A Quick Look at Traditional Dye vs Henna

I know it’s a little bit early to be talking about Fall, but we have to get ready for the kids to start back school, traffic to get worse between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and the leaves to start hitting the ground. You know something else that tends to happen in the Fall? Women like to dye their hair. That’s something that I never really understood, but it’s a trend that I’ve noticed for pretty much my entire life. People dye their hair darker hue for the Fall than they do in the Spring. Perhaps their hair is trying to stay with the seasons as well?

Mane Objective

There’s nothing quite like dying your hair a different color in order to make you feel like a whole new person. It’s almost like when we change our hair color, we’re also starting something new in our lives. I want to really think about wat happens when you use a hair dye. Sure, it looks great, but traditional dyes can also be detrimental to your beautiful tresses. Don’t believe me? Think about when you decide to use a box dye in your hair. Does your hair not start to get dried out and frizzy? Well, part of that has to do with the ammonia that’s included in the hair dyes.

Yes, the same stuff that you use to clean your bathrooms is also used in the hair dye in order to get the cuticle to raise up and allow the actual color to seep into your tresses and create that long lasting color that you cherish. As you can imagine, it’s definitely not the safest thing to put in your hair. If you’re going to use a regular hair dye, we highly recommend that you go to a professional for the upkeep to make sure that you don’t experience unnecessary breakage as a result of not knowing how to properly care for your hair. Need something to use at home in between visits? The Shedavi CROWNED™ CoWash is an excellent product to use to restore the moisture to your hair and keep your color vibrant.

Let’s say that you’re reading this and are convinced that you still want to color your hair but don’t want to deal with the potential damage. What other choice do you have? After all, it’s clear that if you’re looking to have healthy hair, hair dye may not be the best option. Luckily, you may still be able to change your hair color without having to compromise your tresses. Allow me to introduce you to henna.

Henna is a plant that when mixed with other natural substances like indigo can create different hues of color to give your hair a dyed or colored effect. True henna naturally turns the hair into a reddish or orange type color. Because henna only coats the hair instead of penetrating the shaft, it doesn’t cause any harm to your tresses. I know what some of you are thinking. You’ve used hair dyes in your hair countless times and don’t see a reason to switch it up now. I mean, a box dye is just as effective, right? Well yeah sis, but at what costs to your health? Take a look at the top three benefits of natural hair dyes like henna below.

1. The color lasts longer. Unless you’re using a permanent hair color, you can expect for regular hair dyes to begin fading after a few washes. That can easily turn into a month’s worth of color. Using henna and other natural dyes can last upwards of 4-6 weeks while still maintaining the same rich color that you started with.  

2. There is no ammonia in the mix. Ammonia makes the cuticles rise up and allow the color to get into the hair shaft. Although this seems ideal, it’s pretty harsh on the natural proteins in your head. You know how your hair can get all matted and frizzy for no reason after getting it dyed? Again, that has a lot to do with the ammonia that got exposed to your hair.
3. You have no limit to how often you can do it. Unlike a regular hair dye, natural dyes can be applied in conjunction with other colors as often as you please without having to worry about damage.

As you can see, the benefits to using henna are huge, and can help you in your healthy hair journey. As we’ll talk about next week, one problem that people od encounter with henna is dryness. Of course, Shedavi has an answer for that. Just add some Shedavi Elixir oil to your hair after you finish applying your henna and you will not have any problems.

Do you prefer regular dye or henna? Tell us about it in the comments!

Written by Bianca Scott