Are you staring at the hair coloring rack over and over again? We feel ya. The options are endless, so to make things a little easier for you next time, Test Purchase did the test to see which hair dye you get the best out of.
Whether it’s to hide those first grey hairs, to change the colour or to give your original hair colour just that little bit extra, the search for the best hair dye is endless. Because if you have to go to the hairdresser every two months, you’ll lose a lot of money, so you’d prefer to dye your hair at home now and then.
But how harmful are these products really? And which hair dye lasts the longest? Test Aankoop went to investigate and just revealed his buying guide for hair dye products. Most products to colour your hair yourself are very effective’, reads the magazine. We can even call the best of our test excellent. And if you follow the safety instructions, they won’t even harm your health.
Different types of colouring
There are three ranges: permanent hair dye, semi-permanent colouring and colour shampoos or colour gels. Do you want to make sure that your colour stays in place? Then it’s best to choose a permanent hair colouring. It will then take about four weeks before your natural hair colour becomes visible again at the roots.
The test
For our large-scale test, we bought a light brown colour from ten leading brands. We applied each of these products to strands of blonde, brown and grey hair. Our hair colour guide shows you which products best cover your natural colour, how well they camouflage grey hairs, whether the colour is even from root to tip and can withstand six washes.’.
What does it turn out to be? All colourings gave a good to excellent result in terms of grey coverage. Mainly large quality differences were found in uniformity and colour stability. Some brands such as Herbatint are preferred, others less. For example, Syoss and Garnier colour grey hair less well (4 stars) than other brands (5 stars). But even then it’s not that bad.
Skin irritation and allergic reactions
However, it is important to respect the safety instructions and to carry out a test beforehand. Many hair dyes contain ingredients to which the skin can react allergically’, it says. These ‘sensitizers’ or potentially irritants can cause contact dermatitis on the scalp and in the face and neck.
The symptoms? Itching, flaking, burning and red rash. In rare cases, you may even experience a swollen face, nausea or respiratory problems. Generally speaking, dark hair dyeing contains more sensitizers than light dye tones. And that’s why it’s so important to apply a little product to your arm first, for example, before you apply it to your head.
The key question
At the end, Test Aankoop also poses the key question to experts: is such a colouring harmful to your hair? The answer is, not surprisingly, yes: ‘The chemicals in permanent hair colouring change the structure of the hair’, it sounds. They make it drier and more brittle. Coloured hair can get dull, start milling and show split ends. Therefore it is recommended to use a conditioner after the treatment. It is often included in the packaging. To wash coloured hair, it is best to use a special shampoo for damaged hair.
