Hair Color Naturally |
||||
by Green Gurl
I was recently at a slumber party at a girlfriend’s house while her husband was out of town. We had a great time until we decided it would fun to color our hair. Being the Green Gurl that I am I was pushing hard for some permanent Natural Hair Colors that I have used in the past and found work really well. Unfortunately for my friend Lindsey, not everyone was into the natural hair color. Lindsey had never had her hair dyed before so nobody new she was allergic
to the ‘regular’ hair colors, but was she ever. Within a few
minutes her scalp was itching like crazy and she had red bumps and welts
all over the dye affected areas. Needless to say we washed her hair
and scalp thoroughly for the next hour and a half, but she still had
severe dermatitis for several days afterwards. Although her hair was
a beautiful shade of red I think she and you would agree that it is
not worth it. (By the way the dye applied to Lindsey’s head was
one of the most popular brands of color, I can’t say more) |
||||
Why are 'Regular' Hair Colors so Bad?Before we get to the natural hair colors, let me tell you a little about what makes the ‘regular’ hair dyes so undesirable. First is p-phenylenediamine (PPD), this agent is found in a lot of the ‘regular’ permanent hair colors and is thought to be responsible for a majority of the allergic reactions to hair dye and is thought by some to be a cancer causing agent, although I could find no hard evidence of this. It was not in the color that Lindsey had used – who knows. The other negative impact of dyes is the pollution they add to surface water. Most of these molecules are too small to get filtered out at the water plant and go right back into fish, wildlife, and us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be drinking my hair dye! |
||||
On to the natural stuff:Permanent Natural Hair ColorsHerbatint and Naturtint are two common permanent natural hair colors both available in a broad selection of colors and are amonia free and utilize natural ingredients. These tints are great at darkening, coloring, and covering gray but their lightening potential is limited to about two shades. I find they both work well if you follow the instructions. Naturtint lasts a couple weeks more for me so that’s what I recommend. Clairol also makes a natural hair color, Natural Instincts, that is amonia free and made with natural ingredients as well. My friend Tracy gets really good results with this hair dye product although I've never personally tried it. Demi or Semi Permanent Natural Hair ColorsHenna based Hair Dyes are definitely the way to go here. I use Surya Henna Hair Dye and it works great for me. I like to let my hair change color often so it doesn’t bother me that it washes out after about 7 hair washes. I also have a bit coarser hair so the henna residue doesn’t really show up, but I have seen some cases where henna colors make very fine hair appear somewhat dull, so if you have fine hair henna may not be the hair color for you. Although since it washes out so readily, you aren’t taking much of a risk to try it. Keep Making the World A Greener Place with your Hair Color choices–
Green Gurl |
||||
