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For thousands of
years, women have used plants from the family Lawsonia, called
henna, to color, condition and enhance their hair. Although
Cleopatra was one of henna’s most celebrated proponents, women
throughout ancient history have relied on henna to color,
condition and protect their hair, skin and nails.
Ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphs depict regal women with painted nails and dyed skin.
Believing henna represented the fire and blood of the earth, early
peoples of the Middle East also discovered that this mystical
plant could bring out the natural luster and deep color of their
hair. For centuries, North African brides-to-be have prepared for
their weddings with the traditional “henna” ritual, in which
friends and family of the bride gather to paint her hands, nails
and feet with henna.
Today, henna is
commonly used all through the Middle East, Africa and India for
tinting the skin, nails and hair. In our Western culture, henna is
primarily used for safe, natural, chemical-free hair coloring.
NATURAL vs. CHEMICAL Hair Color
Most hair coloring agents rely on harsh chemicals like hydrogen
peroxide or ammonia to strip the hair and allow it to “take”, or
absorb, the chemical color applied to it. The word “natural” on a
bottle of hair color doesn’t necessarily mean chemical-free; some
brands commonly found in natural products stores rely on peroxide
to prepare the hair for their colorants.
What effect do these chemicals have on the hair? First, they
weaken and destroy the hair shaft over time. Additionally, many of
the chemical hair colorants use various petroleum or coal
tar-based ingredients derived from the environmentally harmful
processing of oil or coal tar-based ingredients that have been
found, over time, to increase the long-term risk of
various forms of cancer. In contrast, henna has a long history as
a safe, gentle hair color.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a monograph
that approves henna for this use; henna is one of a select group
of natural products to achieve official FDA recognition.
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