A lot of people, women and men alike, are wondering whether it’s possible to effectively cover grey hair without damaging it with chemicals that are commonly found in hair dyes. As a matter of fact, it is! Let’s figure out together how to cover grey hair without chemical dyes and what are the pros and cons of this approach.
If you want to cover grey hair effectively, you need to understand its causes. Some people think that grey hair is caused by some kind of grey pigment, but they are wrong. It results from a lack of melanin, a natural pigment responsible for hair colour. Hair becomes grey if it lacks 70% of melanin or more. The higher the percentage, the greyer (or whiter) the hair looks.
The main cause of grey hair is age; the older you get, the less melanin your body produces. People of European origin typically begin greying in their mid-30s, Asians get their first grey hairs in their late 30s, and most Africans and people of African descent don’t begin to grow grey hairs until their mid-40s. Greying is a gradual process; the older you get, the more grey hairs you grow.
It should be noted that sometimes greying is not caused by age-related changes in the body. A decrease in melanin production can be caused by chronic stress, thyroid deficiencies, vitamin B12 deficiency, iron deficiency, and several genetic syndromes. Greying can also be a side effect of certain medications.
As a rule, age-related greying cannot be reversed, although some medications can temporarily darken grey hair. However, you can cover grey hair using hair dyes. Permanent hair dyes, also known as chemical hair dyes, do an excellent job covering grey hair. Unfortunately, they also damage the hair cuticle, causing weak and dull hair, breakage, and split ends.
As a result, many people would like to be able to cover grey hair without using chemical dyes in order to keep their hair looking healthy. But is it really possible? Surprisingly, it is. It is possible to cover grey hair using natural plant-based dyes, although they are not perfect either.
Unlike chemical pigments, plant-derived pigments do not penetrate deep into the hair structure. They remain on the hair surface, enveloping the cuticle, and therefore cannot completely cover the original hair colour. As a result, natural plant-based hair dyes, such as henna and indigo, will effectively cover grey hair only if its percentage is 30–40% or below or if all your hair is already grey.
If 40% to 90% of your hair is grey, it will be difficult to evenly cover it using natural dye since grey hair absorbs pigments worse than hair that still has its original colour. In this case, you can try prolonging the time of exposure (up to 3–5 hours), use special dyeing techniques where the colour is carefully selected to achieve the desired effect, or try ammonia-free henna-based hair dyes.
Ammonia-free henna-based hair dyes, unlike pure henna and indigo, can penetrate into the hair structure and fill it with pigment from the inside. It significantly improves grey hair coverage because the pigment is distributed more evenly. The resulting colour lasts longer, and you don’t need to mix different natural dyes yourself, choosing the right proportions to obtain the desired colour.
As you can see, it is possible to cover grey hair without chemical dyes if you now about the alternatives. And then you can easily maintain the desired hair colour by re-dyeing your hair every two or three weeks. Of course, it is also important to take proper care of your hair in the meantime, using natural carrier oils and other products that will make hair colour last longer and prevent dry, dull, and brittle hair.
In our online shop Organic Store, you will find natural Indian henna and indigo, which you can mix in the desired proportions to cover grey hair, as well as ammonia-free henna-based dyes, formulated with fixative agents. At Organic Store, we offer reasonable prices, secure and convenient payment methods, and international delivery to most parts of the world.
