Two years ago, I thought I would have to give up coloring my gray hair because of the chemicals contained in the majority of  hair coloring products. I really didn’t want to go “au natural” because my gray hair was very dull and drab;  yet I didn’t want to continue to expose myself to harmful chemicals.

I am happy to report that about a year ago I found a product I feel comfortable using. It is Naturcolor and is made in Italy for Herbaceuticals, Inc. It is an herbal permanent hair color product that is very gentle on my hair–I don’t notice any hair damage. This is not a completely “clean” product but is better than most and it does cover gray hair completely.

When I decided to use Naturcolor, I talked with my hairdresser and got her buy-in to give it a try. She was at first hesitant since she’d never worked with it. After many assurances from me that I wouldn’t hold her accountable if I ended up looking like an alien, she agreed to use my newly found product. (Naturcolor is sold so you can use it at home–I just prefer having my stylist do it for me when I get my hair cut.)

Naturcolor worked great–as a result, I’ve been able to continue to have my dark brown hair. As much as I want to be a natural person, I just couldn’t go back to letting people see the dull, drab color that began about 12 years ago to take over my head! Naturcolor covers my gray and lasts until my next haircut is due. I do use Desert Organics Italian Red Grape shampoo and conditioner that is formulated for color treated hair–I believe this regimen prevents my color from fading much.

Using Naturcolor is not a perfect solution but it is one of the better choices if I’m going to use color at all. It is herb-based, contains no ammonia and no resorcinol (scores 8-10 {10 being the worst} on EWG’s Skindeep Cosmetic Database).  It does contain small amounts of p-phenylenediamine and peroxide (which both score between 8-10). But if I went for the perfect solution, I’d let myself go gray. Maybe when I’m in my 100’s but not yet…