Do you dye? 8 Ingredients You Should Avoid At All Costs

One in three women over the age of 18 and 2 in three over the age of 45 use hair dye to cover gray hair or change their natural color. One in 10 men also uses a product. And they all do it confidently, without thinking about the consequences for their health.

Hair dyes increase the risk of cancer

Several recent studies link the conventional dyes with breast cancer.

Research led by Kefah Mokbel, a professor and chief surgeon at London’s Princess Grace Hospital, concludes that dyeing more than six times a year is associated with a 14% increased risk of developing breast cancer.

In the women with black skin this risk exceeds 50% and reaches up to 74% in the case of cancers with positive estrogen receptors, according to a study by Rutgers University. In this, hair straightening products also showed a carcinogenic link.

A third study, a review carried out by researcher Sanna Heikkinen, from the University of Helsinki, estimates that dyeing your hair increases the risk of suffering from the disease by an average of 23%.

For Dr. Adana Llanos, an epidemiologist at Rutgers University, the relationship between dyes and cancer It most likely responds to the presence of ingredients with estrogenic effects, such as phthalates, parabens, perfumes, and other hormonal-acting chemicals.

The composition has improved, but not enough

The composition of synthetic dyes has improved since the 1970s, when the presence of different carcinogenic substances in them was denounced, but are still far from completely secure.

Manufacturers have been substituting the ingredients that had the most evidence against them and, in 2006, the European Union banned 22 chemical compounds which had been linked to bladder cancer, leukemia and various types of lymphoma.

However, a study published in 2014 in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicinehas discovered that hair salon employees continue to be exposed to toluidinean aromatic amine that is a probable carcinogen and it is still used in the manufacture of pigments despite being banned.

These substances are found in greater quantity in the darker color tints.

Therefore, current dyes may contain compounds with hormonal effectaromatic amines and some other ingredients under suspicion.

Ingredients you should avoid at all costs in your dye

Many people who want to reduce their risk seek dyes “without ammonia” because this substance, which is used to fix the new color, dries the hair, is irritating and smelly.

But this is not enough. In the composition of current dyes, including “ammonia-free” ones, are used more than 5,000 different chemical substances.

Too many of those substances are aggressive with the skin, allergenic and carcinogenic in animals. Let’s see some of them:

1. Paraphenylenediamine (PPD or para-phenylenediamine)

It is found in greater quantity in the darker color tints and there are studies that associate it with irritation, allergic reactions and cancer.

Dyes containing PPD are required to state on the packaging that “may cause an allergic reaction”, “contains diaminobenzenes” and “do not use to dye eyebrows and eyelashes”. The same warnings should appear if the dye contains similar substances such as methylphenylenediamines and diaminotoluenes.

Professor Kefah Mokbel relates PPD to the hormone dependent cancers. And experts at the Environmental Working Group, which maintains a database of cosmetic ingredients, rate their health risk as moderate to high.

Look for it in the ingredient list, because it’s not hard to find in products that are presented as “natural”. It can appear with the following names:

p-phenylenediamine 1,4-benzenediamine 1,4-phenylenediamine CI 76060 oxidation base 10 p-aminoaniline p-diaminobenzene 1,4-diaminobenzene 4-aminoaniline

2. Ammoniacal Mercury (ammoniated mercury)

often found in “PPD-free” products, but it is not completely certain, since it is related to allergic reactions. It is used to bleach and enhance color.

3. Ammonia or ammonium hydroxide (ammonium hydroxide)

It is responsible for the bad smell of dyes. It irritates the respiratory tract and is very aggressive with the skin.

In conventional dyes that are declared as “without ammonia” it is very likely to be replaced by a similar reagent like ethanolamine, which is odorless, but not much safer.

It is especially worrying for hairdressing employees.

4. Hydrogen peroxide (hydrogen peroxide)

It’s not toxic, but can irritate skin and lungs. It is used to remove the natural color and facilitate the fixation of the pigment.

5. Nonylphenol or octylphenol (nonylphenol or octylphenol)

Studies suggest that they are endocrine disruptors that accumulate in body fat.

They especially affect men, because reduce the production and quality of sperm.

6. Parabens and phathalates (parfum)

They are also endocrine disruptors. Some parabens are related to breast canceralthough the causal association is not yet established.

7. Resorcinol

It is a very aggressive substance with the skin and an endocrine disruptor that alters the thyroid and adrenal glands. May affect the nervous and immune systems.

Its function is to react with a bleach (usually hydrogen peroxide) to favor the fixation of the color in the hair.

When it is present in the dye composition, the law requires the following warnings: “contains resorcinol”, “rinse hair well after application”, “do not use to dye eyelashes or eyebrows”, “immediately rinse eyes when the product comes into contact with them”.

In the list of ingredients you can find it with different names:

1,3-benzenediol 3-hydroxyphenol CI developer 4 m-dihydroxybenzene 1,3-dihydroxybenzene m-hydroquinone m-phenylenediol oxidation base 31 resorption

8. Formaldehyde

It is a preservative compound irritant, allergenic and, in certain circumstances, carcinogenic, which is not listed as such, but can also be released by some of them, such as quaternium-15, dimethyl-dimethyl (DMDM) hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, sodium hydroxymethylglycinate; and 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (bromopol).

Natural and safe alternatives to dye your hair

Fortunately they exist alternatives to synthetic dyes. But to discover them, you must avoid brands that use the words “natural”, “organic” or “without ammonia” as a claim, which do not prevent harmful ingredients from being found in their composition.

should go with be careful even with products whose main ingredient is hennathe plant that has traditionally been used to dye hair, as they may contain synthetic and harmful additives such as PPD or lead acetate, which is prohibited in the European Union.

In the beauty salon or at home

You can dye yourself with pure henna at home, but if you want to go beyond reddish tones, there are now salons where dyes of a variety of colors are professionally applied. plant-based colors, clays and vegetable oils that offer maximum coverage and duration (up to 6 months).

Natural dyes resort to plants that stain such as henna, cassia, Indian currant (amla), indigo, hibiscus, turmeric, saffron, beetroot, walnut shells, sea buckthorn or coffee, among many others. Of course, the hair is not bleached, but covered with pigments that do not alter its structure.

As conditioners they use coconut oil, wheat proteins or jojoba, for example. All of these natural ingredients are not only non-hazardous, but nourish and protect hair.

The only limitation is that it is not possible to achieve a shade lighter than the natural hair. The Naturalmente or Secretos de agua brands offer this type of product for professionals.

Certified natural or organic

Also exist natural dyes in powder or cream to apply at home. It is always necessary to read the list of ingredients or, even better, look for the seal of a recognized certifier on the packaging (Cosmos, BDIH, NaTrue, Ecocert, ICEA…).

Manufacturers committed to health and the environment provide rigorous and clear information about the components they use.

Our selection of recommended natural dyes

Here is a selection of six safe dyes for your hair and your health that you can easily find in natural cosmetics stores or organic supermarkets to apply at home:

1. Intense Black Henna Powder (Logona)

It is used to darken hair and cover gray hair. It can be mixed with other colors to improve and customize the result.

Ingredients: Indigofera tinctoria (indigo) leaf powder, Lawsonia Inermis (henna) leaf extract, Acacia concinna fruit powder and Emblica Officinalis Fruit Powder.

2. Red wine coloring cream (Logona)

The product is ready to be applied to the hair.

This color is recommended for blonde and medium brown hair and it provides good coverage thanks to the green clay. With the application time (from 30 to 120 minutes) different degrees of color intensity can be achieved.

Ingredients: Water, alcohol, glycerin, bentonite, Chamomilla recutita, xanthan gum, Rheum undulatum, coco glucoside, alginate, Lawsonia inermis, citric acid, maltodextrin, essential oil, linalool, limonene.

3. 100% Herba light blonde vegetable dye (Khadi)

To apply on gray hair and give them a touch of blonde to copper. Strengthens the roots, adds volume and shine to the hair.

The presentation is in powder and, with hot water, it is prepared in the form of a paste.

Ingredients: powders and extracts of 16 plants.

4. Snacks (L’Oreal)

The multinational L’Oreal has launched this 100% vegetable product this spring. It is distributed in beauty salons for its application by professionals who must mix the three plants in different proportions to achieve the desired tone.

Ingredients: henna, indigo and cassia powders.

5. Vegetable coloring (Santé)

Santé vegetable dyes are available in 9 colors that can be mixed with each other, are easy to apply and their creamy texture prevents them from dripping when applied.

Ingredients: hydrolyzed wheat protein, alginate, henna, cassia, walnut shells, indigo, rhubarb root, ratania, coffee, turmeric, and beetroot.

6. Pure Amla Powder (Phitofilos)

The Indian gooseberry (amla or Phyllanthus emblica) has been used for thousands of years in Chinese and Indian medicine (Ayurveda) as a protectant for hair and skin.

By itself it has no effect on color but, combined with henna, indigo or cassia, it lengthens the duration of hair pigmentation.

Ingredients: powder of Phyllanthus emblica