If You Can’t Go Natural, Go Natural
By Rebecca Blasband

Dec 3 | archive | subscribe

I was searching for a pure way to color my hair and rid myself forever of striped, blonde highlights and tenacious roots.  Before I ordered a box of henna at Whole Foods, I found Karen Davis at her Magnolia Avenue Salon. The high-energy overachiever - with over twenty years experience in beauty and a master degree in business - was not tight-lipped about the organic hair color myth.

According to Davis there is no natural or organic hair color.  “It does not exist. And any box of hair color that says ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ is putting you on.” She said

Ammonia isn’t the only toxic chemical needed to open, transport and deposit color into the hair, there’s also the more dangerous P-Phenylenediamine (PPD). Read the fine print on the “natural” hair color boxes, PPDs have many names such as phenylenediame, phenylenediame dihydrochloride, benzenediamine dihydrochloride or aminoaniline dihydrochloride. 

PPDs cause rashes, dermatitis, eye irritation, corneal damage, and in some cases loss of vision. Chronic exposure may affect kidney or liver function and can cause a bluish discoloration of the lips or tongue.

What about hennas or other kinds of vegetable dye, I ask? Davis shakes her head as she picks through my hair saying,  “Sorry, those contain some very dangerous metals such as mercury or lead.”

She explained that chemicals from hair dye that touch the head will be absorbed by the scalp, peroxide was the least harmful, and highlights foiled with some distance from the scalp, are the safest bet.

Davis then suggested that I go back to my original hair color, natural light ash brown, and then grow it out. But I had to decide, was it worth the toxicity?

Davis believes in Actyva, a professional-only hair color line. The Italian PPD-free line uses the less harmful chemical para-toluenediamine (PTD) sourced from chamomile. Like a pro, Davis highlights the lesser of evils through my hair while perfectly matching my hair color to my skin tone.

Well, if I can’t color my hair naturally, I can still have natural looking hair color. And it came with a lower amount of toxicity and a relaxing experience at Magnolia Avenue Salon. Magnoliaavesalon.com