Ammonia VS No Ammonia
We are all paying more attention to what’s in our beauty products. With the rise in popularity of “clean beauty”, we are looking more closely at those ingredient labels and getting rid of products that contain things that may be harmful to our skin, hair and health. When it comes to hair color, you may keep hearing words like “ammonia” or “ammonia-free” and wonder if you should be choosing one over another. You want to make sure you’re using a safe hair color, as well as getting the results that you want for your hair.
First Things First
When trying to understand the difference between ammonia-based hair color and ammonia-free hair color, it’s important to understand why ammonia is there in the first place. The first and most important thing is that Ammonia is used in permanent hair color!
Ammonia is an alkaline chemical which causes the PH of our hair to rise while it is being colored. This allows for the color to lift the cuticle (think of the cuticle like a shell that protects the rest of your hair strand) and deposit your hair color into the hair’s cortex (the cortex is where hair’s pigment is found). Without the ammonia, the color would not be able to deposit the pigment deep enough into the hair strand for it to last. The color would instead lay on the outside of the hair’s cuticle where it would soon rinse off and therefore it would not be permanent.
If It’s Not Ammonia Than What It Is?
When trying to understand the difference between ammonia-based hair color and ammonia-free hair color, it’s important to understand why ammonia is there in the first place. The first and most important thing is that Ammonia is used in permanent hair color!
Ammonia is an alkaline chemical which causes the PH of our hair to rise while it is being colored. This allows for the color to lift the cuticle (think of the cuticle like a shell that protects the rest of your hair strand) and deposit your hair color into the hair’s cortex (the cortex is where hair’s pigment is found). Without the ammonia, the color would not be able to deposit the pigment deep enough into the hair strand for it to last. The color would instead lay on the outside of the hair’s cuticle where it would soon rinse off and therefore it would not be permanent.
Now That We Understand How They Work; Lets Look At Pros And Cons
We’ll start with ammonia-based hair color. Ammonia-based hair color has been used for years and most likely started getting a bad rap because of its strong smell. However, ammonia-based hair color has been proven very safe and there is no research to suggest it causes cancers or hormone disruption.
Ammonia is a smaller molecule which makes it very effective and efficient (also what causes the strong smell). Ammonia gives solid results especially for things such as gray coverage and vibrant or long-lasting color. Also because of the smaller molecule it rinses out of the hair quicker which prevents damage and keep hair healthier.
Some people do have a sensitivity to ammonia and in that case an ammonia-based hair color would not be a good choice. It’s always recommended to do a patch test before using any kind of hair color to make sure you won’t have a reaction!
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