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HERBAL HAIR DYES
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This
paper is prepared purely for information purposes and the authors absolve
themselves of all responsibility for accidental or intended harmful effects
or illegal
activities resulting from use or abuse of information given therein.
INTRODUCTION
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The use of hair colors of various types,
natural or man-made is mentioned in historical records from the earliest
Egyptians through many successors in their cultural heritage, Greeks,
Hebrews, Persians, Chinese and Hindus.
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Initially, utilizing simple and complex
substances from plants, minerals, metals and mixture of these was the main
method, which satisfied the desire to change the color of the hair.
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At the end of Nineteenth and beginning
of Twentieth Century, with expansion of frontiers of organic chemistry and
advent of many organic synthetic compounds, mainly developed for animal
fiber dying, an impetus was given to the development of various organic
derivatives, which nowadays has lead to modern manufactured products of
different brand names, formulas, and properties, producing very many
different hair color shades which almost would satisfy the requirements of
any individual.
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This, of course, has been achieved through extensive
research and investment
and today is a multi Billion-Dollar business throughout the world.
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The ingredients or
active components of these hair dyes are mainly derivatives of a class of
organic compounds called Aromatics with very many functional groups such as
Amine, Amine sulfate, Nitro, Hydroxy, etc. These are all synthetic,
unnatural compounds that ordinary a person might not come in contact with
throughout his or her life.
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Parallel to progress
in organic chemistry came the accumulation of knowledge in other branches of
sciences. Terms such as clinical testing, toxicity and Carcenogenicity
Evaluation, Environmental impacts, safety, allergy, animal testing,
metabolic pathways, side effects, as such like became so important that made
man to contemplate about searching for methods to secure the future of “Life
on Earth”.
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What science suggests now is the return
to the bosom of Mother Nature, after all science is to study and find out
about nature and by no means is capable of performing or creating anything
outside the boundaries of the laws of the Nature. Hence, comes a new set of
words onto the scene. Ozone friendly, Recycling, organic food,
Physiotherapy, Alternative medicine, Environmental protection, etc. and it
seems that this is the right track to follow, or so we hope.
Why Herbal Hair Dyes?
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It is generally believed that
herbal hair dyes when compared to their artificial counterparts do
not cover a wide spectrum of colors. It must be noted, however, that
extensive research has been and is being carried out to overcome this
limitation. Some success has been achieved in development of new shades by
utilizing new herbs, using mixture of various herbs or adding safe inorganic
salts to the formula.
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Herbal hair dyes are
generally less expensive than artificial colors, contain safer ingredients
and if manufactured properly are as easy to use.
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Most of the herbs
used have been in use for centuries and almost no report of any serious side
effects exists. On the contrary, in very many articles, papers and books the
beneficial effects of these herbs are indicated. These effects include
prevention of hair loss, strengthening hair roots, anti-dandruff, and
conditioning effect and so on. Most of the artificial permanent hair
colorants fall in the category of oxidation dyes and use hydrogen peroxide
as the oxidant. The oxidation process has a damaging effect on hair
structure and makes it brittle and unmanageable. On the other hand, the
coloration is normally achieved at a higher PH than 9 due to presence of
Ammonia.
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Herbal hair dyes,
however, do not have these disadvantages and the PH of the pastes prepared
are normally within the range of 5-6 (The natural PH of normal skin is
5.5-6).
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What About the Products You Intend to Use?
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Is it 100 % herbal?
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Is it 100 % Natural?
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Is it safe?
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The reply to the
mentioned questions requires clarifications of the terms indicated above,
i.e. herbal, natural, and safe.
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According to
definitions, 100 % herbal products are those which only herbs are used in
their formulas. These are normally in the form of powder and less frequently
in the form of pastes to which solvents such as water, glycerin and such
like is added. Also included might be preservatives to prevent growth of
microorganisms. Products having above specifications without incorporation
of complicated or synthetic organic ingredients could be considered 100%
herbal.
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In 100% natural
products, the ingredients used must originate from natural sources only,
i.e. herbs, herbal extracts and oils, natural polymers, proteins, minerals
(e.g. simple and non toxic metal salts, fatty compounds, carbohydrates,
glycerin, acetic acid (vinegar, lactic acid and so many others). These
ingredients if used properly and within the reasonable quantity generally
will have no harmful effect on the user and the environment. Most of the
products of cosmetic industry with the claim “Natural” on their label fall
within this category. It should however be noted that formulation of
cosmetic and hygienic products by using only natural ingredients as already
defined, impose a great burden on the formulation and manufacturer.
Therefore, in some cases using safe ingredients which do not absolutely
abide to the rule becomes inevitable.
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In simple terms
safety in cosmetics could be defined as having no harmful effect on consumer
and the environment. In industry the general belief is that if all
ingredients used in compounding a product is safe then the product could be
considered safe. This applies to all cosmetic products, irrespective of the
ingredients origin, either chemical or natural.
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Please note that safety
is a limited term. Most of natural or herbal producers claim that due to
origin of the ingredients used, the outcome should always be considered
safe. We however, do not fully agree with the general claim that herbal or
natural equals safety. Any herb and any amount of herbs utilized incorrectly
or for the wrong purpose could not always be considered safe, however, when
comparing products with herbal and natural origin with those containing
chemical ingredients in certain cases (i.e. hair dyes), the claim of safety
is much closer to reality for the former.
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There has been numerous
reports indicating the result of studies carried out both on animals and
humans to establish the harmful effect or safety of chemical hair dyes, all
with inconclusive results.
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Going through the
result of these studies makes the decision to change hair color by chemical
dyes more complicated since they linked chemical hair coloring with an
increased risk of contracting certain cancers. To make the matter more
confusing other studies do not support those findings. Although the data
available on safety of chemical dyes are not conclusive but overall “The
studies raise some questions about the safety of chemical hair dyes”. This
worry is lower for the case of natural hair dyes and much much lower for the
hair dyes which only have herbs and herbal ingredients.
Overall people who dye their hair
should follow these safety precautions :
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Do not leave the dye on your head any longer than
necessary.
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Rinse your scalp thoroughly with water after use.
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Wear gloves when applying hair dye
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Carefully follow the directions in the hair dye
package
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Be sure to do patch test for allergic reactions.
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Although research to
study the harmful effect of chemicals hair dyes continues, until definitive
evidence come in, consumers may want to proceed with caution when selecting a
hair dye.
Hair Dye Fact Sheet
The ideal hair dye should poses
characteristics which are not normally all present in available commercial
dyes.
They should not injure the hair
shaft and at the same time maintain the texture and gloss of the hair while
fully changing the color. No toxicity to the skin is a must and they should
not poses systemic toxic effects and they must be free from sensitizing
effects. The ideal hair dye should be stable to air, heavy water, and light
and have no incompatibility with other products used on the hair such as
reducing agents, hair waving and setting products and so on.
Complying with stringent
specifications mentioned above is observed in almost none of the available
dyes on the market. The dying of human hair, although similar to dying
textiles, but practically, there exists major differences, for example, the
hair being attached to human scalp requires the dye employed to be
dermatologically innocuous. This means that the dyestuff shall not produce
sensitization and also primary irritation either by physical or chemical
means. The pH of hair dye should be so far from neutral and temperature during
application should not exceed 40 degrees C. The process of dying must be
achieved rapidly and the final appearance should be natural and to achieve
this the dye should penetrate the hair shaft rather than coat on the outside.
In dying textile none of the above is limiting factor.
In the process of dying keratine
cross linkage in the hair fibre should not be affected. Therefore, prior use
of powerful swelling agents, strong oxidizing agents is rulled out.
According to their ingredients,
hair dyes are divided into three major groups :
1. Vegetable dyes
2. Metallic dyes
3. Synthetic organic
dyes
In the vegetable dyes, henna
used to be the only dye of importance, however, nowadays with developments in
formulation and extensive research, we have become able to create an extensive
range of shades based on herbs other than henna and their combinations with
henna. These products are based on powdered parts of plants including leaves,
roots, flowers and so on. The dying action of henna and other herbs is mainly
believed to be due to some specific active ingredients, in the case of henna,
for example, a compound called Lawson, but in many cases the final results
depend not merely on one compound but on accumulative effects of a group of
derivatives existing in the plant.
In dying hair with herbs a paste
prepared by mixing the herb with water, sometimes slightly acidified with safe
acids is applied to the hair. Normally, the hair must be shampooed prior to
application of herbal dye. The paste is allowed to remain on the hair for the
specified period, the duration of which depends upon the shade desired and the
texture and structure of the hair. The pH of the paste and it's temperature
are determining factors too. After the required time the hair is thoroughly
washed, and dried.
Most of the herbs used in our
formulations have the advantage of not possessing local or systemic toxicity.
They are not sensitizer or irritant. The color obtained enjoys good stability
and they penetrate into the hair shaft. Unlike most procedures of herbal dyes,
our products cover a wider range of shades and the results are repeatable.
As mentioned earlier, by
addition of other herbal ingredients to henna, such as chamomile, indigo
plant, logwood, senna, sage, and others, the extensive range of our hair dyes
is obtained. In none of our herbal products any organic, synthetic compound is
added.
The second class of hair dyes
mentioned above are those based on metal salts, various salts of lead, iron,
silver, copper, nickel, cobalt and so on have been suggested for dyeing hair.
Products based entirely on metal derivatives suffer from disadvantages of
contact of high concentrations of metal ions with scalp. Also, many of the
metals used such as lead, and to a lesser extent cobalt and nickel possess
toxic properties. Another draw back is to obtain good results addition of
organic derivatives such as pyrogallol or such like becomes necessary and this
is accompanied with addition of derivatives such as precipitated sulfur or
sodium thiosulfate which in turn add to the problems explained.
With dyes based on metals or the
active ingredients it is important to realize that colors are only in soluble
layers as coated on the surface of the hair shaft and therefore it does not
impart a natural effect, since the actual substance of hair is transparent.
Therefore, naturally, the hair dye is seen through this transparent layer and
natural looking dyes must penetrate the hair shaft.
The third class of hair dyes is
those in which the active coloring principles are from various groups of
organic dyestuffs. Most of the hair dyes available on the market now a days
are within this category. From this class the most used and available on the
market is a group called oxidation dyes. These consist of synthetic organic
compounds alone or mixed in a base formula containing Ammonia which are mixed
with hydrogen peroxide just before application to the hair. Inside the hair
the molecules convert to compounds of increasing molecular size and are very
hard to remove, so the dyes are to all intent permanent.
The data available on toxicity
of oxidation dyes are all in all inconclusive. The draw back of this type of
hair dye, however, is it’s harmful effects on the hair structure which in turn
causes the need for using special products to repair part of damages inflicted
due to high alkalinity and presence of strong oxidizing agents.
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