I have dark brown hair, almost black even. It’s my natural hair colour and I think it is what suits me best; so I’m content. But ask or look around and you’ll find many people of naturally dark coloured roots (hair that is) don’t quite agree with the birth colour of their locks and have turned to a lighter shade.
Some make the transition subtly, going from darkest brown to a lighter ash brown before moving on to Honey Ash Blonde and finally settling at Champagne Blonde. Others on the other hand, who are more daring simply go straight from being a chestnut brunette to a platinum blonde – All simply a matter of personal choice and self-contentment .
Colours played/used right has wondrous results on our image. Just as how wearing the right coloured dress can give you an instant uplift, so can having the right hair colour; which explains how some people are like chameleons and change their hair colours ever so often.
But such artificial beauty comes at a price (frankly in life everything does). If you are a true blue green and health supporter than the controversial chemicals used in hair dyes will put you off from making a hair colour change. The “sustainable” option leaves you with either Henna or the permanent non toxic hair colour version. Bear in mind that at the present moment, there aren’t any permanent hair color on the market that is totally botanical, so when you find any hair colour product that say it’s organic or natural do read the ingredients list.
Now the reason why there aren’t any 100% botanical hair dye is because in order for any hair colour to be permanent, oxidative dye pigments must be present and administered into the hair shaft and for that to happen , the chemicals of ammonia and peroxide needs to be used.
Peroxide diffuses through the hair fibres, enters the cortex, where it breaks up the melanin and results in hair colour lightening. Ammonia is administered to help open the hair shaft to allow the pigments to enter into the hair shaft. Obviously neither is good for your hair or your health and they both pose an impact to the environment.
But of the two, I would say Ammonia is more dangerous as an over-exposure to it can cause toxic poisoning. However, hair dyes with ammonia content tend to last longer than those without it and since there is no alternative to it (at the present moment) you’ll find it included in all your ‘good quality’ hair dyes.
On the peroxide’s end, there may be some good news developing as Kenzo Koike, a chemist with Kao Corporation’s Beauty Research Centre in Tokyo has developed‘green bleach’ through the isolation of an enzyme from a strain of Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis. His research has been presented at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. (ANI)
Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis is a kind of “white-rot” fungus that with the potential to degrade and clean up pollutants in soil and its enzyme has ability combating the effects of free radicals that is present with the use of hydrogen peroxide.
There is good news yet in the field of hair colouring so let’s keep our fingers crossed!
