There seems to be an organic alternative to everything. And hair dye is no exception.
In organic hair products, ammonia is replaced with corn or soy. They are slightly more expensive, but Christina Arciuli from Hair and Beauty Australia says it can be worth paying extra.
"People who have asthma or sinus [problems] would be best using the products that have lower levels of ammonia," she says.
Pros and cons
Most hair colours consist of toxic chemicals such as Ammonia, Peroxide, diaminobenzene, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and p-Phenylenediamine (PPD) which can swell the hair follicle, damage the hair and initiate allergic reactions.
Over bleaching in any form dries out hair leading to splits and damage.
Convetional hair dyes usually contain synthetic chemical waxes to make your hair appear shiny.
Organic hair care products are only made with natural plant ingredients.
To get down to the roots, we've put organic hair treatments and chemical hair treatments to the test and sent out volunteers to two different salons to experience hair makeovers.
Wendy Shaur will attempt to steer long-time chemical users Lisa and Gemma towards organic hairstyling.
Gemma: "There is no burning or tingling."
Lisa: "You can't smell anything in the salon at all."
Meanwhile, Kylie and Faith are having a chemical makeover at Monique McMahon's chemical-friendly Salon.
Monique says chemical-based dyes do no harm and achieve better results, but does admit too much bleach can cause damage.
But her clients were definitely not worried about health effects or hair damage after going blonder and having their regrowth covered up using chemical products.
Kylie says of the chemical treatment: "It looks so good feels amazing so blonde and healthy looking."
Faith agrees: "If I can get a result just like this, the chemicals don't bother me at all."
Back at Wendy's organic salon, Gemma and Lisa are also very happy clients.
Lisa says: "In the past I've always had a coloured mark on the hairline from the dye they have used, but this time from the natural product there's nothing."
Gemma: "I'm surprised at how soft it is... it doesn't feel like it's been dyed at all."
Conclusion: The results from our tests show colours and comforts from organic hair styling compared to chemical hair styling appear pretty much the same.
Contact details:
Monique McMahon Colourist
Upstairs @ Lunio Hair
391 Crown St
Surry Hills NSW
Phone: 0402369552
monmcmahon@gmail.com
Services: Foiling, balayage, colouring, colour glaze.
Organic alternative:
Tres Jolie
Shop 3/139 Longueville Road
Lane Cone NSW
Phone: 02 9420 0700
www.tresjoliehair.com.au
