Hair Coloring Products

Thanks for your question. I want to start off by talking a little bit more about the scalp and ingredients in hair color.

The chemicals in common hair treatments (like coloring or perm solutions) can not only irritate fragile skin and hair, but give off fumes that can cause nausea, eye irritation, and other problems. It’s extremely important to be aware of anything applied to your scalp, because it has the richest blood flow in the human body, and is also where the blood supply may carry any carcinogenic components right into the blood stream. Many ingredients in hair dyes have been linked to cancer.

There is no such thing as 100% safe hair dyes. However, there are many brands that contain less, or none at all, of some of the main ingredients you want to avoid in hair dyes. Since the FDA does not regulate hair dye ingredients (synthetic or natural) it is very important to read labels and stay away from: ammonia, peroxide, PPDs (para-phenylenediamines), coal tar (the FDA issued a warning about it being a possible cancer risk back in 1993), lead, toluene and resorcinol.

I think it comes down to trial and error when looking for safer home color. Some of the natural versions have not gotten some of the best reviews as far as color match and consistent results. However, they don't penetrate the hair shaft like synthetic ones do so therefore their working power is not as strong. Some brands that are free of some or most of the ingredients above are: Aubrey Organics, pure henna and NaturaTint (and there are more). Do your research, read the labels, try a few of them and you decide what is the best choice for you (both on results and the risk you are willing to take on their ingredients).

When looking for a salon, you want to ask if their hair dyes are ammonia-free, herbal-based, low-PPD, lead-free, toluene-free and coal tar-free. Highlights and low lights are safer than doing your whole color as they are not in direct contact with the scalp. Aveda salons are one of the better options. They are 97% natural but do still contain PPD and ammonia in order to work.

Since there are no 100% safe options out there, perhaps starting to work with your colorist to bring you back to your original color or start getting your hair colored less frequently. Choosing dyes with the least amount of chemicals is far better way to reduce your toxic load.

Hope this helps!
Thanks