My Loreal Hair Colour & PPD Story

Like Thoreau, I entered the wilderness voluntarily when I gave up on the modern world. When I stopped
using hair dyes I thought that was the end of my beautiful hair days but, as I started to research
the alternatives, I found his beautiful words ringing true in my ears – “ from the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind…..”

My black hair started going grey in my teens and by the time I hit thirty I practically had a halo. In the beginning I turned to commercial hair dyes. I wanted a natural look so I went for black and occasionally dark brown. My scalp used to itch and sometimes sting when I used hair dye. A bald patch developed in the midst of my usually thick and healthy hair and my hair started to thin, all of which I put down to stress at the time. I knew nothing about the dangers of paraphenylene diamene hair dyes back then. I was simply grateful that I could cover my mass of grey hair and not have to walk around looking like I was only pretending to be youthful.

Later on, I heard about the hair dye cancer scares and allergic reactions which people were experiencing. But what really hit home was when a friend of mine suffered an appalling reaction to a famous brand of hair dye out of the blue, despite having used hair dye safely for years before then without any trouble. Her face and body blew up like a giant balloon; she was in agony and had to be rushed to one hospital and then another. Her condition was life threatening and she was lucky to survive. That was frightening. And she’s not the only one it’s happened to. That made me decide once and for all to opt out of the commercial hair dye farce and look for a natural alternative.

It was then I turned to “henna”, only the penny didn’t drop until years later that it wasn’t pure henna I was using. It was fancy looking packets, with images of gorgeous looking hair on the front, marketed as “henna” hair colour powder which in fact contained henna mixed with paraphenylene diamene dye, also known as PPD. No different to the cancer scare/life threatening commercial hair dye brands I’d already fallen for. I was even dumb enough to buy “black henna”, not knowing any better.

Natalie's Hair Dye Reaction Story

Natalie, Canada
Received : 21.9.07

Hi Sabrina,
My name is Natalie and this is my story….
This is what I normally look like

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I’m now, just finally recovering from a severe allergic reaction that I had to dying my hair two months ago (July 6th 2007). I had my hair coloured at a salon and they used:

Matrix Seamless Crème Demi Color: Ingredients: Aqua/Water, cetearyl alcohol, propyleneglycol, deceth-3, Laureth-12, ethanomine, oleth-30, lauric acid, glycol distearate, ployquaternium-6, hexadimethrine chloride, silica dimethyl silyate, resorcinol, tolune-2, 5-diamine, pentasodium penteate, parfum/fragrance, sodium metabisulfite, polyquaternium-22, carbomer, mica, erythorbic acid, benzylsalicylate, CI 77891/Titanium dioxide, m-Aminophenol, prunus armeniaca/apricot kernel oil, prunus perisca/peach kernel oil, butylphenyl methylpropional, limonene, 2,4-diaminophenoxyethanol HCI, hydroxybenzomorpholine, linalool, 2-oleamido-1, 3-octadecanediol

Hours after colouring I was itching and scratching like crazy and the next day my scalp was one weeping mess … oozing clear and yellow liquid as well as blood. I went straight to hospital emergency and I was hospitalized for 3 days. I was plugged into an iv to get double doses of steroids and Benedryl. My face completely blew up, my forehead pushed out…I was completely unrecognizable. I was on heart attack and stroke watch and my entire right hand side of my body was numb for 3 days. The Dr’s in the hospital said that if this was to ever happen again I would have severe permanent consequences. The swelling changed position/shifted throughout my face over the 3 day period depending on the cocktail of drugs I was on…

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hair dye reaction 1	hair dye reaction 2
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hair dye reaction 3	hair dye reaction 4
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hair dye reaction 5

After I was released from hospital I was on:

- 10 steroid tablets a day for 10 days
- 4 X Benedryl a day for 10 days
- 1 X Reactine a day for 10 days
- 1 X Zantac a day for 10 days
- 1 X Extra Strength Advil a day for 10 days

By the end of the 10 days I could not think/hold a normal conversation and could not write my name on forms at the doctors office.

After 10 days, I stopped taking Benedryl and Reactine and Advil…but told to continue with the Steroids and the Zantac but I was then given a new prescription to wean me off of the steroids (otherwise I was told my face would blow up again which it did while weaning down!).

In all, I was on steroids for 2 months and my whole body both physically and mentally has broken down. Although I am starting to feel better…I look horrible. My hair has turned mousy brown again … I’m greyer than ever. I’ve gained weight and I’m depressed. I’m unbelievably moody so I’m either acting like a Rotweiller dog that hasn’t been fed in weeks or I cry at the drop of a hat.

I can’t believe I am even considering coloring my hair again but I am 39 and will be even more depressed if I start looking old due to graying hair colour. Long term … I need to find a solution so I can get on with my life and feel good about myself again.

I clearly CAN NOT RISK another allergic reaction. I am clearly allergic to diaminophenoxyethanol … this is listed in the ingredients on the Matrix product pack. Re: The PPD part I’m not clear on what other ingredients I am allergic to. I’m thinking these ingredients that were in the product I used: hydroxybenzomorpholine and m-Aminophenol are the names that come up associated with/tied to PPD:

• 4-Benzenediamine
• 1,4-Benzenediamine
• para-Diaminobenzene (p-Diaminobenzene)
• para-Aminoaniline (p-Aminoaniline)

In any case, I’m wondering if (a) I’ll be able to use your product without risk and (b) if I’ll be able to figure out how to properly mix it/put it on my hair (I failed miserably when I attempted to colour my own hair at home. I got more on the carpet then I did on my head).

My hair is thin, dry, medium brown with grey (lots now!) and I normally dyed it dark auburn brown/red. I like it dark with red, not just red or bright red.

Can you help me????

Let me know.

I did find a salon in town here that says they use Organic Hair colours/dyes. I’m contemplating going to them for a consultation and a patch test… I truly hate the idea of having to do this myself but I’m soooooooo weary about using a salon product again. They say they use: Goldwell, BES, Clariol and Aveda products… I haven’t looked into these too much since I’m assuming they’ll have bad bits in them.

Anyway thanks for listening to my story. Hopefully you can help…recommend what of yours…something else to use I hope!!!

Thanks so much,
Natalie

diaminophenoxyethanol

EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PRODUCTS classify it as safe !

http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_sccp/docs/sccp_o_042.pdf

The Dangers of Paraphenylene Diamene / PPD Hair Dyes

The truth is that there is no such thing as “black henna” or “colour henna”. There is only one henna plant and
its scientific or botanical name is lawsonia inermis. It produces an orange red colour and nothing else, unless
it’s mixed with something else – the crucial question is whether that “something else” is natural or chemical. “Chemical”, in my view, spells danger and even death. PPD is chemical.

Check out the following links which explain the hazards of PPD :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1934496.stm

http://news.homesandproperty.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/thehealthnews
.html? in_article_id=72894&in_page_id=1797

http://news.homesandproperty.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily
.html? in_article_id=177724&in_page_id=1799

http://news.homesandproperty.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/thehealth
news.html? in_article_id=110050&in_page_id=1797

http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/paraphenylenediamine-allergy.html

http://www.smw.ch/pdf200x/2001/2001-13/2001-13-351.PDF

Dangers of diaminophenol

http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/DI/2,4-diaminophenol_dihydrochloride.html

I only seriously got down to henna and indigo research once I understood what PPD was. As I said, even
the packets of “henna” which I had been using had “paraphenylene diamene” listed as an ingredient in tiny print on the leaflet inside the box. I also learnt through my research that many brands sold as “natural henna” which didn’t contain paraphenylene diamene DID contain green dyes which were not listed as additives and which made the powder look artificially fresh lime green in colour, thus rendering the henna impure and adulterated. Real henna is not bright green or any shade of lime green ; it’s more a dull khaki, kind of “mud”green.

Pregnancy & Hair Dyes - the danger of using hair dyes / hair colour whilst pregnant !!

go to : http://www.foresight-preconception.org.uk/hairdyes.htm

This is what they say :

Henna on it’s own on grey black hair

I eventually wised up to using only pure, unadulterated, henna on its own but the result was freakish – my grey hair turned bright orange and I basically ended up with a head full of brown black hair and orange wires. It gave me a sort of scary new age image that just wasn’t me. I found that neat henna on grey hair leaves the grey hair wiry and coarse . It didn’t soften like when I’d used hair dyes and the result was that I felt like I had two
kinds of hair. This is where indigo/katm (?) comes in because I’ve found that indigo with henna softens my grey so well that I now have a head full of soft and perfectly colour blended hair that looks natural and beautiful. But it took a while to get there.

The Katam / Indigo Mystery !

I became interested in katam as a herbal hair colour when I found it commonly referred to in eastern literature as a type of plant, “similar to henna”, used for dying the hair. I used to think that indigo was katam, as it works in a way which is very similar to katam when mixed together with henna. Identifying katam has always been a difficult task because, unfortunately, many of the ancient texts have been translated into the English language by people without specialist knowledge of herbs and plants. Some texts do specifically identify katam as indigofera tinctoria [indigo] which looks remarkably similar to henna when its leaves are crushed into powder, except that it tends to be just a little more green in colour. And it’s true that indigo behaves like katam so that it will turn henna brown and also almost black ( depending how long you leave it in for). When you apply (together or separately) henna and indigo to the hair it generally produces dark brown or a shade of black with dark red or auburn undertones.

My research of eastern literature and plants and herbs lead me initially to understand and believe that the “katam” referred to by the ancient herbalists was in fact the indigofera tinctoria plant. It works exactly the way it is described in the literature and it’s even termed “indigo”. But the problem with conclusively determining that indigo was katam was the varying texts and differing reports - some people would say the colour of katam is black and others would say it is green. Some would say it is the “reddish root of a plant from Yemen”. The problem there with identifying indigo as katam was that although the indigo plant itself is green and it has the ability to produce a brown / or black colour, it doesn’t have red roots ! So the katam mystery was, for a long time, unresolved !

Dr.Olga Engelhardt (http://www.henna-und-mehr.de), has now been identified katam as : Buxus dioica. This is what Dr.Engelhardt says about katam :”

“yesterday my colleague Dr. hanne schönig (who is considered as the expert about yeminite herbals) sent me an answer to my questions about katam in sending me an extract of her book. I didn’t get the font for the arabic transcription she used and so I was not able to get a full understanding of the extract. Nevertheless it answered my question about the latin name of the herb and so I was able to do further research in the internet. The latin name of katam is Buxus dioica. To know more about this I typed this word in google and got only two arabic websites. the first http://www.science4islam.com/index.aspx?act=da&id=211 mentiones in arabic all what is in the arabic literature available (hadith and others scholars on the tibb an-nabi) on this herb. As I read this I understood the references from Hanne Schönig and also the mistakes which were made in the translations of texts on katam. The second http://rawasy.net/narticle.php?sid=2143 seems to me an yeminite site and it presents text on henna, naqsh, and katam in such tiny letters that I was not able to read it all. I went to the wikipedia and typed there too Buxus dioica:http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buxus, here I got only the description of the whole plant family and a long list of all plants known of the family but no mention of katam or Buxus dioica. The same case in the english wikipedia. But in the German wikipedia was a botanical pic with a description applying to all plants of the buxus family. It fits the desription given by hanne schönig, the description by the islamic scholars and my sample of the dried plant.

The plant itself grows only in the high mountains and is found rarely (that explains the high price). It strengthens the hair and darkens the color of henna and makes it last longer. I used it together with henna to color the hair between red and black but it is rarely demanded by customers nowadays (I guess since the arrival of the PPD-containing annelincolors). The latter point explains my impression that employed alone (the pulverised leaves of it) it doesnt really dye black. But it darkens the hair and gives them a faint red shine. I have used since I came back from Yemen two times the katam with henna together and had each time the feeling, that my hair was a little bit darker than before. Also, I think that it does not color very even. some strains were really black, like the hair I had before I became grey and in other parts, it seems to me that there is no difference to hennared.”

So, according to Dr.Olga Engelhardt, indigo is NOT katam ! But it is remarkably similar. I have used both indigo (indigofera tinctoria) and buxus dioica and compared them, and I like to call buxus dioica “baby indigo” as it works exactly like indigo and , in my view, it is effectively a less potent form of indigo. I would suggest that indigo may be used like katam if carefully applied for the appropriate period of time to avoid the hair colour reaching a black shade. It is 100% pure and herbal and can be used with henna to produce a brown hair colour and many other hair colours - see the hair colour galleries for colours and ideas.

My Statement

When I finally discovered the real henna plant and the indigo plant, not to mention the whole world of natural herbs that surrounds us, it was such a huge relief. And that was when I truly appreciated the message of Walden.

Thoreau was right – there is everything in the forests and the wilderness which is beneficial for mankind and just waiting to be discovered. We are blessed with herbs, tonics and barks in which I’m certain lie the key to every ailment, every sickness, and every beauty misery. I’m one of those people who believe we’ve got our focus wrong. Man made chemicals and additives are not long term answers for us that cure the problem; they are a short term fix that do long term damage. The beneficial herbs and tonics and barks of this earth on the other hand, when properly researched and utilised, do only good to us; and in that lies the greatest good and the long term cure, and it is the way to peace from the oppression and the torment of a chemical world that dominates this globe and every aspect of our lives.

Whether you share my belief or not, if you are looking for an alternative to PPD hair dyes, try my products. It takes some getting used to in the beginning ; it’s always hard to change the way we think and the way we do things, especially when it seems like too much bother, but I believe if you try you’ll love the results and you won’t ever look back. Why would you when all you can see and feel is the benefit to your hair and health? I now enjoy my henna and indigo routine knowing that it’s good for me, and my hair looks better than it’s ever looked in years – it’s soft and shiny, thick and wavy, and it even grows faster than before ! I love how my hair is now, and I love receiving compliments about my hair. But best of all is the knowledge that it’s entirely the result of colours and nourishment from the herbs and tonics of this beautiful earth.

Sabrina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHFmwQ0pR64