Perhaps the most toxic ingredient, PPD (paraphenylenediamine)—rated seven out of ten in terms of toxicity on ewg.org—is in most permanent hair color (some contain a similar compound, PTD), including many so-called organic and natural formulas.
The Most Harmful Chemicals in Hair Dye: PPD and Resorcinol.
Our best overall pick is Biolage Haircolor, a henna dye that's free from harmful chemicals including ammonia and PPD. We also love Madison Reed Radiant Hair Color Kit, which is free of ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, PDD, phthalates, and gluten, plus the added benefit of being packed with hydrating ingredients.
Natural dyes: henna & indigo
Henna's been around forever and is a tried and true non-toxic semi-permanent option. It won't damage your hair and real Henna contains no harmful ingredients.
They typically contain high amounts of ammonia, PPDs, nitro dyes, metallic salts, and even unclean henna. These are harsh chemicals that can be extremely damaging to the hair as well as cause reactions to sensitive skin and allergies. When you apply box dye, the hair is permanently altered.
When it comes to salon treatments, the best professional hair color line is Wella Illumina Permanent Creme Hair Color. Available in 36 shades, the colorist-recommended formula is gentle, versatile, and leaves hair oh-so-shiny.
Acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure to trichloroethylene can affect the human central nervous system, with symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, confusion, euphoria, facial numbness, and weakness.
Altering the hair's protein structure through permanent and demipermanent dyeing can cause side effects that include: loss of hair strength. less ability for your hair to handle heat styling. reduced hair thickness.
Naturtint is another more permanent hair dye made from natural ingredients. All of their colors come from plant extracts, and they're intentionally free of ammonia, resorcinol, and other nasty chemicals you often find in synthetic dyes. Much like Herbatint, Naturtint has a small range of natural colors.
In GH Beauty Lab testing, experts found that Clairol Nice 'n Easy was the best pick for light hair and has a gentler, more conditioning formula.
Many box dye formulas also contain ammonia, a chemical that can damage strands and cause them to be dry and brittle. Professional hair color formulas are often made without ammonia to ensure that hair isn't damaged during the coloring process.
In short—the answer is yes. For starters, the hair color offered in at-home varieties is of a lesser quality than those you find in salons. This is because they contain harsher, more concentrated chemicals and often skip out on the protective ingredients used in a salon setting.
Sorry, hair dye without any chemicals is just not a thing (again, unless you're working with henna or straight-up plant juice). Dye will always require some chemical-based ingredients to help deposit pigment onto your hair.
Mix 2-3 tsp of onion juice, 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of olive oil. Massage into the scalp and hair and wash off after half an hour. An effective solution for greying hair, onion also promotes hair growth. It increases the enzyme, Catalase, thus darkening the hair.
EcoColors Hair color is gluten free, ppd free (p Phenylenediamine free), propylene glycol free and ethanolamine free as well as sulfite free, and paraben free.
The reality is, the more often you color your hair, the greater the potential for hair shedding. Hair dye does not stop or even slow down hair growth, but it can cause hair loss by damaging the color-treated hair. The chemicals in hair dye can cause some of the damage.
Box Dye vs Salon Dye Chemically
Cheap color = cheap ingredients. Box dye will not come with the quality in production as a professional salon brand. If you're cutting costs, it will come with a different kind of cost–quality color.