22/7/06
Dear Sabrina
You replied to an email I wrote on the macmillan cancer forum looking for non-chemical hair dyes for grey hair. Just wanted to say thanks for your idea, have checked out your site, which looks great by the way, but unfortunately my mum's doctor has said no henna. We don't really know why cos he didn't go into details. Thanks anyway for your interest. Maddy

2/7/06
Hi Maddy
Thanks for writing to let me know. I'm sorry to hear the doctor won't give the go ahead, what a shame. I wonder, however, if he might be mixing up “pure henna” with “compound henna” which is flooding the market these days, ie pre mixed henna with chemicals ( metallic salts). Pure henna is 100% herbal, no chemicals; same for indigo ( the one which I sell anyway). I don't wish to put you / your mum in an awkward position with your doctor, and obviously it's your mum's decision and down to her discretion ultimately, but I wonder if it might be worth asking the doctor a little more about the reasons for his concerns and possibly referring him to the website as well. If the doctor is concerned about the possible interaction of herbal henna with cancer drugs, then that's a toxicity issue and each doctor may come to their own conclusions concerning that; however, if he is concerned that the henna may not be 100% herbal, that's a different issue altogether and I think if he takes a look at the website he'll understand that the product is 100% herbal and quite safe to use for anyone who's looking for “chemical free” hair colour - this is the purest chemical free hair colour you'll ever find !

What really troubles me about all this is that your mum is looking for a chemical free hair colour, this is a chemical free hair colour, and as far as I am aware, there are cancer patients out there who successfully use henna without problems, perhaps even benefiting from it. The ultimate decision lies with your mum, but I would urge you/ your mum to do some research and to ask more questions - cancer forums, net doctors , cancer organisations etc - get opinions and compare them.

I don't mean to go against your doctor's advice in any way, but I do think it's such a shame to pass by the opportunity to allow your mum to feel good about herself using a product that is probably totally safe and beneficial for her to use. I would request him to go into details to explain his concerns so that you can be sure that he does actually understand what pure henna / indigo is. If you choose not to take it further, I totally understand. It must be so very difficult for your mum and you.

Whatever happens, I do wish you all the very best, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that your mum is blessed with healing. It must be a great blessing and a great strength to her to have a daughter by her side who cares enough to want to make her life easier in every way.

Sabrina

2/7/06
Dear Sabrina,
Thank you again for your concern and kind wishes. I read your e-mail and was going to tell my mum to ask the doctors why she couldn't use henna, then I read your up-dated website info and found the answer myself: The high antioxident properties in henna. This is the problem! This clashes with CHEMOTHERAPY not cancer. My mum used to take lots of natural products from a health food shop, seaweed products and anti-oxidents. The doctor explained that she couldn't carry on taking these things during chemo because they acted against the free radicals fighting the cancer cells, well fighting all the cells unfortunately, it it such an aggressive treatment. I know chemical dyes can induce hair loss in chemo patients which is why they have to use a veg/non- chemical shampoo, which is why I also couldn't understand the problem with natural henna. I suppose if you dye your hair with henna your scalp absorbs all these anti oxident properties and slows the chemo down?

Will still ask doctor about this.

Kind Regards,
Maddy

2/7/06
Hi again Maddy
wow ! I didn't know that. So that's the reason why - it must be. How interesting. Yes, it's true the scalp will absorb the henna as basically henna enters the bloodstream, and in all other cases, it's considered beneficial as far as I know - it fights bacteria and is “anti oxidant”.

Well maybe you could ask the doctor if she'd be ok to use henna/indigo after chemo - which I hope will be very very soon.

Thanks for writing back - that's incredible information ! Would you consider allowing me to quote you on my website?

2/7/06
Hi Sabrina,
You're welcome to quote me, not that i'm a reliable source, just my own logic really. Yes with some cancer patients I'm sure that henna / indigo could be no problem, even beneficial, but chemo is an illogical healing process which destroys good and bad cells, then the good ones regenerate much more quickly than the cancerous cells which are much slower to regenerate. In fact in between sessions the damaged blood cells regenerate, but the chemo continues to work.. which is why any burst of antioxidants can build up your immune system ( which with an illness is normally great news ) but will interfere with the chemo attack... Yes, it's a strange thing.. Also, since you have to leave henna on for hours it gives the scalp a long time to absorb these (usually) beneficial properties. I thought you might be interested anyway, since you do post some stuff about cancer patients on your site. Although i also must say that when the doctor said my mum should stop taking her natural stuff, she asked about food high in antioxidants and whether she should avoid anything. The dr didn't know and had to look this up, he then said: ' Any food you like, just no extra antioxidants', but then they go on to recommend a frequent intake of green tea, which has extremely high antioxidants, so the medical world is a little inconsistent sometimes!

I'm sure she'll be delighted to use your products as soon as she can, and good luck with your business! What made you look on the Macmillan forum?

Best wishes

3/7/06
Hi again Maddy,
I'm about to put this info. up shortly - I thought this was the best way to assess everything in the end.

I found the Macmillan forum quite by chance to be honest - my personal theory has always been that henna / indigo are treatments for cancer, ( but that's something I can't say on my website as I am not a doctor ) , and I've been looking for info. to support that. I have found lots of research that supports henna / indigo being anti carcinogenic, but crucially, I never realised that their antioxidant properties could - potentially - interfere with chemotherapy treatment.

Anyway, good luck, and all best wishes !

Kindest regards
Sabrina

“How Dyes Work

Three types of dyes are currently in use : permanent, semipermanent, and temporary. About 75% of women use permanent dyes, 20 percent semi-permanent, and 5 per cent temporary color. Temporary hair dyes and rinses contain lead and other heavy metals and dyes that coat but do not penetrate hair. They not only contain fewer toxic chemicals than permanent dyes, they also are not absorbed by the body, which makes them far less likely to pose serious health risks.

Permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes, on the other hand, are known as “precursors” or “couplers”. During application of permanent coloring products, a key chemical reaction, called oxidation, occurs between “precursors” and another key ingredient, hydrogen peroxide. This reaction leads to the formulation of highly reactive compounds ( benzoquinonemimines) that penetrate hair fibres. The “precursor” dyes react with the reactive compounds to form the desired colour shades. The hydrogen peroxide also decolorizes melanin, the substance that naturally colors the hair, allowing the new color to take hold. Semipermanent colorants work in a similar way, but without the hydrogen peroxide process.

Both animal and human studies show that the body rapidly absorbs chemicals in permanent and semipermanent dyes through the skin during the more than thirty minutes the dyes remain on the scalp. Additionally, the detergents and solvents used to wash and rinse the hair further increase skin absorption.

Evidence of Risks

Permanent and semipermanent colors contain a wide range of carcinogenic ingrenedints including diaminotoluene, diaminoanisole, and other phelylenediamine dyes; artificial colors; dioxane, a contaminant in detergents and solvents; nitrosamines formed by the interaction of ethanolamine detergents with nitrite preservatives or contaminants; and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. Temporary dyes and rinses contain carcinogenic metals and petrochemcials, particularly formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and nitrosamine precursors.

In short, permanent and semipermanent hair dyes are a witches’ brew of carcinogens. The potential risks of breast and other cancers posed by these toxic products are well documented - as are also the efforts by the cosmetic industry to ignore and obfuscate the facts while continuing to manufacture and market the dyes.”

Henna ’hairdo’ helps out a cancer patient : extract from Saratoga News, Letters & Opinions “Speak Out” issue July 6, 2005, Saratoga, California

“I am a cancer patient with a healing story. This spring I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a mastectomy and am now in chemotherapy. I lost a breast, my hair, my eyebrows, my eyelashes and my self-esteem. I found myself figuratively holding my breath, waiting for this phase of my life to be over. I decided that this was not an acceptable way to lead my life.

I was determined to do something that was life affirming and came up with the felicitous idea of having my head painted by a henna specialist. I asked a few questions and was directed to the most marvelous woman, Roopa Raman of Henna Bash in Cupertino. Roopa had never painted a head before but undertook the challenge with sensitivity and artistry, bringing to the project a spiritual quality that was very healing and which I now refer to as “my henna therapy.”

The results have far exceeded my expectations. I am physically and emotionally energized by it. People who know me tell me I’m glowing. People who don’t know me stop me to tell me how neat it looks, how cool, how artistic, sometimes even calling out from cars to voice their approval. Yesterday a man at the hardware store said, “You are a unique lady.

I no longer feel as though I am being dismembered, rather that I am remembering a life filled with riches, a golden time. I will continue to get a henna tattoo once a month (different each time, like a new hairdo) until my hair starts growing back. I eagerly propose henna therapy to others who are undergoing chemotherapy and send this message: You, too, are a unique person. Embrace it! I wish you joy.

Lee Rogers ”
s Altos

Anon : “Hello!
I’m a happy customer of yours and buy indigo from you since I’ve started using henna and indigo together. (I’ll probably be doing a repeat order in the next couple of weeks.) It works beautifully and my hair hasn’t been in as good a condition for years. However, I recently came across this webpage.

http://www.thirdage.com/healthgate/files/21759.html

and it mentions several species of indigo. I know you stock indigo tinctoria, but given (according to this site) there are several species of indigo some of which are very poisonous, please could you reassure me that you know about this and also know that your suppliers for indigo are equally skilled in distinguishing between these subspecies of indigo.

Many thanks
Anon, Italy

Sabrina :
Thanks for taking the trouble to bring this site to my attention. Yes, I am aware that there are many different species of indigo, and that some are poisonous.

However, as far as I am aware, and my supplier ( who is knowledgeable about species of henna, indigo and cassias - there’s only one henna in fact, but different flowers and plant structure depending upon maturity / immaturity sometimes give the impression of there being more species of henna ) , powdered indigofera tinctoria leaves have been used safely for centuries to colour hair. But I have to say that there is little in the way of scientific analysis that either proves or disproves “safety”. I’ve always considered it beneficial , and certainly safer than hair dyes. However, you may be interested to look at the links on the website home page under “Is henna safe?” - you’ll see a link there to a European Commission paper on indigo ( and henna ) which make scary reading. Nothing is certain, but I personally feel, given the lack of conclusive & trustworthy scientific research / evidence, that indigo and henna have to be looked at with a balancing exercise approach - in my opinion they are far safer than chemical hair dyes. The problem with the European scientific papers is that they are conducting an analysis of the extracts ( of henna) and focusing largely on fermented indigo, and they have not conducted “human studies” i.e. indigo experiments on humans.

To the layperson who is looking for scientific assurance that indigo is safe, as far as I can understand or see, there is no such assurance available in the scientific community. But I would argue that 1. hair dyes are just so blatantly unsafe and 2. henna/indigo have been used safely for centuries, and that these two factors alone add up to making henna / indigo the safer option for colouring hair over hair dyes.

Do have a look also at the henna tribe thread on this topic here - I’ll give hennacat a nudge to post her information up.

All best wishes
Sabrina.”

Anon :
“I’m inclined to agree with you with respect to looking at this as a relative risk thing. As someone who became sensitised to permanent dyes, I’m very happy with my henna/indigo results. Btw I have extremely sensitive skin and react to lots of things, but have no trouble with either henna or indigo thankfully.

Also I’ve done a bit more digging and found that the method of extraction can be critical. (I’m sure you know all this btw) If indigo is chemically extracted, as it is for use in fabric dyes then other chemicals that truely are known to be harmful to people can contaminate it. This would not be the method your suppliers use, as it results in purple crystals, not green powder. However, it’s labelled as indigo nonetheless. I read on a forum today of someone getting indigo from a Chinese herbalist and noticing that instead of the green powder it was purple crystals, eek. The ’herbalists’ obviously didn’t know the difference, which is worrying. Think of the possible consequences. Someone becomes ill, gets taken into hospital and they find out the problem is indigo, which is true, but not the indigo they should have been taking. This is leaving aside the problems people have with ’black henna’ and the ppd issues. So there’s a lot of potential bad indigo press to counter, none of which are the lovely product you sell.

I shall certainly continue with henna and indigo for reasons I’ve already stated. My scalp’s happy and I’ve got my hair shine back. I’m also very happy with your product and hope you do good business, as there are precious few trusted indigo sellers in Europe. More generally I hope the method continues to grow as there are a lot of happy henna only or hennindigo heads out there and there are also a lot of people (like me a year or two back) who really wanted an alternative to the dyes available from salons or the chemists. with best wishes”

Sabrina:
“Thanks for your reply Anon. I think your initial question, and subsequent comments are extremely valuable in focussing our minds on safety issues and on the decision making process to be applied in making a reasonably informed decision about henna / indigo, given the lack of information and conclusive scientific research.

I had another customer contact me a week ago to say they had bought indigo from a herbalist in India and that it was blue and was that the true indigo as opposed to the one I’m selling - the blue indigo is the “vat indigo” , i.e. fermented, and probably ( but not necessarily - you’d have to ask ) having undergone an extraction process in which chemicals are used. Now that is scary - an ayurvedic - specialist - herbalist in India passing off fermented chemically contaminated indigo as pure indigo for colouring hair ! And a year ago, an India trader sent me a trade sample of indigo for hair colour - again, it was the blue powder chemically contaminated stuff. And unfortunately, you’re bound to be right - this sort of misinformation /misunderstanding is going to rear its ugly head time after time until there’s enough public awareness of what “pure indigo” is and what “pure henna” is.

Anyway, thanks again for triggering an interesting, and crucial, dialogue in the world of henna / indigo hair dye ! Best wishes always”

Anon:
“Thanks again for your reply. As many of the new henna and/or indigo users get to hear about it from the web, I think the only thing for all of us to do is just post as widely as possible what ’real’ indigo looks like, it’s botanical name and what vat indigo looks like, as well as the ’black henna’ quagmire issues! and then hopefully this will protect as many people as possible and also hopefully put shark sellers out of business.

Do you mind if I link to your site at a haircare forum I post on specifically addressing this issue?

Many thanks”