All,  Ingredient Education,  Safe Swaps,  Toxin Free Beauty

Safe Swap: Hair Dye

Itโ€™s time to talk about… ๐™ƒ๐™–๐™ž๐™ง ๐˜ฟ๐™ฎ๐™š

Real life… when I was only 17 my little dance students began pointing out the gray โ€œsparklesโ€ in my hair. My paternal grandmother had hair as white as snow when she was very young and I am about 40% gray at this point as well.

Someday Iโ€™ll let it fly and just rock it… but I just donโ€™t have it in me to let that happen before I even turn 30.

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Sadly, there is no such thing as a completely toxin free hair dye on the market. So it is up to us as consumers to find a balance of performance and safety that we are comfortable with.

Letโ€™s back this up a bit…

Hair dye was invented in 1907 and main stream formulas have hardly changed since then. Hair dye works by using chemicals to open the cuticle of your hair which then allow your hair to receive and retain color. Unfortunately, these ingredients include a number of harsh chemicals that are linked to some not so great side effects. My awesome team has collaborated on breaking down a few…

A few of the heavy hitters:

๐™๐™๐™š ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ค๐™™ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฌ๐™จ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™œ๐™ง๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™—๐™š๐™–๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™—๐™ค๐™ค๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ, ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™๐™–๐™ž๐™ง ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™›๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ช๐™ข๐™š๐™ง ๐™™๐™š๐™ข๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™—๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ก๐™จ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™™๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™˜๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง & ๐™จ๐™–๐™›๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™™๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™จ!

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Here are some less toxic options:

1๏ธโƒฃย All-Nutrient
This is a salon professional color line that has without a doubt the BEST ingredients I have ever seen for hair color!! One of my girlfriends in New Jersey converted her entire salon to this line and is absolutely loving it! It is also what we used for Hawks cool โ€œred swooshโ€, and my stylist was very impressed with the gray coverage for me! I will say it faded about two weeks sooner than what he had been using on me though… but the ingredient trade off is 100% worth it!

2๏ธโƒฃย Henna:
This isnโ€™t used in salons but it is one of the strongest natural colorants. The downfall of henna is that itโ€™s not available in a wide range of colors and can cause an unreliable result. Also, once you use henna you cannot just go back to using semi-permanent/permanent hair dye because henna treated hair can have an unpleasant reaction when mixed with hair dye.

3๏ธโƒฃย Hairprint:
From the website, โ€œhairprint is a patented scientific breakthrough that restores gray hair to its true color. It is not a dye. It replenishes the natural pigment (eumelanin) found in brown and black hair that has turned gray….The internal genetic template inside the cortex, what we call your hairprint, is missing due to the impact of the chemicals. Hairprint infuses the hair with its original pigment, eumelanin.โ€ This product is made with 8 food grade ingredients, it is hypoallergenic, odor-free, and you can apply it at home. It takes approximately 70-90 minutes to do a treatment. Before using it, you will need to detox your hair and remove residues and mineral build up. The downfall is that this option only works for black, dark brown, and light brown hair. The company is actively working on formulas for blondes and redheads.
*More info: https://www.myhairprint.com/products/true-color-restorer

4๏ธโƒฃย oVertone:
For those who like vibrant colors and at home application, this brand may be for you! oVertone products are vegan and cruelty free, but not yet certified by leaping bunny. Typically vibrant hair dye can be extremely drying and damaging to hair but oVertoneโ€™s formula has been recognized for being moisturizing. All of the conditioning agents, emollients, and oils used are plant-based. While oVertone does have not contain the heavy hitter offenders listed above- the formula does contain blacklisted phenoxyethanol. It simply depends on how committed you are to dying your hair, and if you feel this product has an adequate balance of safety and performance. oVertone has surpassed a lot of other at home hair dye brands in the industry, but as you can see they are not perfectly toxin free.
*more info: https://overtone.co

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It is my hope that this helps you make the best decision for yourself and your hair!

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If you have any recommendations I am missing, please let me know!ย 

ยฉLivingWellMamaยฎ๏ธ
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