hypoallergic hair dye
July 6, 2012 6:04 PM   Subscribe

Best hypoallergic hair dyes?

Hi: I have suddenly become allergic to hair dyes (including herbitant) that I have used for the last 10 years.
posted by page123 to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)
 
Henna?
posted by cmoj at 6:26 PM on July 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


I've had reactions to some (I think Clairol was the worst for me), but I've had good luck with L'Oreal Preference. No reaction at all after using it for a few years, and I have very, very sensitive skin.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 7:41 PM on July 6, 2012


You are probably allergic to this ingredient: p-phenylenediamine

It's also an ingredient in herbitant, which is why that "organic-ish" dye would also cause allergic reactions. In theory, as long as you stay away from dyes with that ingredient you should be okay, except that it's in almost every commercial dye (including L'Oreal).

cmoj is right to mention henna. I use it (not because of allergies but because it's a permanent red dye) and many people who use it do so to get around allergies they've developed. There is also indigo (for jet black, think: goth) and I believe you can mix it with another plant (cassia I think?) to get a more natural black ranging into brown.

I believe there's a small portion of people allergic to henna so, of course, test everything first, but the advantage is that they are natural dyes without the chemical you're probably allergic to. Just make sure not to pick up some processed product at a beauty supply store but rather get the pure plant base and apply it yourself (there's lots of information around the web about these specific dyes).
posted by subject_verb_remainder at 11:02 PM on July 6, 2012


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