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Natural Hair Color

Hi everyone. Someone sent me this website and I thought all those who like coloring their hair, but don’t like dumping tons of chemicals into their hair follicles, might be interested. The products look pretty good. Anyone ever heard of them? https://www.ecocolors.net/index.cfm?pg=WhatisEc…

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Comments

  • SystemSystem Raw Newbie

    Thanks! :)

  • I haven’t heard of them but my hairdresser tells me that natural colors are really bad for your hair. I don’t know what to believe because I have used henna and other brands of vegetable based dyes and never had any problems. I think what he meant was that if you went in to the salon with natural colorants in your hair the unnatural dye would cause an adverse reaction. He says they coat the hair strands instead of penetrating them so it makes coloring more of a nightmare. I do like the idea of more natural ingredients though, I hate the smell of ammonia!

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    hkittykitty – I think your hairdresser was trying to protect his business!! I used to get my hairdresser to do my henna for me. He told me it was really good for my hair, and he did it for me with pleasure.

    Henna and indigo has been used for thousands of years, and does make my hair look and feel gorgeous. It seems to improve the condition of it and the shine. It is curly so getting it to shine is miraculous!

    Before I discovered natural dye, I also used to have it bleached and dyed with synthetic dyes which made my hair go into awful condition. I had to cut it off and grow it all over again at one point. And I used to go to expensive hairdressers, it wasn’t dodgy home dying that ruined my hair!

    Synthetic hair dyes are not recommended for pregnant women, and they have been linked to cancer and all kinds of diseases…

    The person to give us the real low down would be Queen Fluff, she is the gone raw hair expert! Hope she sees this thread.

  • greeniegreenie Raw Newbie

    I’ve been using Naturtint. It’s better than the salon stuff but I really can’t decipher the ingredient list. The ecocolors ingredient list is pretty scary sounding, too, though.

    Here’s an information page on Naturtint: http://www.herbsgardenshealth.com/Hair_Colour_F…

    I notice that ecocolor has Ammonium Hydroxide, and Naturtint is ammonia free.

  • greenie, I just used Naturtint today and really liked it (just found out about ecocolors). It felt a lot less “chemically” on my head than Aveda (supposedly “natural”, done at a salon for $100) and Garnier box color (totally unnatural and $7). I do agree, however, that the ingredient list even on the so-called “natural” products is a little dense. Zoe, I used to henna my hair many years ago, but apparently it doesn’t cover gray (no, I’m not embracing gray right now—maybe later!). And yes, my hairstylist also told me how terrible vegetable dyes are for the hair; like you, I suspect she was protecting her business. Anyway, I thought ecocolor might be worth looking into. If anyone out there has tried it, please post. And yes, a shout-out to our hair maven queenfluff. Any thoughts?

  • KrystaleKrystale Raw Newbie

    Commercial natural hair colors can still contain things that dry out your hair. Some commercial hennas have additives to keep the powder powdery and the color fresh.

    What about natural raw things that change hair color? Laying out in lemon juice lightens your hair. Coffee (Ok, so not raw) and tea will add brown tones. I suppose beets would be worth a try. Organic carrots will stain anything orange. What about a strawberry lemonaid hair rinse for the sun?

    I suppose if you’re no ‘poo, like me, you’d want to use a little castile soap before to let the colors get in, except with lemon. Being just stains they’ll lift back out with your hair’s oils after a bit… but then you could try any other wild stain. My grandmother taught me these things. Older women are great sources for this stuff because they remember when you didn’t just buy everything off the shelf. They outdate some modern poisons.

  • Zoe, I think I tend to agree with you. I think mostly what he means is that the two worlds don’t meet and actually create more “work” for the stylist to get through that barrier the natural dyes make. I am amazed that the stylist would do henna for you, that is some work!

  • Are there any companys I could find easily in shops that anyone would recomment over others. I haven’t dyed my hair in about a year but I used to often.

  • Raw_ChocoholicRaw_Chocoholic Raw Newbie

    Mon46, I henna my mom’s hair and it covers grey just fine. I use body art quality henna though. Maybe try a strand test, because henna would be better for you than even the natural haircolours out there. Go to a site called hennaforhair. They have a whole list of mixes so you can find just the colour you want. Also, the henna gloss technique seemed to work fine for covering grey also. Plus, it’s less messy to rinse out.

  • Thanks Raw Chocoholic. Good to know about the gray coverage, as I always heard the opposite.

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    I found an ayurvedic natural hair colour that is the only one I would use now. It is henna based and called ‘surya’, I think. There are some lovely shades and it uses only raw plant ingredients in it.

    giulia
  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    sweetpea, where did you buy that?

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    In case anyone’s looking for a good brand of henna/natural dye, Lush’s “caca” henna range is amazing, the best I have ever used. I grate it in the food processor!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Sorry I haven’t responded sooner – Sorry to say this but “semi-yuck” on the ingredients in the EcoColors – it is all chemicals for the most part. But i guess there are worst things you could use on your hair – like animal tested stuff.

    Any color that has a “developer” is chemical based. Without the developer – things like hair colors and bleaches don’t work on the hair. They are mostly hydroxgen perioxide (which has a mild bleaching action) but always contain other things too. They combine with the ingredients in the Hair color to deposit color molecules into the hair strand – bleaches remove color molecules.

    In case you missed it – here are the ingredients in the EcoColor Hair Products-

    http://www.ecocolors.net/Ingredients/ecocolors_…

    I’ll copy and paste though -

    Water, dihydroxyethyl soyamine dioleate, ammonium hydroxide, isopropyl alcohol, oleic acid, linseed oil, castor oil, lecithin, lanolin, ascorbyl palmitate, rosemary oil, vitamin E, vitamin C, grapefruit seed extract, flower essence. May contain one or more of the following: ethanol,2,2,4,aminophenol sulfate; ppd; aminophenol, methyl-resorcinol; napthol, 3-methyl-1-phenyl-5-pyrazolone; toluenediamine sulfate; 2 hydroxyethyl amino2-ethylphenol.

    Developer:

    Water, buffered hydrogen peroxide, jojoba oil, oleic acid, acrylic copolymer, castor oil, linseed oil, lemon grass essential oil.

    It isn’t even vegan – has lanolin. The first ingredient on the list is the used the most in the product so this one is mostly water but look at the next few ingredients – ammonium hydroxide. Not natural – and not very safe. Also of concern is “May contain one or more of the followin” section on there.

    Also dihydroxyethyl soyamine dioleate may or may not be an animal ingredient – I couldn’t find too much info about where it comes from but it used as an emulisifier.

    Obviously the alcohol speaks for itself.

    The Developer actually has less ingredients but you have to know that there will always be a few baddies – this one has: buffered hydrogen peroxide, acrylic copolymer. Now you can actually buy FOOD grade hydrogen peroxide so hydrogen peroxide isn’t the worse thing there but acrylic copolymer is mostly used in paints – not natural at all. Definately a chemical.

    If you really want to alter your hair color, there is no way to do except chemically. Lemon WILL help lighten your hair but it will take while and you need sun to do it. Coffee rinse can help darken brunette or black hair.

    Henna is your best bet for natural hair coloring. If you are trying to cover grey, that would be what I would pick.

  • queenfluff, thanks so much for your input. O.K., forget ecocolors—guess I was taken in by the “packaging.” Based on what everyone has written, I’ll try henna again. There is a Lush store around the corner from me, so I’ll check out the “caca” henna as well as surya.

  • As Raw_Chocoholic mentioned, definitely check out www.hennaforhair.com – great info and tips. I’ve been using a high quality henna/cassia/indigo mix on my hair for over ten years now and I really love the way it makes my hair look and feel.

    I currently use Light Mountain “Mahogany” (available at most health food stores and online) and I’m very happy with the results on my light brown, curly hair. To make it stick to grays, I add a teaspoon of citric acid to the mix after the dye has released. I then slop it onto clean, dry hair, wrap it in a shower cap and a towel, and relax for about thirty minutes. After washing it out – aided by huge globs of conditioner – my grays are a subtle gold color, while the rest is a very light auburn. The texture is also smoother and the curls are more defined.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    The Light Mountain is a good henna – I have tried their henna’s before. The Neutral one adds a lot of shine.

    There are some Henna products out there that aren’t all natural – one is Hennalucent – You can buy at places like Sally’s Beauty Supply. I remember using it when I didn’t care about it being natural – I remember there being other ingredients besides the Henna. It is weird because they advertise as being “100 % organic henna” and there is SLS, hydrolization animal protein and a bunch of other chemicals in it.

  • Queenfluff, I totally agree about the Light Mountain. The neutral shade is basically cassia and does wonders when my curls start getting out of control. A friend with naturally straight, honey-blond, “shampoo-commercial” hair swears that cassia is all she uses to keep it that way.

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    Raw Mama, I think it was a sight called ‘ecohamster’.

  • Ladies, thank you for all your great input. It’s funny, after all this discussion, I’m actually questioning if I still want to continue with the hair coloring. I don’t have a ton of gray (yet), and my husband keeps insisting it’s sexy (I have a good man, I know). I look pretty young for my age otherwise, and wonder why I’m still hanging on to looking a particular way. There’s no doubt I like the way I look better without the gray, but why? It’s bringing up a lot of questions about getting older; what am I hanging on to? I have a really good life. What does hair mean? Bigger questions in the world I know…:)

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Mon46 – If you want to get rid of your grey (or at least try to decease the ones you have) you might want to try including more copper in your diet. Hemp seeds are a good source of this as are sesame seeds, cashews and sunflower seeds. It is believed that a copper deficiency is responsible for greying hair. Also, I have read several stories of rawies saying that an increase in wheatgrass juice got rid of their grey.

    It does have to grow back in your normal color so it will take a while but at least you will be able to measure it by examining your roots!

    I know what you mean too about the “philosophy” of hair – I mean, hair isn’t really all that important to our survival – maybe it protects the scalp – longer hair can from the sun – but yeah, it is mostly vanity. I like to view my hair as a reflection of what is going on inside of me – it is a reflection of how healthy I am!

  • queenfluff, I eat all the things you mentioned except cashews. I definitely have fewer grays since going raw, so I think you are right. I also now only shampoo 1-2x per week with minimal shampoo. I definitely have seen a difference and feel that my hair is very healthy (and that makes me happy). Still, even those fewer gray hairs are obviously irking me! I have to acknowledge it’s vanity, and just be patient with that for the time being. At least I’m not going for Botox!!!

  • OMG!! I am so surprised at you guys. surya has chemicals in it I would never expose myself to.ethylene glycol, DEA, MEA, mineral oil? These things are toxic!!

    And Ecocolors does not use toxic amounts of any ingredients. They dont test on animals.

    AND all of their ingredient have been backed by studies..Just because it sounds bad to you, you should do the research on these ingredients. that acrylic copolymer is not toxic in the amounts they use and the peroxide is not toxic!! The lanolin is not of animal origin and the ammonium hydroxide IS NOT TOXIC in the amounts they use. SURE if you had a big vat of it it might overwhelm you with fume, but they are using just enough to be helpful but not enough to make you sick. I saw a study about hennas. Not all hennas even contain henna. surya contains food dyes among other toxic stuff..and calls it henna.

    Lush henna contains PERFUME. Do you know PERFUME can have pthalates..something very toxic. If an ingredient listing contains perfume you just dont know what it is!!

    http://www.ewg.org/notsosexy

    Some hennas are good. You can get red tones. The darker colors have indigo and may turn your hair greenish. I prefer EcoColors because I have grays and I'm not ready to be gray yet. I'm a natural girl and I only use the products that won't make me or my kids sick.

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    Lanolin is an animal product by its very definition.

  • Anything for blond hair? I've seen camomile at the health food store, but I'm sceptical.

  • Hi. do you know these brands - Sante and Logona. They make 100%natural hair dyes with no chemicals in it, just all natural herbal ingredients. I use them and they work great!

    I think these brands are german but I know that in USA there are many brands that have cosmetic that is labeled as "pure nature". Coastal classic creations is one of them and they have also hair dyes. So try to check it out.

    BTW there is webpage - www.cosmeticdatabase.com - and there you can find a list of all harmful and non harmful cosmetics including hair dyes. :-)

  • to Nell : Hi, Ive been reasearching about how to get blond hair naturally and Ive found out that it all depends on your natural color. If your hair is naturally dark than you will never get blond hair without chemical hair dye. However if your hair is light brown or dishwasher blonde you can achieve lighter shade. But it requires consistency and patience.

     

  • greenwoodgreenwood Raw Newbie

    I read that they used to use beetroot as a hair colourant in the c.19th. I have an Asian friend who gets the pure henna- it is brilliant for the hair- it tints it a lovely auburn and conditions it- I had dry hair for 7 years up til last year then she put it on my hair and it has been soft ever since.

  • streem26streem26 Raw Jr. Leader

     

    I haven’t heard .

    I was able to cover my silvers very well with henna + indigo. I used Rainbow Dark Brown (it's just henna and indigo), mixed with tap water and some vinegar, applied immediately. It's easy to use and I would recommend it to use for brown hair of different shades.

    What's nice too is it's usually available locally, and it's cheap. It comes in a jar so you can just use what you need and save the rest. I used a half jar to touch up my roots every three weeks.

     

  • ClaireTClaireT Raw Master

    Henna is great. Semi-permanent vegetable dyes are great. Lemon in a spray bottle with a little water works okay for lightening if you have eternal patience and apply it frequently. 

    mayaling
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