Ancient people used natural ingredients to color their hair. The Egyptians used cosmetics and hair coloring products on a wide scale. Henna was a popular of hair coloring ingredient. Roman women were known to apply a mixture of soil and water to their hair. They then wrapped their hair on wooden made rollers to bake in the sun, creating a temporary wave. Egyptians as well as Roman women used to apply mixture of soil and water to their hair. Ancient sophisticated Greeks painted their hair red, blonde hair was popular among middle class women, while poor women preferred black hair. During renaissance times, emphasis was placed on physical appearance. During the medieval period, European people sported big wigs colored white with powder. Apart from henna, indigo was another hair coloring product, which is still very popular.
Purposes of hair coloring:
Hair colors are used not only to retrieve the lost appeal of natural hair color, but also as fashion. Some important usages of hair colors are:
- To give gray/white hair its former looks.
- To return the radiance of hair, which has lost its natural color due to excessive use of chemicals.
- To tinge the hair with variable shades as fashion trend.
Types of hair coloring products
Temporary hair color: These are mainly used to decorate the hair for special purposes. The user can easily get rid of these colors, provided his or her hair is not too dry or damages. Semi-permanent: They survive longer than temporary hair color as they penetrate hair shaft to some extent. Sometimes semi-permanent hair colors are used as a base to dye the gray/white hair before shifting to the permanent colors.Demi permanent: They are milder than permanent types, but vary effective. They act almost like permanent one but without ammonia. So, it is relatively safer. Regular shampooing can dilute these colors. Permanent color: They contain toxins like ammonia and oxidizing agents. They can be washed out even after regular shampooing. But they may fade with time.
Popular hair coloring brands and products:
Sensing the fashion consciousness of today’s generation, people’s penchant to retain their looks, several hair-coloring brands are jumping into the business. Some of them are:
- LOreal: Users can choose a wide range of 130 plus shades from L’Oreal brand. .
- Godrej: Kali Mehendi Black Henna, Burgandy
- Garnier: Nutrisse, Garnier 100% color, Belle Blonde, Blonding Highlights
- Boots: multi tones and conditioning hair colors.
Adverse affects of hair coloring:
Hair color products contain toxins, which can affect the hair as well as the scalp. The side affects of chemical hair dyes include:
- itching, redness of skin, burn and allergy,
- hair breakage,
- unexpected hair colors
- PPD of permanent hair colors may cause allergy.
Natural colors:
Natural hair colors are safer for hair though they do not last long like permanent ones. Some of the common useful natural color ingredients are:
- henna
- amla
- indigo
- obovata
- senna
- turmeric
- amla.
- katam
Many companies use them extensively. If you go for artificial color dyes, it is suggested to use a small amount of color as testing. If you found no problem, then you can go for it. Remember, attractive dyes may be harmful. They may give rainbow colors to your hair. But understand their ingredients before jumping for them.
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