Purple & Blue Streaks?

So, you tried a henna + indigo mix and you ended up with some purple or purplish-grey.

The facts:
Indigo only makes auburns, browns & black when it's bound to henna. Henna binds to the hair, the indigo binds to the henna. So, if there isn’t enough lawsone dye from the henna, there are going to be sections where indigo is bound directly to the hair, giving a streaked, uneven or odd colour.

Why does this happen?
Here are the most likely causes:

1. The henna wasn’t properly or fully dye released.  Did it sit long enough?  Was the henna paste covered air tight with plastic wrap? Did you add something to the paste that damages it? (oil, yogurt, coconut milk…).
2. The henna didn’t have a high dye content anymore because it wasn’t stored in    the freezer.
3. Low quality (thus low dye content) henna bought off the shelf at a store was used with my high dye content indigo.
4. The indigo wasn’t thoroughly mixed with the henna paste before application.

Example of cassia + henna + indigo mix to make a light brown on wool.
The indigo wasn't thoroughly mixed into the cassia+henna mix:

If you need to brush up on the best dye release techniques, go here:

Morel of the story:
Be patient with your dye release & quality is everything 😊

Happy Henna’ing!