Well, by now you know that one of the safest ways of colouring your hair is with Henna. But alas, maybe the gold, copper and red tones are not quite what you were after. Or maybe you were wanting to lighten your existing haircolour, which is not possible with Henna. "What other options are left?", I hear you ask!

Well, when Henna just won't do the trick there are only a couple of other options left. There are some safer alternatives to conventional, toxic Salon colour that can be found in some good health food stores. This does involve DIY which may not suit everyone and these colours will only add pigment to your existing colour and not lighten it.

If you are not into DIY then it's off to a salon you go. It would be worthwhile visiting us, your organic specialist salon, offering organic and natural based colour options. all our colours are ammonia, sulphate, paraben free, resorcinol and PPD free.

If more complete coverage of grey hair or lightening of your current colour (this involves colour removal) is needed then permanent salon colour or powder lightener is required. If you are super sensitive or pregnant then you should consider having 'foils' rather than a full head 'on scalp' application. That way there will be minimal contact of the product on your scalp. If you're just dying to be blonde, this is by far the best way and any good colour technician will be able to get plenty of foils in so that you can almost be as blonde as your heart desires!

So, there we go, the third and final blog in the 'Haircolour series'. I hope you have enjoyed and I hope that I have helped you to avoid unnecessary chemicals. After all, it's just not worth 'dying' for that perfect haircolour!

We are the Mid North Coasts Organic Colour Specialist, we offer Henna colour, are Curly Girls ourselves and are also Curl Specialists.

After all, great haircolour shouldn’t cost you your health, or the environments for that sake too.

Blessings, Monique

OK, so having read part 1 of my Toxic Haircolour blog you will now probably have been scared into reading labels, realizing what nasties are commonly found in conventional haircolour.

No need to panic, there are safe and ‘safer’ options out there for those that prefer not to have ‘virgin’ hair.

But having said that, one of our blossom fans pointed out recently, she had been colouring her hair non stop for 13yrs and had no idea that under all that toxically coloured and heat tortured, frizzy hair was a head of luscious soft feminine curls. It took over a year to grow it out and she has been getting comments on it ever since. So it may just be worth trying colour free. If you simply can’t go without colour then don’t dispair!

It has been about ten years now since I have had conventional or should I say toxic, chemical haircolour on my scalp. As the years go by I notice more 'natural hilights' of the silver variety but my Henna takes care of that. The only totally natural hair colour available to my knowledge is Henna, which I now have done in my organic salon, after years of doing in myself in the bathroom! That is 100% Henna (Lawsonia Inermis) and not compound Henna. Compound Henna is a mixture that can contain many undesirable things, including Sodium Picramate, metallic salts and other chemicals/additives. The metallic salts in these compound Hennas are the reason that most hairdressers are scared of Henna. When using conventional colour or permanent waving over these metallic salts a chemical reaction occurs which involves, fizzing, bubbling and heat – enough to scare the life out of you and your hairdresser!

But true 100% Henna (Lawsonia Inermis) does not contain these metallic salts and therefore poses no problem, but uninformed hairdresssers are still scared. Health food stores often sell “Henna” in boxes that come in every shade under the sun. These are generally compound hennas and when you read the ingredients label you will be surprised at how many chemical additives they contain. True Henna is from a plant called Lawsonia Inermis and has a orange red pigment. This henna can be mixed with other plants like Cassia or Indigo to achieve a variety of different shades. Cassia will lighten the hennas orange red pigment and give more golden tones whereas Indigo will darken and add more blue violet tones. Black is even an achievable shade using a combination of these plants. Note that Henna will gradually fade out over time, it only deposits colour pigment so you cannot go lighter, it will blend and soften greys but any grey/blonde hair will come out brighter and lighter. This just adds to the natural, tonal change giving a more natural/less block colour.

Why not call us to book a complimentary consultation and we can discuss whether Henna may be right for you. blossom organic Hair Beauty Wellbeing Forster NSW 02 6555 5959

Now that you have fabulously coloured, chemical free, glossy hair you won't look back!

However, if Henna is not for you, if it is too much to get your head around, you don't want a red/copper/ or warm tone of colour, or you want to lighten your natural colour, then our next part 3 blog will cover other 'safer' options than conventional haircolour, which may suit you better so stay tuned.

Till next time, happy Henna-ing!