Henna

I guess maybe the best way to blog about living green is just to cover the various things as they come up. So I thought I'd start off with a quick post about hair color.

Many other people before me have written about the problems inherent in salon and commercial hair dyes. There's a reason they have you do a patch test before they do your color. (Well, they're supposed to do a patch test, anyway. Some salons skip that step.) More and more often, we're hearing about allergies and skin sensitivities related to commercial hair dyes. I'm not surprised. Off and on since I was in college, I got my hair colored in a salon, and the hair just got dryer and dryer and more fragile. I haven't been able to grow it anywhere near as long as I'd like, because it grows slowly and then breaks off. So in my mid-twenties, I tried henna, and it was great. I've heard all the warnings about henna vs. commercial dyes and how you can't perm or dye over henna or you'll end up with purple or green crispy-fried hair, but I've since found out it's just not true. Not if you use pure henna with no other dye components added. If you want to know more about dying with henna, try this site; the author really knows her stuff, and she offers a fantastic tutorial for free. It should put any fears you might have about henna to rest.

Anyway, earlier tonight (Thursday evening) I re-hennaed my hair; I've done it three times since I first decided to get rid of the grey without resorting to commercial dyes, and every time I do it, it comes out so shiny and smooth and with such great color that I know I'll never go back to salon color again. The henna even smells good, not like that awful ammonia smell you get after a perm or commercial dye job. I'm just glad I can do something about the grey without spending a fortune and without having to expose myself to the toxic chemicals found in commercial dyes. It's very empowering to know that there are healthy, natural choices available for hair color.