It’s been almost a year since we first installed Delaiah’s microlocs. Over time, I’ve noticed her locs have become a bit dull looking and the white tips of the shed hair in her locs were very visible too, which I didn’t really like. She also had a bit of lint build-up in her microlocs, mostly at the back, and I wasn’t prepared to sit there and pick them out! Lol. So I decided that a henna/indigo treatment would do the trick in restoring some nice colour back into her locs, as well as to cover up the shed hair bulbs and bits of lint. On top of the colouring benefits it would also condition and strengthen her hair as well.

I researched some natural henna hair dyes that would give her a nice dark brown tint to match her current hair colour so everything would look nice and even. Because she’s only 9 it had to be completely safe and gentle without any harsh chemicals mixed into it. I finally settled on a pre-mixed henna/indigo herbal hair dye by ‘It’s Pure Organics’, in the shade ‘Very Dark Brown’. I thought the process would be easier than buying all the ingredients separately and trying to mix them myself to get the right shade. I bought it off Amazon as the reviews were really good. The ingredients are: Indigo, Henna, Amla & Neem powders. That’s it!

The Treatment

I followed the instructions on the box which said to mix it with warm water and use it straight away. From my research, I understand that indigo must be used as soon as it’s mixed or it will not work properly. I know some people add black tea or coffee, chamomile tea, green tea or other liquids and additives into their henna treatments but I just thought that I didn’t want to mess it up, so I just used plain hot tap water to mix the powder into a paste the consistency of yogurt. I used up the whole 110g pack because her hair is really thick and I’d rather have too much than not enough. In the end it was just the right amount.

I applied the treatment whilst she was in the bath so it wouldn’t get everywhere. Here are the steps:

1. Shampooed her microlocs with a clarifying shampoo (Pantene Clarifying Shampoo) and t-shirt dried it to remove excess moisture.
2. Divided her hair into four sections and applied the herbal hair dye mix to each section, ensuring it was all thoroughly coated.
3. Put a shower cap on and then wrapped her hair in cling-film. Left the treatment to work for four hours!
4. Rinsed thoroughly until the water ran clear, then shampooed twice with a moisturizing shampoo (ORS Shealicous Cleansing Balm).
5. Conditioned her hair with Pantene Lightweight Nourishment Conditioner (for fine hair prone to greasiness, so it wouldn’t cause build-up). Covered her hair and left that on for about 30 minutes.
6. Rinsed her locs thoroughly to remove all excess conditioner
7. T-shirt dried her locs, misted it with a light oil spray mix and then cornrowed her hair in two large cornrows and let it dry overnight.

I love the results. Her hair came out a lovely near black colour and all her white bulb tips and buds are pretty much covered. They say the colour oxidizes over a few days after application, so it takes a few days to see the final result. Delaiah, of course, was a total trooper. She went through the long process with no complaining whatsoever (apart from saying her head felt heavy with the treatment slathered on it) and she’s absolutely loving the results. Not only did it colour her locs, it made them so soft and shiny too.

They say it should last about 6 weeks before it fades and requires another application, so we’ll see how long it lasts for her. Hopefully we can go several months before we need to redo it.

That’s it for now. Until next time!