As a kid, I remember walking into the basement when my Grandma colored her hair , using those ubiquitous boxes of Clairol, and being overpowered by the smell of peroxide. It struck me as intense and bothered me at first, but I soon got used to it. When I got older and started dying my hair, friends would come up to me as I sat in my room waiting for the dye to saturate my follicles.

“Can I smell it?” They said, as though they’d get high off the fumes. What can I say? I had weird friends.

Peroxide fumes aren’t a necessity to get a good color. It took decades of development and dozens of companies to change the belief that hair coloring, shampoos, conditioners and styling mousses need harsh, inexpensive chemicals to make you beautiful.

Beautiful Hair the Natural Way

What does “natural” mean? It means a shampoo or hair dye has few chemical preservatives, colorings or fragrances or agents to make shampoos sudsy. Natural ingredients are harder to store, transport and preserve, so these shampoos and conditioners may be a tad pricier than their chemical-laden counterparts.  You’ll have to look in your fridge or cupboard for 100% natural products, since the shelf life of manufactured conditioners, dyes and shampoos needs a boost from at least a few chemical preservatives.

Here’s an overview of the most popular environmentally-friendly hair care lines, along with some DIY tips for at-home hair care.

Aveda

Aveda boasts a complete line of cosmetics and hair care products and a school to train their own stylists and make up artists. One of the oldest and most trusted natural hair and cosmetics companies, you can buy their products online or at salons nationwide.

Their Pure Abundance Volumizing Shampoo, formulated with organic acacia gum, enriches and moisturizes thin hair, while their Rosemary Mint Shampoo has the cooling aroma of peppermint and the revitalizing properties of rosemary to strengthen hair.

Aveda offers hair coloring at their salons worldwide, featuring their own brand of plant-based formulas.

Kiehl’s

Kiehl’s natural product line originated in an apothecary located in Manhattan’s East Village. Their shampoos, cosmetics and skincare lines gained national audience in the past several years. Adopting an environmental and philanthropic policy similar to Aveda and The Body Shop, Kiehl’s products tend to attract a trendy young unisex crowd.

Kiehl’s cosmetic and hair line has a stringent no animal testing policy. Their hair care products sound good enough to eat, but save it for your head! For damaged, extra dry or color treated hair, Kiehl’s offer a line of olive fruit based products, featuring oil nourishing shampoo, conditioner and Repairative Hair Pak. With olive fruit, lemon extract and avocado, this triple-threat line infuses hair with the silkiest moisturizers in natures garden to soften frizzy hair. Their herbal dandruff shampoo contains aloe leaf juice and eucalyptus to sooth itchy scalps without the dark, motor oil thick consistency you buy in a drug store. For example, Head and Shoulders contain Zinc pyrithione and Dimethicone. These chemicals are also used in some household paints. If that doesn’t scare you into using natural products, what will?

Body Shop

When Anita Roddick opened her first Body Shop store in the U.K. in 1976, she forged the first “green power” movement in cosmetics and skincare. Fusing her environmentally friendly products, natural ingredients with a ban on animal testing of products, its growth blossomed in the 1990s.  Now with over 2000 stores worldwide, it seems there’s a Body Shop in every American shopping mall America.

Body Shop has produced hundreds of plant-based products through the years, with everything from tea tree oil to macadamia nuts.  Bilberry Color Protect Shampoo, Amilika Leave-In Conditioner with Amlika berry extract , and Brazil Nut Moisture Mask and Honey Moisturizing Shampoo all sound good enough to eat, but save them for your head. And Body Shop’s anti-dandruff shampoo contains ginger instead of aloe and eucalyptus like Kiehl’s, proving there’s more than one natural way to combat dandruff.

Garnier

Garnier Nutrisse, a relatively new mass-market hair color, covers gray and looks natural as opposed to Revlon or Clairol’s brighter, brasher shades.. However, many users say that color fades in a few weeks, so be forewarned. Garnier Nutrisse includes a small packet of fruit oil concentrate to pour in the dye before using. And there’s no intense peroxide smell.

 
DIY haircolor

Henna
Redheads and wannabe redheads have all the luck when it comes to brightening their tresses. Henna, first favored by the ancient Egyptians and used most famously by Cleopatra,  comes from an African plant that  produces a natural red dye used in many types of cosmetic applications.  Apply henna with plastic gloves and keep your clothes well-covered since the henna paste (henna powder mixed with water or lemon juice) can make a mess. You’ll need to devote yourself to henna for awhile once you start using it. Switching between henna and chemical based hair dye can cause damage to your hair.

Look in your fridge!
We’ve all heard stories that massaging raw eggs into your hair can make it strong and shiny, and yes, it’s true. For shinier hair, you can beat an egg and massage into just washed hair. Then rinse it out with cool water.

Although you can buy beer based shampoos, it’s okay to take a bottle of beer from the fridge and rinse you hair with it next time you shower. Of course, check to make sure you don’t smell like the town drunk when you go out to that meeting with your in-laws.

DIY for Blondes
Use lemon juice to brighten blonde hair. Squeeze two lemons into a quart of warm water rub it into your hair. Leave it on for ten minutes and then rinse.
 

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