Natural hair dye (no PPD and the like) to cover grey

[CoffeandPancakes]

Hi,

I already have a thread running about what to do with my hair, which is thinning, dark brown with a scattering of grey and growing out balayage.

After doing a lot of research, I am definitely stepping away from the harsh permanent dark dyes, but not sure what else to use as an alternative, so any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Henna has been recommended, but not sure it's for me. Are there any other natural dark dyes which successfully cover grey?

Do hairdressers ever offer anything like this?

Anyone?...

I have dark brown hair with a fair few white hairs on top and at the sides. I use Wella EOS which is a vegetable/henna based dye but not 100% natural. I believe it is PPD free but obviously check as I am not allergic.
It is widely used in salons in Italy and Germany, not sure about the UK. I do it at home though due to covid.

It says 50% grey coverage increasing with use but it blended all mine in straight away. They are slightly lighter than the brown bits so sort of look like highlights.

Daniel Field Wtercolours is also often recommended on here but didn’t cover my greys, that could have been down to my shoddy application though. No ideas if any salons use it though.

Thanks @OhRosalind. Shall check both these out.

Tbh, I'd much rather have less grey coverage if it meant less harsh and damaging chemicals.

The really annoying thing is, I don't know for sure it was the PPD that caused the hair loss, but it does seem to be a very controversial chemical, so best to avoid.

I was thinking maybe just a semi/demi and accept that it won't last as long or cover as many greys, but at least it's gentle on my fried, straggly hair.

Have you tried the John Frieda Grey Defy range? Isn't perfect but it works well on my hair

I use Naturtint. They sell it in H&B.

Have you thought about going blonder rather than maintaining the dark colour? I think that ppd levels are highest in the darker shades (obvs no good if you have an allergy, but might help if you are just try8ng to min8mise.

I’ve gradually gone lighter (from very dark brown , through mid and light brown and now i’m using a dark blonde shade,). I think my skin tone has changed as I’ve got older too, so I actually think the colour suits me better than the almost black colour I had (naturally!) in my 20s.

The John freida contains a small amount of PPD (also didn’t cover my greys at all). Aveva colour deposit conditioner used to blend in my greys for a few washes but it stopped working for me which is why I switched to the Wella vegetable dye.

@@Tweetypietwo, I haven't, but will double check about the PPD

@Shorthairlady, I was looking at that one actually. The permanent one?

@Honeywort, yes, I have thought about this. I was going to have another balayage and go further up this time, so somewhere between highlights and balayage I suppose, but on closer inspection, I just don't think my hair can take any more bleach. Some parts of my hair are absolutely fine, but then I have a lot of breakage on the top layer. Kind of like a unintentional layer

I'm sure the hairdressers will tell me it's fine, they can weave the damaged bits out etc, but honestly, how good would that look?!

Ooops @Tweetypietwo

@CoffeandPancakes yes the permanent one. Never had any issues with it (other than trying to find the blue-black one )

I have used Daniel Field - he did a personal zoom call - free and advised on the colour
It was excellent and very gentle.
I get eczema and dyes can really aggreviate my scalp
www.danielfield.net
There are sites which do not sell the genuine product but this is the correct one
I have also used Herbatint - which is good
But please check the label for ingrediients

I developed an allergy to PPD a couple of years ago after dying my hair for over 20 years.
Wasn't willing to leave the grey and after much trial and error found an Italian coloured conditioner called Leganza which has been excellent. Tried a few to get the right colour but it's great and have used it for a good couple of years now with no problems.
It's avaliable on amazon although the price has gone up slightly, although still very cheap and my last order came from Spain.

Have you looked into hairprint? I saw it on insta but not sure of the jns and outs x

@Happyhome21, wow, really? That's impressive.

@blibblibs, a conditioner? How does it work?

@TuvoknotSpock, I hadn't, but have done a bit of research and and wow, it's time consuming. 3 hours, 4 applications with minimal coverage?..Not sure. I really don't mind sacrificing a bit of coverage for less or no chemicals, but not sure I'd want to go through all that every couple months for, at best, average results. Plus I don't really understand the technology. It's not a dye apparently, but it looks very much like a dye to me!

Quite sad though. I got very excited when I first goggled.

Thanks for this thread. The Daniel field thing looks good, and also the leganza conditioner (though I wouldn't call it cheap, sadly)

Regarding Daniel Field, I wish there were more YouTube reviews. Can only see one.

Does anyone know if you can use it just at the root? I don't want to dye all my hair in case I do decide to freshen up the balayage.

Check out Adore Plus dye. No peroxide, no ammonia, and I don't think it has PPD. Its one of the only brands I've found that does 'natural' shades of temporary colour - chocolate brown is a lovely deep brown with neutral tone, or there are other red based browns. I've found it lasts pretty well if I leave it on for several hours before washing off to give it plenty of time to stain the hair. It's really runny so mixing with a bit of thick conditioner makes application easier.

@Winterjoy, how long would you say it lasts? Some reviews I was reading say a week I know it's temporary, but that just seems a massive hassle if you have to leave it on for so long beforehand

I am a long time user of Daniel Field Water Colour, aka saviour of my hair.
My originally dark hair is now very white so the roots come through every couple of weeks, looking like a line of Tippex. I put the colour on the roots only.
To help the colour to 'stick', I wash it beforehand with a clarifying shampoo (and then completely dry) so there's no grease or residue getting between the hair and the dye. I also make up the colour less dilute than recommended (with 60ml water, rather than 70ml) and leave it on for at least an hour. With most box dye you should follow the instructions to the letter but you can safely do this without harm in my experience.
It is worth it because it does not damage your hair, especially important for someone like me who touches up the roots so often. I am always banging on about this dye because before I discovered it I thought I was going to have crop my hair or go grey because the frequent chemical dyes had turned it to straw.
I don't do as good a job as someone in a salon (especially at the back) but I can't afford fortnightly salon visits so this is a lifesaver (or at least a hairsaver).

@CoffeandPancakes It depends how often you wash your hair and what shampoo you use (eg head & shoulders or similar strip colour fast). The lasting power also depends on the hair type and how well it holds onto colour.

I didn't have a set schedule but would say I applied maybe once every 2-3 months - it would gradually fade out in between so I might top up just before a special event. I would wait for an afternoon I would be indoors anyway, then apply, pop a plastic cap on, go about my day (eg housework etc), then wash off at the end of the day. That way I didn't feel like I'd 'wasted' time as I would have been doing those things anyway.

Performance wise it isn't the same as permanent colour but I don't think that would be a realistic expectation, as it isn't a permanent colour! I was at a point where I didn't want the very harsh block colour (and obvious roots!) of a permanent dye anymore though, so Adore served a purpose for me as a 'softer' option.

@sergeantmajor your post is so helpful! My roots are now very grey/white and I was thinking of just chopping it all off rather than my current monthly cheap dye as my hair grows fast. Am off to get some Daniel Field

@Winterjoy, sounds good to me 👍 I do wonder though, why it's so cheap and I also wonder what the alternative 'natural' ingredients are. I hear Henna and Hair Print are the only two truly natural hair dye.

I really don't like buying beauty products from Amazon, because of the shocking amount of fakes. Is is sold anywhere else in the UK?

Hmm Daniel Field's website says that it has up to 50% grey coverage

@coffeandPancakes I buy from Pak Cosmetics and haven't had any issues (but have to use google images to see the colour chart as they don't have one!)

I haven't looked into the ingredients at all tbh - when I started looking to move to temporary colour this was the only range I could find that offered natural shades (comparative ranges like manic panic, directions etc are mainly bright unnatural colours) so I just went with it due to lack of other options.

The leganza conditioner was a bit difficult at first as the instructions are in Italian but a bit of Google translate sorted that.
You put it on wet washed hair, no mixing, it's just one bottle, but do wear gloves!
I leave it on for an hour or so although I believe the instructions say 30 mins. Wash it out in the shower and it's done. I use bitter chocolate ( no 31) and it's a dark brown and covers the grey for about a month. I have bra strap length hair and I get about 3 applications from a bottle.
I love it but amazon is the only place I've ever ordered it from.