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Most hair dyes you can buy at the drug store contain many substances that are less healthy or even aggressive for your hair. This is not so bad for a single occasion. But do you dye your hair more often? For example, because your hair is already starting to turn grey? Then it makes sense to take a good look at what ingredients your hair dye contains.
Normal hair dyes, those from the drug store, are often full of chemicals. The two best knowns are ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. These chemicals have not been shown to be harmful to your health. It is also true that there are agreements in the European Union on the quantities that are allowed in hair dyes. You can therefore assume that hair dyes on the shelves in the Netherlands comply with these rules and do not cause any serious diseases. Also, according to a study by the World Health Organization, there is no link between the use of hair dye and cancer. So, hair dyes that comply with EU rules are not demonstrably harmful to your health. So says Dr Ronald van Welie, toxicologist and director of the NCV (Dutch Cosmetics Association): "I would like to reassure anyone concerned about the use of hair dyes that such products are safe to use. They are subject to very strict safety requirements, and safe use is endorsed by a wealth of scientific research and strict legislation."
If it is completely safe, then: why choose an alternative to this 'chemical' hair dye?
People are increasingly aware of aspects that can affect their health and there is more demand for natural products, sustainability and animal-friendliness. Also at WECOLOUR one of the reasons for developing its own hair dyes. Because even though the chemicals in hair dyes have not been shown to be harmful to your health, they do have other adverse effects. And we at WECOLOUR believe that more natural and sustainable is better! Thus, our products are also completely animal-free. In fact, our products are produced in Italy and animal testing for cosmetics has already been banned in the EU since 2003. Want to read more about why WECOLOUR was founded? Read it here.
For instance, most people prefer to avoid ammonia in hair dyes. Mainly because it has such a pungent smell that is therefore also very noticeable and also has a huge effect on your airways. Ammonia is an alkaline substance that causes your hair cuticles to open up. This allows the dye to enter your hair easier and deeper. The result of the colour is beautiful at first, but your hair will suffer in the long run. Your hair cuticles are damaged, they no longer close together properly, so you will suffer from dry and brittle hair more quickly. Besides, for hairdressers, who are often exposed to ammonia, it is not a pleasant substance of course. It can irritate the nose, skin, throat and eyes.
Another ingredient to watch out for in regular hair dyes is Phenylenediamine (PPD). This ingredient is used because it gives your new hair colour a nice, natural colour and because it keeps the new colour - even after numerous washes - from fading as quickly. The biggest problem with PPD is that it can cause a very severe allergic reaction. Even if it doesn't seem to bother you at first and you use it more often, you can develop one for it.
By the way, healthier hair dye does not mean you are immune to allergic reactions, if only that were true! At reform shops and sometimes at the drugstore, you will also see ' natural' hair dyes for home use. But beware first of all: you can have allergic reactions to these 'natural' brands too! Natural or plant-based is no guarantee that you won't be allergic to it. And besides, not all brands are, contrary to what you expect and the impression given by the packaging, in most cases not pure plant-based, so it is always important to read the packaging carefully. For example, Herbatint and Hennaplus contain a few per cent hydrogen peroxide. Don't be too easily fooled by terms like henna, natural and organic. Manufacturers may claim their product is natural even at 1% natural ingredients. These terms can be put on packaging very quickly and in many cases are not checked (properly). After all, mixing two products (colour cream and hydrogen peroxide) is always a chemical process. This is also the case with products that claim to be animal-free. Even if these products are supposedly cruelty-free via certification from a well-known body, it may be that this was true at the time of testing, but was not checked afterwards. If you care about this, some suspicion and a little deeper digging and spitting may even be in order.
Harmful substances are often used because there is either no alternative to the action of that substance or because it is the cheapest alternative. A choice is then made: more expensive paint or cheaper paint that can more easily compete with other brands. The dye may have the advantage that it is often cheaper (to produce), but because of the chemicals and substances used, you risk drying out and damaging your hair. Especially if you also like to style your hair with straighteners or blow dryers, or use other heat sources to style your hair. So while the chemicals do not cause any demonstrable damage to your health, they do to your hair! In the beginning, or if you do not dye your hair very often, you may not notice this so much. But eventually your hair becomes brittle and porous. As a result, the colour will come off again sooner and sooner, making it necessary to dye your hair again. You end up in a vicious circle. And beautiful hair is beautiful groomed hair after all. To cover grey, a dye always needs hydrogen peroxide. You can never dye your hair with a pure vegetable or natural product without hydrogen peroxide. Plant-based, 100% natural paint, i.e. without hydrogen peroxide cannot dye your grey hair opaque. If you don't have grey hair, you do have the choice of opting for a purely plant-based hair dye.
Another reason that some people prefer dyeing with natural or vegetable hair dye may be because they don't like the even, emphatically dyed effect of a chemical hair colouring. Indeed, with some drugstore hair dyes, all hairs are the same colour, just like a wig. With hair dyes that consist of (more) natural, plant-based ingredients, the colour your hair ends up with after dyeing is always a combination of your own hair colour with the colour of the dye. This makes the result look more natural (i.e. not 'dyed'), as the natural shades and hues remain visible, just like with undyed hair. But in a different colour of course! Also with WECOLOUR, you keep the 'natural' colour shades in your hair after dyeing.
We often hear back from people that they almost always suffer from an irritated or tense scalp after dyeing. They find this quite normal and think it is part of the experience. If your scalp reacts badly when you dye your hair, it means that the substances can penetrate deeper into your skin. Substances that don't belong in your system will enter it. Still, something to think about! With WECOLOUR, to their great relief, they often no longer have this problem.
But it can get even worse, allergic reactions can also occur by dyeing your hair. The vast majority of hair dyes at chemists and hairdressers use PPD as a dye. And this substance, p-phenylenediamine, is almost always the cause in the case of allergic reactions to hair dye. There are hair dyes that do not contain PPD, such as henna, but as mentioned earlier, purely vegetable hair dyes do not cover on grey hair. This is, of course, a very big drawback. Since not too long ago, there have been some suppliers of hair dyes without PPD that do cover grey hair. These add another pigment substance to cover the grey hairs and this is related to the substance PPD, namely toluene-2,5-diamine sulphate, or TDS or PTD. This is also the case with WECOLOUR. However, this substance is a lot less harmful and the chance of developing an allergy to it is a lot lower. In addition, our reds do not contain TDS either!
Would you also like to dye with a healthier dye? Then decide for yourself why you want it. Because do you want to dye your hair opaque and is it grey? Then you cannot use pure vegetable dye. And so you have to make a different choice. And do you think animal welfare is important? Then be aware that an animal-free label does not say everything. So make your own choices in these kinds of aspects, decide what is important to you in a hair dye. Then read the product packaging carefully and see what ingredients are listed. Less harmful ingredients in the dye will keep your hair beautiful for longer. Not only will the colour last longer and you will have to re-colour less often, you will also notice that your hair is soft after colouring and your scalp is less or not irritated.
At WECOLOUR, we have done our best to replace as many less-than-perfect ingredients as possible with alternatives that are better, at least for your hair! We have kept our hair dye as pure as possible and it does not contain PPD which could cause you to build up a hair fall allergy. In addition, WECOLOUR also contains no ammonia, ppd and resorcinol. You can immediately smell that this is much better for your hair! You also notice your hair is much softer. WECOLOUR does have 100% grey coverage! You may still be allergic to our dyes, but if you want a truly grey-covering, permanent, beautiful hair colour, WECOLOUR is the best place to go.
Are you allergic to hair dye? Or were you previously not allergic but have built up an allergy to hair dye? People who have built up an allergy to hair dye over the years are in 70% of cases not allergic to our hair dyes. If you have an allergy to PPD from birth, the chances are slim that you can tolerate our hair dyes. Even if you are not allergic, but want to minimise this for the future, WECOLOUR's black hair colour is a healthier choice.
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The dye provides good grey coverage and lasts long.
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