Dyeing to Look Younger

Last month's article on hair dyeing caused a flood of replies from you! Going grey (or not) is obviously a subject that many of us have opinions on and feel strongly about. Whereas most of us can embrace ageing and deal with wrinkles and other such ‘delights' as a natural process, it seems that going grey can sometimes be a step too far. Ally described having grey hair as making her feel grey on the inside as well. And that seems to be the general consensus from our letters.

Sophie from Dorset agreed with Ally that being grey was not something she was prepared to do:

‘I know how Ally feels, I tried to do the same with encouragement from my partner, but as the grey appeared, he did comment that I was very grey and that was enough to send me back to try and find a more ethical and organic hair dye! Be good to know how Ally does!! Or if she finds a real goody!'

So why do women feel the need to avoid going grey? Images of women in magazines and on television almost never show grey and vibrant women. Grey women in the media are old women. And old women are surplus to requirements - look at Anna Ford, Arlene Phillips and Moira Stewart. All talented, qualified, professional - and glamorous - women fired from their frontline TV careers for being too old. Men, however, generally go grey without batting an eyelid, in fact they are ‘peppered' with grey and are described as ‘distinguished'. Male newsreaders or presenters seem to be in demand whatever their age. So is it the pressure of society that makes us feel the need to have coloured hair?

Some of us escape the pressure to not be grey though! Kathryn from Plymouth wrote in to say she is grey and completely happy with it:

‘I went fully grey a few years ago (around 50), though I had been getting grey hairs since my twenties as it seems to run in the family.

I was fed up with the roots showing through so quickly and also a little worried about the cancer risk in hair dyes so I decided to let it all go! I had a couple of wavering times when I dyed it again - and I did look younger, but the re-growth drove me up the wall.

Since I have been completely grey I have felt very comfortable with myself and even got used to looking older than my hubby who is only recently joining me in the grey stakes. On my 55th birthday I did dye my hair again as a salute to getting older - bright purple - which people loved and it certainly made a statement. I did it again a few months later (it was a gradually fading dye) and found that while I enjoyed the attention I missed my grey hair and the person that should be looking back at me in the mirror.

Deciding to go grey is a very personal thing and very a difficult decision, you need to be very comfortable in yourself and your world - it may not be suitable where you work for instance. But I think as more women do embrace the grey look it will become more acceptable and not so different. I have met some wonderful women with long grey and also white hair who look fabulous. We have to be who we are!'

Inspirational words from a very lovely lady and if enough women were as happy as Kathryn maybe grey would become more ‘acceptable'. Just the other day I saw a lady in Truro with long white hair and she looked stunning.

But for many of us, the need to not be grey is still too strong. We can, however, expose ourselves to dangerous combinations of chemicals in our efforts to avoid grey hair. The chemicals in high-street dyes can form a frightening cocktail.

Melanie had a similar reaction to Ally:

‘After about 20 years of dyeing my hair I developed an allergic reaction and ended up seeking medical advice for my itchy burnt scalp. It was so sore I ended up having my long hair cut off so it was easier to put my head into a cold sink of water for relief without having to dry my hair!

I now use henna powder although the results don't last as long as the chemical dyes.. .but I won't be going back to chemical dyes again!!'

Helen James of Innocent Oils, our BGI expert on chemicals lurking in products, tells us more about those long names on the back of packages.

‘Oxidative hair dyes contain coloured dye substances (such as p-phenylenediamine or 2-nitro-p-phenylenediamine) and hydrogen peroxide. These substances go through a chemical reaction inside the hair to become a dye. These oxidative hair dyes are mixed just before they are used, and commonly known as permanent hair dye.

Conventional permanent colourants contain ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, resorcinol and persulfates among others. But perhaps the most controversial ingredient often used is p-Phenylenediamine, often referred to as PPD. Found in permanent dyes, it has been linked to allergic reactions, from low to severe.

During the twentieth century, allergic reactions to PPD became such a serious problem that it was banned from hair dyes in Germany, France and Sweden. These countries have now allowed it to make up 6 per cent of a product!

Beside causing damaged hair and destroying hair follicles, use of hair dye containing any of these chemicals has been linked to allergic reactions, respiratory disorders and some types of cancer.'

So if we do decide to colour our hair without chemicals what is available to us? I have set many BGI friends onto a mission to find a completely natural, chemical-free hair dye. And it is not easy. Many that claim to be natural or organic actually still manage to contain some lurking nasties. You really need to check the label carefully and a helpful list of chemicals to avoid in skincare generally is available as a BGI Ideas Sheet.

However all is not lost! Susie from Great Malvern wrote in with some information on products she has found:

‘I use a natural hair dye called Act By Nature. It's an American product and is quite expensive, about £28 a go, but it should last for 2 applications with shortish hair. It is completely free from Paraphenylene diamine (PPD), Resorcinol, M-aminophenol, P-aminophenol, Toluene- 2,5-diamine, Azo-dyes, Diazo-dyes, Disperse dyes, Ammonia, Peroxide and Parabens and hasn't been tested on animals.

Go to www.suvarna.co.uk and you'll find the above and other natural hair dyes - the one I used to use is a Logona product which is Henna-based but in a cream rather than a powder - much easier to apply and half the price of the above! The reason I switched to the Act By Nature product when it was launched is because it is Indigo-based and looks much like my original almost-black colour! This is the price of vanity I guess!!'

We have looked into the chemicals in these products and as far as we can see they are nasty-chemical free. The only slight hiccup is the parfum which may contain something hidden.

Henna

Personally I swear by henna. It is completely natural and in my eyes a wonder product! My grandmother was grey by the time she was 30, something that bothered me greatly as I reached and passed that milestone. Now as 40 ominously approaches, I am about 75 per cent grey in my natural state. However, my natural state hasn't seen the light of day for over 25 years...

I have been dyeing my hair since before the age of steam and up until two years ago I used bog-standard, off-the-high-street-shelves chemical dyes. However I discovered what was in them and the risks associated with those chemicals.

Then I heard tales of henna. Henna (lawsonia inermia) is a plant that grows in North Africa, Egypt, India and the Middle East and is prominent in the history and culture of those areas. There is evidence that it was used in Egypt up to 5,000 years ago. Its dried, ground leaves produce a colourfast dye in shades that vary from pale brown to dark auburn reds, depending on the area where it is grown. It can be used to dye hair, skin or clothes. The top 5 per cent of the henna crop is powdered and sifted to make ‘body art quality henna' and is the very best for colouring your hair.

Admittedly, it is a bit of a faff. And rather messy, so newspaper on the floor and a handy friend, or in my case a handy husband, come in very useful. The other downside is the long wait once it is on your head. A good waiting period is about 4 hours which is a long time to be ‘indisposed'. Still, once your time is up, or you have had enough, rinse off and then shampoo out. Again it is messy so be prepared for your bathroom to look like a scene from Psycho.

But once it's done...it's worth it.

My previously dull, curly, brillo-pad-like hair is now so shiny and in such good condition I can't believe it! Another good point about henna is that it dyes grey hairs orange. So with my ‘sprinkling' of grey I get plenty of orange highlights that catch the sunlight. I would never use anything else ever again to dye my hair. Plus I am not grey and I am not polluting the environment.

So does this wonder product have a downside? Well, the fact it comes from foreign climes means it has air miles. But in my view, this is the lesser of two evils. By using henna I am not putting dangerous chemicals on my head or flushing them down the drain into the waterways.

A word of caution

Natural henna is red. Indigo is black. Both are natural plant products. If something is marketed as black henna though it may be a chemical dye containing PPD - just what you are trying to avoid!

Some easy ways to tell...

• Henna is a plant powder which looks like ground up plant leaves and has a greeny tinge. If it is mixed with water it will turn brown in a few hours.
• Indigo (which can be marketed as black henna) is also a green plant powder that smells a bit like frozen peas. If mixed with water, it will turn the surface blue in twenty minutes.
• PPD ‘black henna' is a black/brown or black powder. If mixed with water, the black dye will drain out.

So always make sure you buy your henna from a reputable source. If in doubt, ask! One reputable supplier some of us at the BGI have used is G. Baldwin & Co.

Mixing colours

• Red henna can be naturally darkened by adding indigo. Basically a one third indigo to two thirds henna mix will produce dark auburn and a two thirds indigo to one third henna will produce a dark brown with reddish tinge.
• Henna can be lightened by adding cassia, another natural plant product. It is an excellent conditioner and will turn pale blonde hair a golden shade. By adding a little henna (approximately 1 teaspoon to 100g cassia) you can achieve a strawberry blonde colour. Cassia will only work on blonde hair.

Keeping it in perspective

Kev from Bristol wrote in to tell us his story and generally put our worries about grey hair into perspective:

‘I am happy to be white haired and intend to stay so! In August last year, all my curly brown hair inexplicably fell out. My hairdresser noticed it starting when I popped in for one of my, very infrequent, haircuts. In less than three weeks I was completely bald. No shock and no illness showed up after extensive blood tests. My GP told me it was Alopecia totalis, and that there was a 70% chance it would grow back. Thankfully it did, within about 6 months, but came back as fine and white as many a baby's. Since then it has thickened a little and begun to get wavy again, though it is still a lot thinner on top than it was before.

It was quite a shock originally, as I'd always assumed that I would have a thick head of hair until later in life, as both my grandfathers and my father did. Unfortunately the Alopecia is sometimes a hereditary thing and my grandmother on my Mum's side had also suffered it, but nobody told me until it happened to me.

The responses of many friends and colleagues were wholly sympathetic and supportive. I was delighted by the number of ladies who told me it was very ‘distinguished' and even ‘attractive'! The only time I felt down about it was when I went to pick my daughter up, after her two weeks holiday, and she didn't recognise me.

Recently my daughter noticed that it is starting to come back in its original brown colour at the roots in a few places. So I'm hopeful that I may even have an eventual return to nearly what it was before. If not, I've never been particularly vain about my appearance and don't intend to start using dyes now.

I feel like I've been reborn!'

Kev's letter shows that when your health is a concern, grey hair is really not important. So whilst grey hair may not be ideal, we need to keep the whole issue in perspective. Is it really worth risking your health by loading your scalp with toxic chemicals? But if you can find a truly natural alternative that works for you, go for it! And don't just stop at questioning the ingredients in your hair dye. Look at chemicals in everyday products - moisturisers, soaps, perfumes, washing powder. Once you know what to look out for you will be horrified. And there are alternatives out there that won't harm you or the planet.

Going grey could be seen as a positive lifestyle choice. If more of us reverted to our natural selves, grey would become more acceptable. It is part of our natural ageing process and maybe, just maybe, we should stop worrying about that process and embrace fully the advantages maturity and experience bring.

Jo

top photo (c) freedigitalphotos.net 2009

Kathryn (c) Kathryn Colling 2009

Hair dyes from Suvarna website

henna dyeing pictures (c) Salena Walker 2009

grey and lovely pic (c) Margot Oakenby 2009

bottom pic (c) Emily L Mandelbaum 2009

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