Think you’re too young to have grey hair? Tired of drab and want to punk up your look? Want a new colour to reflect a major change in your life?
Women and men use hair colour for all kinds of reasons. Personally, I think about dyeing my grey patches at least once a week (but never have). What’s held me back? Knowing that hair dyes can be harmful to your health and the environment, but not sure how bad.
Curtis’ great grey crop
I finally decided to look into it. Chemical ingredients like coal tar dye (PPD: p-phenylenediamine) are not your friends and are found in virtually all hair dye products. Coal tar dye is on the Health Canada Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. People with chemical sensitivities and even people who have been dyeing their hair frequently for years can develop reactions to them.
In her book Ecoholic, Adria Vasil found some pretty horrifying stats on mainstream hair dyes. “The international Journal of Cancer found that women who dye their hair more than once a month using permanent dyes were more than twice as likely to develop bladder cancer. If you’ve been dyeing for more than 15 years, your chances jump to three times above non-dyers, and long-time hairdressers are five times more likely to develop the cancer.”
And hair dyes are harmful to men too. In November 2005, lead acetate, a key ingredient in products used by men to disguise their grey hair (e.g. Grecian Formula), was banned by Health Canada because it is suspected of being a carcinogen and reproductive toxin.
There are alternatives
Sometimes, you just have to dye, so why not give these safer, friendlier methods a try?
- Let the sun lighten and highlight your hair;
- Use lemon juice (and a blow dryer) for highlights;
- Use henna to achieve darker shades and cover up grey;
- Try Herbatint, Ecocolors, and Naturcolor: Vasil says the latter has worked well for her.
What’s my favourite alternative? Do like the title of this post says and you will be making the most environmentally-friendly choice!
Make a difference − share this environmental tip with your friends.
Erika says:
17 July 2009 at 12 h 20 minWere do you find these products I live in Canada in the west and I have never seen Herbatint or Ecocolors or Naturcolor does anyone know who sells these products. Thanks.
Pam says:
17 July 2009 at 12 h 59 minErica
I have to agree with you where…oh where!!
But, I am sure I have seen Naturcolor in either London Drugs, Shoppers or maybe the super market, it was not in an obvious place like in your face but on the bottom of the rack.
I like the hair cut/style is it possible to get a full frontal and back. Thanks….
dawn says:
17 July 2009 at 13 h 13 mingo to a health food store. henna is a staple there, plus the larger health food stores might have some of the other brands
Donna Thompson says:
17 July 2009 at 13 h 58 minThanks for the valuable information. I like to be kept informed.
lynette says:
17 July 2009 at 18 h 59 minWhy color grey hair? I have natural silver grey hair and love the color .I have comments on how beautiful the color is and if I dye it.
Desina says:
17 July 2009 at 20 h 26 minI know Body Shop used to carry henna. They may still. Here in Toronto, the dyes mentioned are sold in some pharmacies, not just Shopper’s or health food stores, though you may have to look around. You could also order online from a store like Viva Granola in Canada if you can’t find any in a store. They carry Tints of Nature.
Janice says:
18 July 2009 at 20 h 28 minErika…where in the west are you? In Calgary, community natural foods carry Herbatint and Naturcolor and both are at Whole Foods in Vancouver. I have used Herbatint for several years and absolutely love it!
Bev says:
19 July 2009 at 10 h 58 minLush Cosmetics carries Henna for those interested in that alternative.
Ann says:
19 July 2009 at 21 h 21 minThanks for the information,I also color my hair & am interested in healthy alternatives.
Thank You
Ann
Jennifer says:
19 July 2009 at 22 h 50 minI have just discovered a hair salon in Burlington & Oakville that use natural hair colouring products! Hair Design Co.
They can’t do bleaching with this product, but they can do colouring, which would help with hiding grey hair!
Cheryl Gudz says:
21 July 2009 at 15 h 17 minthanks for sharing info on retailers and your favorite products. glad to know others are into henna and Herbatint. At 29, I am still struggling with accepting my grey streaks, but they are kind of cool…note: the pic of brad pitt shows him proudly sporting the grey in his beard – nice!
Carol says:
29 July 2009 at 9 h 13 minMUST SAY: ALL MEN SEEM TO LOOK NICE WITH GRAY HAIR… WHY ARE WOMEN SO HORRIFIED WITH THE GRAY? IT GOES WITH FASION AND ALL THE REST OF IMAGE MEDIA. WHAT A WOMAN LOOKS LIKE SHOULD BE JUST FINE… WE JUST NEED THAT LITTLE BOOST OF ACCEPTANCE. HENNA IS GREAT FOR IT THICKENS HAIR AS TREATED. IF WE ADD COFFEE TO IT THE COLOR WILL HAVE SOME REDDISH BROWN TEA IS MORE ON THE RED SIDE WINE CAN BE QUIET INTESTING LEMON DOES ADD HIGHLIGHTS YET CAN DRY HAIR OUT AND MAKE IT VERY BRITTLE. SO JUST EXPERIMENT JUST TAKING STRONG TEA TO RINSE HAIR WITH CAN ALSO ADD COLOR AND MAKE HAIR SILKY SOFT.
Donna says:
9 August 2009 at 23 h 06 minFreedom, freedom from the messy, boring, time wasting job of dying your hair. Five years ago on the 22 I shaved my head to within a 1/4 of an inch to let my beautiful, natural glorious colour grow in untouched, grey!! I have never regreted doing this and now have all this free time to do whatever I want instead. Grey power times 10.
elizabeth says:
5 February 2010 at 15 h 05 minI have glorious grey hair, have had for many years, with many compliments on how beautiful my hair is etc. And I feel very grateful to grow older in a society of peers that are proud of their grey, but now as I come to the middle of the 50s, I am feeling the need for to change the colour and am happy to have some very good choices for ‘healthy’ hair colour. Thanks for the information in this article!