I am gray. Which apparently isn’t as much due to my age as it is to my stressful lifestyle choices. My hair stylist found my first gray at 31. I was horrified and have waged a red-haired war on those little wirey strands ever since. To quote my favorite playwright: I am not going gently into that gray night. So how do I keep my red locks red without either harming animals whose eyes don’t need to be injected with red dye or putting animal by-products on my scalp?
I am happy to share my favorite three products.
A real home run is Herbatint! I am so happy to have discovered this company after much online research regarding hair color, gray and health. Not only does Herbatint keep my roots rosey red, the color is ammonia free so my bathroom doesn’t smell like a salon on steroids. Herbatint is 100% animal-product free and never tested on the little ones either. This is one of those life-saving discoveries. Vegan hair color = happiness.
Product numbers 2 and 3 are a little more complicated. Both products are vegan and leaping bunny approved but now owned by parent companies who test on animals. This is a huge ethical dilemma for me but I’m a pragmatist and these products are within easy Amazon reach and do a great job managing my frequently colored and chlorinated hair. Let me introduce Ojon Color Sustain, a sulfate free shampoo that I discovered years ago. Ojon has a good story, is approved by the Rainforest Alliance and its production works with nonprofits to better the land and people of Honduras. in 2007, Ojon was acquired by Estee Lauder. The third product I love is Pureology’s Hair Mask which I buy from, most certainly, unauthorized sellers on Amazon. Pureology was one of the first mass-market hair companies to wave the vegan flag (the founder launched ALBA as well). They are still vegan, but now owned by L’oreal who makes no apologies for it’s animal testing. For what its worth, our dollars are valuable tools and if companies like Ojon and Pureology can retain their integrity under their larger parent companies then maybe the message we’re sending by choosing these products is that we want all beauty-products to be both animal-free and free from inflicting harm on animals.
