Natural Hair Dyes Turned My Hair Orange

The most common reason why additive-free natural brown hair dyes turn orange is due to hair texture or using a hair dryer immediately after dyeing, which stops the indigo from fully developing and leads to an orange tint. Indigo pigment oxidizes when exposed to moisture, developing its color. However, if this process is interrupted early, the indigo may turn more purple, mixing with the henna’s orange, resulting in a stronger orange hue. If you notice this happening, try wetting your hair again to allow the indigo to continue oxidizing and deepen the color.

You may need to wait a few days for oxidation, and the orange may subside to red. Henna oxidizes over 2 to 7 days, darkening and deepening in color. What looked like orange immediately after washing out the dye may calm down to auburn or copper after oxidizing.

When combined, henna's orange and indigo-blue pigments create a rich, dark brown color that can transform your hair's look and feel. Remember that indigo-blue takes about 48-72 hours to develop fully, so be patient after hair dyeing. If you want to speed up the development process, you wet your hair and let it dry naturally about three times, which can help the blue color develop more quickly. This will speed up the transition from orange hair to brown hair.

Some add coffee and teas to keep their hair from turning reddish-orange, but going over the hair with indigo is the best way to remove the reddish-orange to a darker color. Indigo is alkaline and reacts with henna, which is acidic to turn henna-dyed hair from brown or red to black.

Pure Indigo leaf powder is the most potent darkening dye over henna leaf powder. Mix the indigo powder into a paste with water and apply it to the hair. To slight tone, the red down, and leave the indigo on for a short time (15 or 30 minutes). If you go the indigo on for a longer time, you can darken the henna to red-brown, brown (up to 2 hours), or even black shade (usually, you have to leave it on for at least 2 hours to get a black tint). The longer you leave the indigo on, the darker and less red your hair will be.