Fragrance Free Hair Colour? Yes Please.

When I was first starting out as a student hair dresser many years ago, clients that had their hair coloured, permed or straightened signed a kind of waver. Basically it was just to state that they hadn't done any of these treatments to their hair recently. I had one client who had completely forgotten and didn't disclose this to me before her perm (she had had her hair coloured several days before). So when I began unrolling her hair from the curlers, sections of her hair fell off with them. We had to take great care removing those curls to try and save as much of her hair as possible.  At that point I had never seen what can actually happen when you do two treatments too close together. 

Thankfully, as it turned out she was super apologetic and in the end we were able to come up with a great cut that she loved. 
That incident has always stuck with me, and it's a huge reminder of why waiting between treatment is so important. For example, if you permed or chemically straitened your hair, wait a good two weeks before you colour.  And please don't double-process your color-treated hair.  Most stylists will advise that it's generally better to straighten or perm your hair before a colour. The general standard of 4-6 weeks (the longer the better) between colouring is important. 

When you do colour, weather it's at home or in a salon there are several things you can do to make that colour last longer.

First, try and wait 72 hours to wash your hair after you colour.
Shampoo less and rinse more.

Don't wash or rinse your hair in hot water, it's not only more drying but it fades the colour faster.

Hot styling tools will also fade the colour so if you can use them a little less you can help extend the life of your colour.
Also stay away from chemicals like Chlorine, Alcohol, SLS, SLES, Parabens, Sodium chloride, and Petrochemicals.

Some of the well known brands that have healthier aka "Natural Hair Dyes" are brands like Clairol, Natural Instincts, Garnier Hair Color Olia Oil Powered Permanent Hair Color, and Herbatint Permanent Hair Colour Gel. All of these brands are ammonia free.

Of these three, I've used Clairol the most on other people. If you're scent sensitive this one is pretty typical as far as smell goes, so it can be a problem for some. Herbatint, although it has actually been a round for a long time (the company actually started in the 1960's) it's one that I've only recently tried.  The smell or should I say lack of smell is a huge plus especially if you are sensitive. It's Dermatologist tested for sensitive skin and it's fragrance free. It also happens to be free of paraben, resorcinol, ammonia, alcohol and even gluten.

They also have a good selection of colours and if you can't find your perfect colour or match you can mix the colours.  And, as long the containers are well sealed you can re-use whatever you don't use on your initial application.

If you're interested in taking a look at this product you can check it out at herbatint.com 

Personally I've been using Herbatint not as an all over colour but just in sections were I want it, much like you would if you were doing highlights. And since it's a gel it's easy to work with. It leaves my hair soft, and did I mention that it's fragrance free.  Admittedly hair colour is not my favourite smell, so this is is definitely a welcome benefit with this product. Even though I'm not able to use the provided conditioner because of my own allergies (sadly it's not fragrance free), being able to get multiple applications out of one box is a really nice plus. It can also be hard to find my particular natural hair colour (auburn), not every brand carries it and it has a tendency to fade faster than the other colours. This one lasted a full 5 weeks before I started to notice a very slight lightening of the colour. 

The  one thing I would absolutely suggest weather you have any known allergies or not, is to do a skin patch test as well as a colour test when trying a new product.  Most products will suggest this anyway, but it's well worth it to make sure you won't have a reaction or end up with a colour you don't like.

 

Sources:
stylecraze.com
cosmopolitan.com

jandevrieshealth.co.uk  "What ingredients to avoid in shampoo for colour treated hair

womenshealthmag.com "How To Dye Hair Like A Pro"

goodhousekeeping.com "8 Best Hair Dyes Made With Natural Ingredients for 2022"