Moroccan Henna Powder and Indigo for Natural Hair – Patch Test

I finally decided to give Moroccan henna powder and organic indigo powder a try to dye my natural hair.  Henna and indigo are plants that are used to dye hair.  You have probably seen henna used to dye skin for temporary tattoos.  Henna also has conditioning effects that benefit the hair.

I ordered Moroccan henna because it has a fast dye release (1 – 2 hours) while other henna powders can take up to 12 hours for dye release.  The Moroccan henna is green but turned brown almost immediately when I added warm, bottled water.  The indigo is also green but developed a blue color within about 15 minutes of adding warm water.  There are lots of videos on the internet showing how to mix henna and indigo so I didn’t videotape my mixing.

I had a reaction to a black henna tattoo a couple of years ago during a trip to Dubai so I did not want to take any chances with this henna and indigo mix for my hair.  I added a small amount of the mix the inside of my arm, near my elbow.  I decided to leave it on for an hour to see if my skin had a reaction.  The black henna tattoo was irritating to my skin by the time it dried (stinging) but I foolishly left it on until a woman who I met the following evening explained that the black henna tattoo had some chemicals added because there is no such thing as black henna.

After an hour, I peeled off the dried henna and indigo mix and could see the outline of the mix on my skin.  I washed it off and saw a reddish dot on my skin but it did not sting at all.  The redness went away in about an hour but I decided to watch that area for 24 hours to see if my skin had a reaction.  It didn’t.

I intend to do a strand test using this Moroccan henna  powder and organic indigo mix to see what color I get.  I suggest that everyone do a skin test prior to using henna or indigo.  You never know what you may be allergic to even though it’s all natural.