, with the usual yellow result. : Then I mixed up about 25 g of indigo (over the counter boxed stuff), enough to cover : the yellow bits, and added a tea spoon of salt. Dye release after fifteen minutes, : added about five heaping table spoons of dextrose, and applied. Left it on for an hour : and a half. No heat applied. : : It took! It turns out I missed one tiny spot, but the rest has lost the yellow, and : actually looks sort of - red?! Well, auburn. I'm so excited! It looks great! : : The dextrose also really, really helped the consistency. Applying was easy, no clumps : fell off, it stayed where it was. : : And it took! Yay! Many many thanks to whoever it was (Catherine? Meg?) who came up : with the idea. : : Iris
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