Putting your hair in your own hands
If you think you're ready to end your relationship with Pierre the colorist and go cold turkey on your monthly visits to his sleek color salon, hold on for just one minute. There's something you need to know. Chemicals are bad for you. Chemicals are bad for the environment. Chemicals are even bad for your unborn children. We know all of this. But, the fact remains, chemicals completely cover gray hair and they make hair lighter -- two tasks that natural haircolor techniques can't accomplish.
"A chemical combination of ammonia and peroxide is the only way possible to make the hair [dramatically] lighter -- if that's your goal, you have to go with a chemical color process, " says Gina Kahn, colorist and manager at Yosh of San Francisco Salon in California. Natural haircolors and semi-permanent haircolors are good choices if you're looking for a subtle enhancement of your natural color, if you're trying to blend or disguise a modest amount of gray, if you're looking to make your hair a different tone (deeper, richer or redder), or if you're looking to maximize your hair's shine.
Here is a list of natural color options and the results you can expect to achieve with them:
"Natural" Permanent Color: Natural food stores typically stock at-home color products such as Naturcolor or Antica Herbavita. While these are almost chemical-free, they're not 100 percent natural. With their color charts and swatches, the casual consumer might assume these brands are just natural food store versions of conventional haircolors. It would be a mistake, however, to overlook their very important differences.
Naturcolor and Antica Herbavita's Herbatint are both cruelty-free and free of animal ingredients. Both products also are less damaging to your hair than their mass-market counterparts because they are ammonia-free and because their formulas contain far fewer chemicals by volume. Some users even claim that these products smell good -- a remarkable difference if you've ever had to live with the vaguely "eau de Chernobyl" scent that lingers after some mass market brands.
If you're trying to cover less than a full head of gray hair (no more than 80 percent), permanent natural color is an ideal choice. Herbatint or Naturcolor can disguise the gray and restore the color tones your hair has lost. These formulas also can brighten your natural color, lighten one shade and add a rich shine to your hair. You'll need to retouch the hair as regrowth appears.
If you're with to dramatically lighten your hair or cover (not just tone down) a full head of gray, at home haircoloring -- of any variety -- may not be for you. These tasks require a higher chemical content than the 3 to 10 percent by volume that "natural" brands provide. And although you could buy mass-market brands that can take you from brunette to blonde, experts say you probably shouldn't. When you're an amateur working with very strong chemicals, the possibility of serious damage and disappointing results is very real.
You'll get wonderful results from Naturcolor or Antica Herbavita Herbatint if your goal is to disguise some gray, deepen your color, introduce a different tone or give a little lift (no more than one level) to your natural color. If your haircolor ambitions are modest, you'll find these products can give you the same color results as mass-market brands with better shine, less damage and fewer chemicals.
"Natural" Semi-Permanent Color: Semi-permanents do not penetrate the inner cortex of the hair shaft as permanent color does. Because they merely "stain" the hair shaft, these colors wash out after approximately six weeks. In natural food stores, look for chemical-free color such as Antica Herbavita's Vegetal Color.
If your hair is dark, semi-permanent color will make it glossy and shiny, and your hair will have a deeper, richer hue. If your hair is blond, depending on die color formulation you use, semi-permanent color may add copper, strawberry or brown tones. Blondes may also have some luck covering gray with semi-permanent color. By introducing several different blond tones to the hair, the gray will blend in more easily. If your hair is just beginning to turn gray, you may also be in luck. By choosing a semi-permanent color that closely matches your hair, you can blend your gray into your natural color. The gray strands won't match your natural color. Instead, they will look like natural highlights in a lighter tone.
Henna: Although haircolor novices (and those seeking natural color solutions) frequently use henna for everything from covering gray to attempting to go blond, natural redheads are the only people who should be using henna for coloring. "Henna works well on redheads -- for anyone else it's tricky," says Kahn. "Completely natural, true, henna occurs in a very bright red color -- if you see it in any other color, it's been chemically altered and won't be as effective," says Kahn. The result? Not only will your color become muddled, but hair can become dry, brittle, and heavily coated, causing severe damage.
Tea Colors: An old-wives' tale, perhaps, but some say this at-home color treatment is very effective at giving dark hair a lustrous shine. Boil water and mix up a strong, black tea from tea leaves. Let cool and use as a rinse after shampooing. Blondes can try the same routine but use chamomile tea instead.
Color-Enhancing Shampoos: To extend the life of a color treatment, add a hint
of new color or enhance your own natural color, consider a color-enhancing shampoo.
These shampoos won't lighten your hair (no peroxide, no ammonia), but they can
brighten or deepen color and add or eliminate accent tones. With each shampooing,
you'll see more dramatic change in your haircolor. When you reach the level
you want, use the color-enhancing shampoo once or twice a week, alternating
with a regular cleansing shampoo.
Other Pages
Cruelty Free Products 1
Cruelty Free Products 2
Cruelty Free Products 3
Cruelty Free Products 4
Cruelty Free Products 5
