A few Words on Hair Colour toxicity and how to moderate it.

Low Toxicity Hair Colour

One of the primary intentions in all aspects of my life is to live a healthy lifestyle to whatever reasonable degree I am able. Being a hairstylist and artist can be challenging in this regard due to the amount of chemicals involved. Some years ago I decided I would clean things up. After much research I came upon a hair colour that both works very well and has less toxic chemicals than most brands. This colour is Natulique, it is from Denmark. I used it in Calgary for many years and at present am the only stylist in the Comox Valley using it.

Once I began trying out this colour I noticed several things right away. There is far less fumes than any other colour I've tried (my sinuses and lungs gave a mighty hoorah!) and even the clients with the most sensitive of scalps said it was not a problem (much to their surprise). For some it's the only brand they are able to use. And it gives beautiful, shiny results with minimal damage.

If you would like to research this colour yourself you can visit www.natulique.com. If that sounds like too much work, below is a blog I wrote after doing my own research. If you're reading this between washing the dog and getting your kid to stop drawing on the wall, there's a short version. If you're laying on the couch sipping tea, there's a longer one.

Just how safe is colouring your hair?

And I don't mean aesthetically safe (although I've certainly seen plenty of hair colours that one could well describe as aesthetically hazardous). I'm referring to chemicals. What exactly is in that wondrous goo? Is it better suited to cleaning your driveway? Or is there a way to cover grey without beating up on your precious body? Being a stylist and someone who cares about the well being of my clients and myself, I decided to some research and find out.

Before I launch into this, I'd like to point out that I'm not a chemist and I didn’t investigate all the ingredients in artificial hair colour, just the most commonly talked about ones.

The short of it:

In my opinion, there are a few questionable chemicals in artificial hair colour but several companies are making admirable gains in cleaning things up, so even if we can’t completely avoid such chemicals at least we can learn how to minimize them. If you know your stylist is knowledgeable about these things and holds them to be of importance then perhaps you are doing what you can to look after yourself. If you're not sure where they stand, ask them, if they sound like a politician, dancing around the subject and smiling a little too much, you may have some priorities to examine. Of course the best thing is to know the fundamentals yourself.

The somewhat longer of it:

Whether hair color is safe or not depends, as always, on who you ask. It always amazes me how two or more seasoned experts on most any subject can give you completely polarized opinions. In my investigations I heard all the way from: “No problem at all, there's no scientific evidence to say that color is hazardous” to “You might as well adopt a Komodo dragon”. When it comes to health matters I'm rather used to that sort of thing and after years of wading through such foolishness, I've settled somewhat comfortably into the good old “moderation in all things” attitude. Not only do I find it to be a generally good approach, it's really all you can do when you encounter something where there is no perfect, irrefutable evidence for either side.

There are primarily three questionable chemicals in artificial hair color. One is called PPD (I won't bother with the long, scientific name), another is Resorcinal, and the third ammonia. Almost all color companies use these or something similar to get color to do what it does, especially for covering grey hair.

In recent years, due to the curious phenomenon of human beings actually caring about what we put in and on our bodies, some color manufacturers are making changes. These manufacturers have reduced the questionable chemicals or replaced them with something apparently less harmful. Ammonia, for example, has often been replaced with something called MEA, which in my experience has been a good idea (to me it seems to be less irritating to lungs and skin). Ammonia in color is not necessarily a terrible thing, it depends largely on the amount, but it does make for some nasty fumes and possible scalp irritation. PPD has been replaced with PPT, which may or may not be an improvement, again, depending on who you ask. It's quite likely that the reason for replacing PPD with PPD was nothing more than the manufacturer being able to claim “PPD free!”. Many people that have reactions to PPD, still have reactions to PPT. Resorcinol is still present in most color brands but a few have removed it from certain shades or minimized it. As usual, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors, misleading information and stretched 'truths'. It’s sad to see so many companies playing a game and not really caring about much more than money.

There are many color companies jumping on the green wagon, and that's a good thing — even if some of them are just running behind it. Unfortunately, I can't give you a list of who are the heroes and who are the “stuck and stagnant”, I wish I could, but it's too big and too nebulous. Nevertheless, some choices had to be made for my own salon. I want Salon Serene to be as human-friendly as it can be, without getting fanatical. I want the least toxic hair color I can find, but I also want beautiful hair color that works as well or better than anything else out there. I want it all! After much research and some experimentation I now use Natulique from Denmark. Very low fumes (just ask my nose!), no ammonia, very little Resorcinol (only in dark shades), and PPD only in certain shades— and it produces beautiful color. There are others that may be comparable but after a lot of research this is the brand I chose.

Contrary to popular belief, color from the health food store is often not much different in regards to toxicity than many salon colors, but again, some of companies are making strides (bravo!). Don't believe the same old “all natural, herbal” spiel, just because it's next to the organic kale. Putting some oils and herbs in a hair color is often a good idea, but it doesn't change the fact that there are some other, not so nice chemicals in that pretty green box. When you understand which chemicals to watch for you can read the boxes and knows what’s up. Something I was surprised to learn is that just because something's “natural” and “organic”, doesn't mean it's not harsh on the hair. I always thought low toxicity hair products automatically meant they’d be gentle, until I tried some of them. Some of the shampoos are quite strong and drying, even though they use organic ingredients. Please don’t get me wrong, I support all genuine efforts to clean things up.

This next part is one of the crucial factors in this investigation:Removing suspect chemicals is not all of it, you still have to end up with hair color that works very well. A lot of the more “natural” professional and retail color lines haven't been all that great at covering grey, nor have they been reliable and predictable, hence the reluctance of stylists to use or even try them. It's not much fun for the stylist or the client when a color doesn't work out so stylists don’t want to take the risk.

Not all color companies or stylists care about toxicity levels to the degree I would like to see and nothing will change without people making noise, so be noisy! (in a kind way). Educate yourself a little and try to determine if your stylist really cares about such things.

Coloring your hair seems to be one of a hundred or more things we encounter every day that may or may not cause us harm. People have been coloring for many years and we still can't really tell if it's any more or less of an issue than white sugar or food additives or a hundred other things. One day soon with some clear intention, we'll all have a more accurate idea about what things in our lives are better to avoid, and with any luck, we won't have to dig a hole in the ground and live on organic carrots. All we can do for now is try to be informed and aware. Well now you're a little more of both.

In upcoming posts, I'll look at other aspects of hair coloring. And for those who are quietly contemplating growing out their grey, some very helpful tips and advice will be at hand.

Jay Lamb