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Thread: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

  1. #1
    Lacemaking longhair MusicalSpoons's Avatar
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    Default "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    Name and shame! I was shocked to discover that many 'herbal dyes' contain developer and even PPD - I guess this is why hairdressers are so wary of people saying they've used 'henna' and 'herbal dyes' on their hair, under the impression that they are natural and gentle. Honestly I am slightly fuming, I have to admit.

    So I guess this thread was part rant, and part resource: tell us the brands you've found claiming to be herbal, and whether or not they are or if they are greenwashed conventional dyes.

    As always though, CHECK INGREDIENTS YOURSELF on what you buy; formulations change (or even vary according to which part of the world) and this thread is not guaranteed to stay up-to-date

    ---

    Clairol Natural Instincts: developer, metallic salts

    Color & Soin: developer, possible metallic salts

    Herbatint: developer, metallic salts, PPD in the black dye

    Naturtint: developer, metallic salts, PPD

    Tints of Nature: developer, metallic salts, PPD


    ^NOTE: The absence of mentioning PPD in the above observations does not guarantee no PPD in the dark colours. Always, always check for yourself.


    *Henné Color powder: possible metallic salts (*current ingredients on their website don't have them, but on another site selling their 'henna' colours they do contain - maybe old stock/formulation?)




    Logona Natural hair Colour Cream: deposit-only dye (no developer), contains natural extracts

    Henné Color Henna Cream: deposit-only dye, contains plant extracts not necessarily henna

    Herbal Time Colouring Henna Cream: deposit-only dye, contains plant extracts not necessarily henna

    Surya Brasil Henna cream: deposit-only dye, contains plant extracts not necessarily henna




    Logona Natural Hair Dye Powder: pure plant mixes, natural additives

    Khadi Herbal Hair Colour: pure herbs/plant mixes

    It's Pure Organics: pure herbs/plant mixes

    Sante Herbal Hair Colour / Naturkosmetik: plant matter/oils/natural additives

    Botanēa by L’Oréal Professionnel: pure cassia / henna / indigo (but also white people 'discovering' a 'new way' to colour hair )

    Henné Color Premium Végétal powder: pure herbs/plant mixes

    Surya Brasil Henna powder: pure herbs/plant mixes

    TEA Natura: pure herbs/plants, some mixes

    Phitfilos: pure herbs/plant mixes

    ColourWell 100% Natural tint: pure plant mix

    Radico Colour Me organic hair colour: pure plant mix

    Ayluna Plant-based hair dye: pure plant mix

    Le Erbe di Janas: pure herbs / mixes

    La Saponaria Hennetica: pure plant mix

    Biokosma: pure plant powders

    STYX: pure plant powders

    EtnoBotanica: pure plant powders
    Last edited by MusicalSpoons; February 11th, 2021 at 06:33 PM.
    Length goal well and truly met, now just seeing how it grows ...
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  2. #2
    A sandwich Sammich's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    How is Clairol natural instincts? This stuff is complicated lol
    Wobbly are the walls ofmy mind. ~ Hip onward to tailbone and beyond~ No trimming 2021 from 8th February 2021 ~ My hair type is Asian.

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    LHC FairyGodMum lapushka's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    I knew a few people who raved about Herbatint, because hey, they sold it at Holland&Barrett, you know (then still "Essenza" in Belgium)? So it had to be "better". I then compared it to regular dye, only you pay more for this, because it's got a bit of henna in it, I think? So, I stuck to my regular dyes at the time just fine!
    WCC method (washing) --- Rinse-out oil (MO) --- LOC/LCO method (styling)

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    Lacemaking longhair MusicalSpoons's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sammich View Post
    How is Clairol natural instincts? This stuff is complicated lol
    Well it contains a developer so straight away that tells you it's not a herbal dye - but the marketing is SOOOO deceptive, it's not until you look at what the box contains that you'd even know it contains developer.

    Ingredients for 8a California Beach:

    Colour Enhancing Crème (Colour)
    Aqua/Water/Eau, Propylene Glycol, Ethanolamine, Cetearyl Alcohol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Citric Acid, Parfum/Fragrance, Sodium Sulfite, 2-Methoxymethyl-p-Phenylenediamine, Dicetyl Phosphate, Ascorbic Acid, Ceteth-10 Phosphate, Steareth-200, Resorcinol, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide / (CI 77891), Disodium EDTA, 2-Methylresorcinol, m-Aminophenol, Tocopheryl Acetate.

    Colour Activator (Developer)
    Aqua/Water/Eau, Paraffinum Liquidum/ Mineral Oil/ Huile minerale, Hydrogen Peroxide, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Salicylic Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Disodium Phosphate, Disodium Pyrophosphate, Sodium Stannate, Etidronic Acid.

    Brilliant Shine Conditioner

    So as well as developer it also contains at least one but possibly more metallic salts too.
    Last edited by MusicalSpoons; February 8th, 2021 at 03:42 PM.
    Length goal well and truly met, now just seeing how it grows ...
    Picky scalp but easygoing hair, thank goodness

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    Lacemaking longhair MusicalSpoons's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    Quote Originally Posted by lapushka View Post
    I knew a few people who raved about Herbatint, because hey, they sold it at Holland&Barrett, you know (then still "Essenza" in Belgium)? So it had to be "better". I then compared it to regular dye, only you pay more for this, because it's got a bit of henna in it, I think? So, I stuck to my regular dyes at the time just fine!
    Yup. Two sites I looked at are Holland&Barrett and BigGreenSmile, both selling these straight-up box dyes as 'alternatives' and 'healthy' because they contain plant extracts, never mind the blooming PPD which is way worse than parabens or sulphates ever will be. Sickening, it really is.
    Length goal well and truly met, now just seeing how it grows ...
    Picky scalp but easygoing hair, thank goodness

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    LHC FairyGodMum lapushka's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    I hate "greenwashing", Spoons. Glad you made the post, because it is super helpful (and a lot of work went into that, so thank you). It also happens in skincare mainly. And I hate it, people saying the natural things are better, oh and don't even get me started on deodorant. No seriously, I know some of you guys love your natural deodorants. I can't do them.
    WCC method (washing) --- Rinse-out oil (MO) --- LOC/LCO method (styling)

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    Lacemaking longhair MusicalSpoons's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    Quote Originally Posted by lapushka View Post
    I hate "greenwashing", Spoons. Glad you made the post, because it is super helpful (and a lot of work went into that, so thank you). It also happens in skincare mainly. And I hate it, people saying the natural things are better, oh and don't even get me started on deodorant. No seriously, I know some of you guys love your natural deodorants. I can't do them.
    Indeed, I think you probably know how much I hate it too, but especially when brand names are so specifically designed to mislead - I hope at least this way it might help some people make an informed decision. I have a load of tabs open with other brands to look at the ingredients for another time, my brain was melting
    Length goal well and truly met, now just seeing how it grows ...
    Picky scalp but easygoing hair, thank goodness

  8. #8
    LHC FairyGodMum lapushka's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    Quote Originally Posted by MusicalSpoons View Post
    Indeed, I think you probably know how much I hate it too, but especially when brand names are so specifically designed to mislead - I hope at least this way it might help some people make an informed decision. I have a load of tabs open with other brands to look at the ingredients for another time, my brain was melting
    I totally get that!
    WCC method (washing) --- Rinse-out oil (MO) --- LOC/LCO method (styling)

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    Member Jane99's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    The marketing is so deceptive! What a shame to these companies to be so blatantly misleading. I have not much to add except that this is the reason I mix my own henna/herb mixture from base ingredients.

    And I use the natural deodorant! There’s a brand Schmidt’s I think it’s called here in the States and it not only works all day long in the heat of summer but also has a simple ingredient list. I’ve tried making it myself but it didn’t work. At some point last year I switched to the regular aluminum deodorant for whatever reason (I think the reason was cost effectiveness) and it does not work as well at preventing BO. By 4pm in winter my pits are smelly!


  10. #10
    Henna Seeress Nightshade's Avatar
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    Default Re: "Natural" / "Herbal" dyes - lies?

    I had someone week ask why the light brown henna she'd used (Herbatint) turned her hair black. She was astounded to learn it wasn't pure plant matter when I pointed out the PPD and other ingredients on the label. Thankfully, she was able to use ColorOops to pull the black out and we were able to move on to pure herbal hair colors after that.

    Some boxes do list all the chemical ingredients so make sure you look at more than the front of the box and the color.

    There are a lot of instances where those chemicals are NOT disclosed, though. Here's an article I wrote about how to pick out the henna compounds from the henna.

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