NatActive

A lavish, supple, glossy silver mane is incredibly attractive and can tell a lot of good things about woman’s health and her realistic approach to aging. Yet, most women I know would prefer toxic dye jobs than letting their hair age gracefully. Unfortunately, the only way to reliably cover gray hair is to use permanent hair dye, and if you are after permanence, you end up with ammonia and peroxide. The more dramatic change of color you want, the more chemicals you end up with, so it’s best to stick to your own color and play with ammonia-free dyes to enhance your natural beauty.

If you decided to stop coloring your hair and embrace your gray locks, your first task would be to prevent the telltale border between your natural color and the artificial one. "You can strip out all the permanent color, but that takes a lot of chemicals,” says Manhattan hairstylist John Masters, who pioneered the art of organic hair care and non-toxic dyes in his John Masters Organics salon. "They smell horrible and they are very, very drying for your hair.”

Masters uses only ammonia-free herbal and clay based dyes from Europe since 1994, and his products carry the organic seal of approval, in addition to the Soil Association Award for Best Organic Product Line in Europe. His client list of eco-conscious celebrities can certainly serve as proof that you don’t need to load your hair dyes with toxins to create a beautiful hair color.

Instead of locking yourself in a vicious circle when more hair color means more visible gray roots, Masters recommends a stylish new shorter haircut that will remove colored hair ends. Another option is adding gentle highlights adjusted in color to match your gray hair. "Not a single hair color is completely natural”, admits Masters, "I wish I could tell you otherwise but I simply can’t. I constantly research around the world looking for someone who would come up with a completely natural hair color, but there’s none. The only completely natural hair dye would be henna, but it doesn’t leave you with too many color options. To achieve the color you want with henna, you should spend two hours in a salon, and even then you would have gray hair! Who would want that? So I use very gentle, one per cent peroxide in my plant-based colors and an extremely low concentration of PPD. It’s the lowest concentration available in hair colors today. Without it, color simply won’t develop.”

Although highlighting products contain hydrogen peroxide bleach, Masters says it’s less toxic than other options, and of course less obnoxious than ammonia. "It’s one per cent concentration, so I shouldn’t worry about it. Basically, it’s the same amount as in oxygenated water. I even gargle with peroxide,” says Masters, who uses Naturelite Oil from Organic Color Systems in his salons.