How many PPD-free and all-natural alternative hair colors and dyes are available?
A few, but first remember that no hair dye or coloring product can ever be deemed totally risk-free, as allergies to most ingredients are theoretically possible.
When using any type of colourant or dye on your hair, perform a 48-hour patch test first — even if you’ve used the product before. Always follow instructions carefully, and if you do have allergies, ensure you take precautions, such as keeping a friend or at least your mobile nearby — and don’t use the product behind a locked bathroom door. Always use the gloves / cap usually supplied (though beware that these are often of latex, should you be allergic to it). Stick to the timings given in the instructions, not only to avoid damaging your skin — but also your hair. Remember to always read the full list of ingredients, even if you are familiar with the product, as ingredients change regularly. A consultation with a dermatologist is well worth your time should you have had skin-related reactions before.
The types of products available can be divided into four categories:
1. Those which stand as unique products
The best known of these is Hairprint.
2. Those using only 100% natural ingredients and botanical dyes
The best online stockists in the UK we have found for these are Suvarna, who stock the It’s Pure powders and products, but for other suggestions or if you’re in the US, see below.
These types of dyes cannot lighten hair and results aren’t as effective as using other methods, but their purity and strong ‘free from’ qualities appeal to many women looking for wholly natural alternatives. Radical changes — blonde to dark, for example — aren’t possible using natural dyes, but covering of partial grey hair can work well. All disclose their ingredients fully online.
3. Those using artificial colours
These use artificial colours but contain some natural ingredients and occasionally (but certainly not always) have reasonable ‘free from’ qualities too. Sometimes the names of the products belie their dyes’ synthetic origins, and it can be easy to assume that the colouring agents in them are botanical when they are not.
4. Those using PPD alternatives
Those using the PPD alternative ‘toluene 2,5 diamine sulphate’ (TDS) — which research suggests is less allergenic than PPD — with hydrogen peroxide.
Note that some hair dyes which go under a ‘natural’ banner may not be free of PPD or other potentially problematic ingredients: Daniel Field’s Natural Colours is a good example.
Let’s look at them in turn:
Hairprint
The best known and most highly regarded of the true ‘originals’ is Hairprint — which ‘restores grey hair to its true color’.
It’s based on the principle that each of us have a ‘hair print’ — pattern within the shafts of our hair — which has merely lost its colour, as grey hair has. By using oxidative techniques (with hydrogen peroxide) on plant-based and mineral ingredients, these lost colors are replaced in the the original pattern of the ‘hair print’.
To explore this concept more, see their website here.
Contains: plant / mineral extracts, peroxide
Free from: artificial colours, PPD, ammonia, petrochemicals, resorcinol
100% Natural Dye Products
It’s Pure Organics (UK) (Pictured below; use SM10 for 10% off)
Certified organic henna powder, indigo powder, and other botanical oils and powders to mix and match.
Contains: henna, indigo, cassia, amla …
Free from: artificial ingredients, PPD, peroxide, preservative, ammonia, petrochemicals.
Khadi Natural Products (UK) / Khadi Natural Products (US)
100% natural and pure products based on Ayurvedic formulations.
Contains: henna, indigo, bhringaraj, amla, neem, senna, cassia
Free from: artificial ingredients, PPD, peroxide, preservative, ammonia, petrochemicals.
Logona (UK) / Logona (US)
Natural herbal hair dyes which come in creams or powders.
Contains: natural plant colours (eg beetroot, henna, indigo, coffee, cassia), wheat proteins, fragrance, alcohol.
Free from: artificial colourings, PPD, peroxide, preservative, ammonia etc.
Lush
Synthetic-free henna-based ‘no s**t’ dye which come in ‘blocks’ from this popular high-street store.
Contains: Cocoa butter, henna, botanicals, fragrance.
Free from: synthetics, ammonia, peroxide, parabens, PPD, artificial colours
Sante (UK) / Sante (US)
100% natural colours which last 4-6 weeks.
Contains: wheat proteins, botanical colours (eg indigo, beetroot, cassia), nuts (walnut shells)
Free from: peroxide, ammonia, PPD, parabens synthetic colourants, fragrances or preservatives
Artificial Colourant Products
Natures Grey Busters (UK)
Range of hair colourants whose makers are against the often-given advice to undertake a 48-hour patch test.
Contains: Synthetic dyes. Ingredients not listed on website.
Free from: PPD / PTD, peroxide, ammonia, resorcinol.
Naturtint Reflex (UK) / Naturtint Reflex (US)
‘Non-Permanent Color Rinse’. (Note that their Permanent Hair Colorant does contain what are described as “minimum levels of PPD”).
Contains: petrochemicals, fragrance, soya, artificial colours, alcohol, sulphates, silicones. (Ingredients not supplied on website.)
Free from: PPD, peroxide, ammonia, resorcinol and parabens.
Surya Brasil Henna Cream (UK) / Surya Brasil Henna Cream (US)
A semi-permanent dye which combines natural dyes — herbs and fruits from Brazil and India — and artificial dyes.
Contains: petrochemical derivatives, nut extract (Brazil nut), artificial colours (full ingredients at point of sale online).
Free from: PPD, peroxide, ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, artificial fragrances or heavy metals.
Tints of Nature (UK) / Tints of Nature (US)
A semi-permanent colour range with some organic ingredients (they also have a permanent range which has PPD).
Contains: wheat proteins, fragrance, artificial colours. (Ingredients not supplied on website.)
Free from: ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, peroxide, PPD, PTD.
Products with TDS & Hydrogen Peroxide
Naturvital (UK) / Naturvital (US)
Its Coloursafe range has been reformulated to no longer contain PPD.
Contains: TDS, sesame, wheat, SLS, fragrance, silicones, hydrogen peroxide, petrochemical derivatives (full ingredients supplied on website).
Free from: ammonia, resorcinols, parabens, PPD.