Do You Dye Your Hair?
We bet you do. A whopping 70 percent of us bottle our blondes, reds and chestnuts, and it’s not hard to understand why. But here’s something: Hair dye is pretty toxic. Even conservative experts say as much (never a good sign) and it’s also bad for your hair. And yet I love me some highlights. So what to do?
As with all things, we think it’s important to be informed, and then calculate the risks. If you do the math and you still want to dye your hair, then for the love of god, eat your broccoli.
A few things worth noting:
—Hair dye has been linked to lymphoma in hair stylists, whose rates of exposure are much higher than the average four-times-a-year highlighter.
—Many chemicals in dyes are irritants, some are suspected carcinogens and others still are immune system toxicants.
—Dark dyes are more toxic than blondes.
—Europe has banned a boatload of chemicals used in hair dyes that we still use on this side of the pond.
—You want to avoid dyes containing p-phenylenediamine, diaminobenzene, ammonia and peroxide (goodluckwiththat), and that means if you’re going to a salon, you’re going to be the girl who asks to see ingredient labels. Awkward, but advised.
—Have you met Miranda Priestly? Or Helen Mirren, for that matter? Gray hair on ladies is sexy!
Those of you who have the book may already know I’m an on-again-off-again highlighter (who had a horrific experience when I tried to go “natural” with my dye job), but in the past year, something weird happened. Sort of by accident, I stopped coloring my hair. It’s been more than eight months since I’ve touched it, and I’m kind of digging how it looks. The base seems to match my skin tone better—Stacy Malkan told me she had the same thought when she stopped coloring hers—and it’s healthier, obviously.
But we’re not zealots about such things. So we want to know—do you dye yours? How often? Do you worry about the chemicals involved?
I haven’t dyed mine since I was pregnant over 4 years ago. My friend who’s an esthetician told me that it’s not just during the application that the chemicals are toxic. They continue to react with the other products you use on your hair everyday and the chemicals in your water, so you’re continuing to expose yourself to toxins every day. If you are going to color your hair, at least do hightlights and lowlights so that it doesn’t get directly applied to the scalp (this lessens exposure, not prevents it). Also, NEVER color your hair while pregnant.
I’ve been told that “Organic Coloring Systems” is safe, but I haven’t tried it myself
I used to color my hair as well – in fact, I’ve done EVERY color but true black. A few years ago, I just got sick of doing it. Sometimes I still long to go red for a bit, but I usually shake that off. Not only is the maintenance a pain in the butt, but the CHEMICALS – yuck yuck yuck.
I use Naturtint Permanent Hair Colorant which is free of ammonia, resorcinol, peroxide and p-phenylenediamines (PPD). I also use Faith In Nature hair products the rest of the time which are 100% natural. My hair is in good condition.
I´ve been using Henna+ paprika + lemon juice + water+ a few drops of lavander and eucalyptus oils for the last 7 years… it´s kind of a witchy process, which involves mixing up colored goo and sitting like a swamp creature for a couple hours while the color sets, but i love the color and wouldn´t consider doing it any other way- it´s less damaging than chemical dyes for red/auburn hair, doesn´t sting my scalp or eyes or make me break out or smell like toilet bowl cleaner, fades very gently and the color is very pretty.
Have you seen this clip from “Baby Mama”? :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBzRZjgFLRw&feature=related
I hadn’t heard of the link between hairdressers and lymphoma… but now that you mention it, I have known THREE friends (hairdressers) who have suffered from that! I used to use Vinegar to bring out the Auburn Highlights in my dark brown hair… but now I use BOXES – Loreal Excellence to be exact. OK OK… I know it is “time to transition” – and this link to lymphoma helps make up my mind… It is TIME to go ala natural… to my gray or white – or whatever… because I’m not exactly sure what is under there! Why is it that MEN just age and go grey without a fuss… and we keep dyeing and dyeing and apparently DYING! I shall TRY to go natural… and if I can’t stand it, I promise to double my broccoli intake!