Gentle Hair Color II

[mendy]

So, this is a follow-up to my Gentle Hair Color post.

Someone mentioned that BIGEN, one of three no-peroxide, no ammonia semi-perm (8-10 washes) colors I use with great success to cover my gray (maybe will decide not to one day, but for now...) might be harmful. So, I contacted company and here are the ingredients. I have NEVER had so much as one itch from this stuff and have had no problems with my very fragile, pre-damaged hair. I realize that you can develop a sensitivity to PPD, but I have never had any. Anyway, does anyone smart see anything glaring in this ingredient list? Thanks.

Water (AQUA)
> Propylene Glycor Cetearyl
> Acohol, Ceteareth-25
> Diglycerin, Glyceryl
> Stearate,Oleth-10
> Butyrospermum ParkII (Shea)
> Butter, Hydrogenated
> Polyisobutene, Cetearyl
> Ethylhexanoate, Glycol
> Distearate, Beeswax
> Helianthus Annuus
> (Sunflower), Seed oil, Honey
> Disodium Edta, Ethanolamine
> Frangance (Parum)
> Disperse Black 9, Disperse
> Violet 1, HC Blue, No 2, HC
> Blue No 16, HC Red, NO 1, HC
> Yellow No 2

[boudica]

Was just looking at their website. I like their dark auburn, but would like it to be less...dark (I'm looking for a light auburn.) Can I vary the strength of the deposit by the length of time I let it spend on my hair?

What are the other two no-peroxide / no-ammonio permanent haircolors you use?

(Sorry I couldn't be helpful with the ingredients, but I'd really like to switch to non-toxic, non-henna permanent colors.)

Cheers,

Lee

[mendy]

Hold on! The Bigen semi-perm doesn't come in Dark Auburn that I know of! You must be looking at the permanent powder -- which I have no idea about, may be very harsh!

Do a search for "Gentle Hair Color" part one, but the two other semis (really temporaries) I use are: Ion (lasts the longest ime) and Clairol Beautiful Advanced Gray Solutions.

The colors do get darker the longer you leave them on, with heat cap especially. But they last nice and long that way, fading over the next 2-3 weeks. If you leave it on for a short while, they don't last long, so that's the trade-off.

In general, the colors come out darker than the illustrations. I don't mind waiting for them to fade, but if you do, you could mix in a level or two higher. If you're looking for a light auburn, you have lots of choices in all three brands.

For Bigen, you could mix medium cherry (level 3, which all come out pretty dark) with maybe a level 4 (light cognac) and/or a little bit of even a level 6 (golden blonde). No level 5, for some reason. You really have to experiment. I dip in strips of paper to test. Luckily, if you don't like, a few washes with a clarifying shampoo and you can start over...
For Clairol, there's dark brown and burgundy brown you could mix. Ion, I mix light warm brown (you could do light red brown) with some golden blonde for a medium brown color, otherwise it's too dark for me...Well, I am signing off soon...