First of all, at Madeeka Hair we offer both Ammonia and Ammonia Free hair colour options, to suit all of our clients requests.
Recently, I'm sure you have seen many hair colour brands marketing ammonia-free, But Why...?
Most brands are offering Ammonia and Ammonia-Free hair colour, But what's the difference and which one will suit you better...?
Let us explain the difference so there will be no more confusion!
Ammonia is a chemical agent that provides alkalinity and raises the pH of hair colorants. It swells the hair slightly (that's why fine hair always feels thicker) and allows for more colour molecules to make their way inside the hair shaft. This achieves a deeper and more permanent hair colour.
Peroxide with ammonia helps the action of lightening melanin (group of natural pigments) and natural hair colour. Ammonia is a very small molecule, which evaporates rapidly (hence a hair colours odour) and rinses out quickly from the hair.
Now here is where it gets interesting!
Ammonia-Free hair colours utilize other chemical agents to provide alkalinity, and it is important to remember that “ammonia-free” does not mean “alkalinity-free”.
These other chemical agents are close relatives of ammonia, and include monoethanolamine (MEA) or aminomethylpropanol (AMP) which are larger in size than ammonia. MEA and AMP do not swell the hair as well and therefore do not allow as much colour to diffuse deep into the hair, so your results maybe less than ideal.
MEA and AMP don't evaporate as rapidly, don't smell as strongly and they take longer to wash out of the hair than ammonia (it stays on your skin longer).
There are colour ranges called Demi-permanent and Semi-Permanent (deposit-only) that use little or no ammonia at all, the reason behind this is they do not need to open up the cuticles of the hair. Instead, they coat the hair.
What The...
Most scientific evidence available today shows ammonia presents no serious health risks to hairdressers or clients when used according to instructions. With the relatively short track-record of MEA and AMP in ammonia–free hair colour, it is not possible to judge their long-term safety.
There are a handful of people that may develop a degree of allergy or other small reactions to ammonia, but let's remember we can develop allergies or reactions to pollen, dust, grass, medications, foods and more.
If you colour your hair at home we recommend using Lakme's Alchemy Scalp Salt Scrub, this will help to treat the scalp and cleanse your hair correctly for a nice healthy head of hair (with no hidden nasties).
Lyns & Dee xx