Real Organic Hair Dyes Brands
Approx. 70 percent of women dye their hair, usually to cover grey strands. While in the men’s world grey-mottled hair also appeals in old age, women with grey hair are perceived less attractive.
Sadly, some of the substances in conventional hair dyes have proven to be carcinogenic or extremely allergic. For this reason, legislators around the globe have started to set limits for some substances in the last few years or have completely abandoned them from the market.
The most dangerous substances in hair dyes include:
- Aromatic amines
- Resorcinol
- Ammonia
- PEG / PEG derivatives
- Organometallic compounds.
Aromatic amines such as p-phenylenediamine (ppd) are used to permanently color the hair. However, these can cause severe allergic reactions. Some are even marked as so-called CRM substances. These have either a carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxic potential. The darker the hair color, the higher the concentration of these chemical coloring agents.
The commonly used p-phenylenediamine is classified as extremely sensitizing, i.e. it can trigger severe allergic reactions on the scalp. After this substance has become controversial, it is often replaced by toluylenediamine. But this substance is also known for causing allergic reactions.
Resorcinol is present as a coupler in oxidative hair dyes and tints. It is used for shading the hues. Resorcinol is bactericidal, is combustible and classified as a hazardous chemical.
It can lead to allergies and is suspected of being responsible for mutations. It is also know as Benzene-1,3-diol .
Ammonia is mainly known for its stinging smell. If ammonia is used, it is listed on the INCI list as ammonia. Ammonia breaks the hairpin-like horn shafts of the hair irreparably, so that other substances such as brightening hydrogen peroxide and coloring agents can penetrate it. If it used regularly the hair dries out and becomes brittle.
Despite its biting smell, ammonia is not as harmful to health as the amines, for example. It is dangerous only in high concentrations or in contact with eyes.
Natural hair dyes brands without chemicals
From the consumer side, the awareness of chemical ingredients in cosmetic products has risen in the past years. More more consumers are using all natural hair dyes at home.
The most commonly used plant dye is henna. Henna has been used for thousands of years for the coloring of skin and hair. It is cultivated in North and East Africa as well as in large parts of Asia. The henna powder is produced from the leaves of the henna tree.
Plant-based dyes, however, have struggled for years to cover grey precisely, and therefore have an image that they do not really work. In addition, the application of the plant based hair dye is significantly more complex than mixing together a chemical cocktail.
Due to the modern production methods today’s plant colors for blond, red, brown and black are also durable and get always better covering grey besides being more user-friendly.
This is also shown by the reviews, e.g. on Amazon, where in spite of many positive reviews some users struggle when coloring grey hair with natural products- All of a sudden, the hair gets blue or green spots… Good practice and patience are needed to personally find the best mix. Make sure you first try your natural dye with one strand only.
When buying a natural or organic hair dye don’t get fooled by the label. Products advertised as “organic”, “henna”, “all-organic”, “natural” can still contain dangerous substances, particularly if they are not certified. When you check the list of ingredients you can indeed find organic substances besides PEGs and ppd.
In the following, we have put together a short list of brands that are suitable for PPD allergy sufferers and do not contain phenylenediamine , resorcinol, PEGs, PEG derivatives or halogen-organic compounds. It is short, we couldn’t find any other. Let us know if you come across real organic hair dyes.
Logona Color Creams
Logona has been designing cosmetic products according to strict ecological standards for more than 30 years. The products are developed and manufactured in Germany and comply with the strict criteria for controlled natural cosmetics according to BDIH and NATRUE.
The Color creams exclusively contain natural dyes such as henna from controlled organic cultivation or extracts from rhubarb root, beetroot and other herbal coloring agents. The color creams can be used immediately without stirring.
The experience of most users of the color cream says that the grey hair remains slightly brighter than the rest, so with brown hair the grey hair turns rather to a lighter brown.
Radico Colour Me Organic
Radico dyes from India advertise with a very good grey cover. This is also reported by the user reviews on Amazon. The herbal hair color of Radico is made exclusively from natural herbs. Radico also dispenses with synthetic ingredients and the colors are, of course, free of ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, resorcinol and parabens.
Santé
Santé is another brand from Germany. The Santé hair colors are vegan and certified according to BDIH. They use henna, indigo and walnut peel extract.
Hannah Natural 100% Pure Henna Powder
Hannah natural from India is 100% pure henna leaves 100% natural and chemical free.
Conclusion
Be cautious when choosing an “all natural” or “organic” hair dye and check the list of ingredients. Even if it says “organic” or “natural”, what they actually mean is that the product does contains organic plant based substances… besides chemicals like ppd and PEGs.
