Dying to Look Good: Chemical ‘Hair Brew’ isn’t All That Bad. Is It?

Yeah. It’s THAT bad. So what’s in the brew?

“In general, hair dyes include dyes, modifiers, antioxidants, alkalizers, soaps, ammonia, wetting agents, fragrance, and a variety of other chemicals …that impart special qualities to hair (such as softening the texture) or give a desired action to the dye (such as making it more or less permanent).

Other chemicals used in hair dyes act as modifiers, which stabilize the dye pigments or otherwise act to modify the shade. Antioxidants protect the dye from oxidizing with air. Most commonly used is sodium sulfite. Alkalizers are added to change the pH of the dye formula, because the dyes work best in a highly alkaline composition. Ammonium hydroxide is a common alkalizer.

Hair dyes are usually packaged with a developer… most often based on hydrogen peroxide, with the addition of small amounts of other chemicals depending on the manufacturer.”
- See "How Products Are Made", Vol. 3. Hair Dye. (For full article)

Most hair brew includes toxic combinations of para-phenylenediamine (PPD), Resorcinol, Ammonia and Hydrogen Peroxide. Now add coal tar and lead acetate.

Why coal tar? It darkens the hair and is very cheap to manufacture. However, it also triggers serious allergic reactions as it is easily absorbed into the skin. It’s labeled as hazardous by the FDA.

Lead acetate is an extremely harmful ingredient and is used commonly in progressive dyes. You know. The ones that change your hair color gradually. Men, are you paying attention? The European Union has banned its use at cosmetic counters and the state of California has listed it as a potential carcinogen.

Hopefully, this is ‘food for serious thought’. Happily, alternative chemical-free solutions exist and hopefully are implemented by all desiring to color their hair naturally. After all, don’t natural ingredients simply ‘taste’ better?


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