PPD free hair dye?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
I am researching for my wife

I remember reading about some PPD chemical found in hair dye products which is damaging for hair and in some cases very dangerous for health. It can build up in the system over time. What is the deal? Any alternatives? Where do I buy PPD free hair dye in Zurich?

Also is henna the only natural alternative? Looks like henna can come mixed with lot of chemicals too so one has to be careful and buy the pure version. Where do I get pure henna and what brand? I have seen henna in Indian shop for hand decoration. Would that be the correct one?

Thanks

2
We have medical journals at home that are docs only, making sure some data won't really spread before things are verified. I remember seeing some research in them, done recently in Scandinavia, about hair dyes and how crazy they are. I think it was mainly linked to amoniac, but other thigns too, if I ever find it I will post it. It was mainly about long treatments, though, a decade or so, of hair bleach and dye jobs, it's like with any chemicals one uses all the time, we aren't wired for it.

I have seen in our little town, though, hair salons with big banners, offering natural hair coloring job. I would go and check their ingredients, and then decide.

All natural hair dyes seem to be the trend here, so if your wife needs it (I think gray hair on well kept lady can be totally hot, especially with some nice hair cuts I have seen), she should be able to find this service..They stick it on their windows, or have big banners. I will check next time I walk by.

3
Here's some links on the subject (most all in German):

http://www.google.ch/#sclient=psy-ab...&pf=p&pdl=3000

4
Go natural...don't dye the hair in the first place...

Even 'natural' chemicals are still chemicals, and there's no reason why a 'natural' chemical would be less toxic than a 'synthetic' or 'purified' ingredient...a quick internet search for 'non toxic hair dye' will tell you that pretty much everything that is used to dye hair is toxic. It's just that you put it on your hair, and wash the excess away, and the skin is an awesome protective layer...not much goes through your skin...

5
From what I understand the man made chemicals strip the outer layer of the hair to penetrate it, this results in damage. On the other hand 100% pure henna (not henna mixed with man made chemicals) just coats the hair and is supposed to be even healthy.

Frankly I don't understand all this well enough hence the thread but yes I think all natural is not a bad idea. Anyway she dyes it only twice a year or so.

6
Sali Hughes, the resident beauty columnist for Guardian, almost passed away after dying her hair. Just a few days ago she wrote about it (Guardian article here ).

Real henna smells very bad. What you actually buy as henna is a mix of chemicals that have the same color, and a little bit of real henna. Allergies to it are relatively common.

As Swisspea said: if you want to go natural, embrace your gray hair.

7
I have used Henna blocks from Lush . Bit of a pain... you have to...

Grate the henna Soak it in hot water until it's the consitency of double cream Heat it up in a bowl-over-a-saucepan-of-boiling-water (as hot as you can bear to apply it) Put on plastic gloves, and apply henna to your hair (best done by a friend) Wrap your head in cling film, a shower cap and a towl Leave for up to six hours (during which period you will invariably have an unexpected visitor) Rinse it out, very thoroughly! You may now grasp why I've given up using it...

Looks good though... and I quite like the smell.

Word of warning: don't use it on hair that's been highlighted.

Depending on the length of your wife's hair, you should get up to 3 dyes from one block (I used to use 2 cubes per session).

8
Henna from Logona contains only natural ingredients (henna and other plants). You can buy it in most reformhauses or order it on portanatura.ch. It won't work for grey hair though.

9
When I was pregnant, my hairdresser used foils in my hair so that I would not get any dye on my scalp. She painted my hair with dye about 0.5mm away from my roots. Maybe your wife would be interested in that? That works for hair that does not have too much grey. If your wife is more grey, the roots will not look very good when exposed..

I appreciate the other posts on this thread encouraging people to embrace their grey hair, thing is, once the hair is all grey then great, it can look very lovely but in the beginning stages when one has a sprinkling of grey hair, it looks unkept and ages a person (not in a elegant way anyway).

10
I've used henna a lot (when I was younger and didn't have gray hair). It's great, especially if you have naturally medium to dark brown hair - the colors add great highlights. I've never been a fan of magenta, purple hair, but more of the reds. Some of the reds and coppers were awesome.

Henna was a huge mess and takes a while. Of course, last I used it was like 25 years ago, but I used to buy it in sacks, add water to form a paste, spread it all over my head and cover my head in plastic. Henna then deposits color on your head.

Some of the demi-permanent or semi-permanent ones also deposit color. I don't know if these products have PPD, but i know they are low/trace/maybe even no ammonia. I could never dye my hair with regular hair dye because the ammonia smell made me sick.

So I've used lots of demi-permanent colors - my favorite has been Goldwell Colorance, and it's worked well on my 50% gray hair. There are other brands like Wella, Awesome, Schwarzkopf - you just have to look at the product, and truth is, try it out or ask a professional. You can order professional products from Germany and there is also perfecthair.ch which may have what you want. I've never had an allergic reaction to hair color, and I've colored my hair a lot. But it you have an allergic reaction, it can be deadly.

Earlier this year I lost all my hair (from chemo) and it's come back, at least 50% gray. When I was losing my hair, I swore that I'd dye it as soon as I had enough to dye. My oncologist said I could, there could be a small risk that would be hard to quantify (I think some people think you can get lymphoma from darker hair dye colors, which have more ammonium type products), but he felt that if I really wanted to dye my hair, it was fine.

Interestingly enough, as it grew back I decided that I rather like the gray after all, and I'm not dying it. It has a nice variation of color. I have started to use purple shampoo from Rausch - It's made with salvia - for gray hair.

So while I don't suggest having chemo to find out whether or not you like your gray hair, maybe getting a really short haircut and letting it grow in might be easier than dealing with the half-dye half gray mess. But when you just have a few gray hairs, especially in dark hair, it can look dumpy - maybe highlights?

11
I could recommend colourwell. No chemicals inside. I have tried it and I am really pleased with it. I have an hair dye allergy for years but I had no problems after using colourwell.

12
PPD is a very dangerous chemical found in hair dyes that can cause allergic reactions in many people. Although there may seem like there's no solution, there is. A non-permanent, PPD-free product, Love Your Color by Cosamo is a dye that allows you to get color without the consequence. It was recommended to me by a relative because she too had a PPD allergy. I tried it out myself, and I got a great color that lasted for about 8 washes. The product comes in many different colors and can be shipped anywhere around the world. It's easy to use, so your wife will be able to use it at home. If you're interested, go to www.cosamousa.com for more information. Hope this helped!