Most of the queries I receive through email are about hair coloring. So I thought of doing this post. WHAT DETERMINES YOUR NATURAL HAIR COLOR? Different tones of skin color, hair color and eye colors that exist in the world are due to a natural pigment called melanin found in our body. Our natural hair color depends on the presence of two types of melanin in the hair follicle: eumelanin and pheomelanin. The more the presence of eumelanin in the hair follicle, the darker will be the natural hair color of a person. Similarly if less eumelanin is present, the hair is lighter. Pheomelanin is found in the skin and hair of lighter skin-toned people. HOW GRAYING OF HAIR HAPPENS? Melanin production decreases in the hair root over time (with ageing) and finally ceases. This causes change in our natural hair color over time. The decrease in melanin causes a person's hair to become lighter in color, which look gray when light reflects through them. When melanin production finally stops in a hair root, the new hair root grows out white because there is no melanin to color it. Each hair follicle grays out at a different time. Image Source 1 Hair coloring is done for cosmetic reasons, to alter your natural hair color or to cover gray hair, which nature has stopped coloring. DIFFERENT TYPES OF HAIR COLORANTS Based on how long the coloring lasts, hair colors can be: Permanent demi-permanent semi-permanent temporary Based on composition, hair colors can be Chemical based Organic Herbal Natural In this article, I am going to explain the difference between permanent, demi-permanent, semi-permanent and temporary hair colors. Cuticle or Outer covering forms a protective shell Inner hair shaft consists of Cortex and Medulla that provide strength Depending on the color type, hair color sits on the Cuticle or may enter the middle layer Cortex PERMANENT HAIR COLORS: Any hair color that penetrates deep into the hair shaft and seals color into the hair cortex, is called a permanent hair color. As the name says, once you color your hair with a permanent hair colorant, the hair color stays and does not wash out with shampoo. These are Class 3 colorants. The colored part of the hair shaft keeps moving down as new length of the hair grows out from the root. You then mainly need to touch up the roots only. You can freshen up the entire hair color with a full-head application once is 5-6 months or so. Permanent hair colors are mainly chemical based and work on the principal of oxidation. The contents are initially white in color, and then the color develops on coming in contact with oxygen. Permanent hair colors penetrate deep into the hair shaft, remove the natural color pigment (melanin) from the hair and then deposit the new color. So it is possible to get a lighter hair color than what you presently have. They color all hair uniformly and therefore, very dark shades at times look unnatural and too black. Permanent hair colorants are the most effective in covering gray hair. Example: L'Oreal Excellence Creme hair color, Bigen Easy 'n Natural Hair Color, Garnier Color Naturals Nourishing Permanent Hair Color Cream, Revlon ColorSilk, Revlon Colorsilk Luminista, L'Oreal INOA, Wella Kolestint etc. DEMI-PERMANENT HAIR COLORS: Demi-permanent hair colors are also known as deposit-only hair colors. These are Class 2 hair colorants. These do not contain ammonia but other less stronger chemicals like ethanalomine and a lower concentration of hydrogen peroxide. So these are chemically milder than permanent hair colorants. The color is developed and deposited similar to permanent hair colors but hair's natural pigment is not removed. Therefore, demi-permanent hair colors cannot lighten your present hair color. You can only go for a similar or darker shade than your present hair color, and cannot dye your hair lighter with a demi-permanent hair color (without bleaching hair first). The color is not as uniform as permanent hair colors and looks more natural. Therefore, new hair growth from the roots does not look as prominent and contrasting as in the case of Permanent hair colors. Demi-permanent hair color washes out in 12-28 shampoo washes and may last longer in case of very porous hair. After color washes out, hair are restored to their previous color. These are suitable for damaged and fragile haired people who want to cover grays without further damaging their hair. These are the second best option when it comes to covering gray. Eg: L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss, L'Oreal Healthy look creme gloss, L'Oreal Color Gems Haircolor, Bigen Powder Hair color, Just for Men Natural Hair Color, Streax Hair Color, Garnier Nutrisse Hair Color, Clairol Natural Instincts Hair Color, Boots Semi- Permanent Hair Color (is actually demi-permanent),Ion Color Brilliance Intensive Shine Demi Permanent Creme Hair Color, Hair Color Chalks at buyincoins.com etc. Henna also falls in the category of deposit only/demi-permanent hair colors but may become permanent with repeated application. SEMI-PERMANENT HAIR COLORS: Semi-permanent hair colors or hair dyes contain further less ammonia and peroxide or neither at all. These are Class 1 hair colorants. Therefore only a small amount of color permeates through the hair shaft with the help of peroxide. These survive only 4-8 shampoo washes. Being chemically milder, they are suitable for fragile and damaged hair, however, cannot effectively cover gray hair. So these are not recommended for gray coverage. Example: Garnier HerbaShine, Ion Color Brilliance Brights Semi-Permanent Hair Color, N Rage Hair Color, Dark and Lovely Reviving Semi-Permanent Hair Color, Beyond The Zone Color Jamz Semi Permanent Hair Color,Manic Panic Semi-Permanent Color Cream etc. TEMPORARY HAIR COLORS: Image source 2 Temporary hair colors do not contain ammonia, so hair shaft is not opened. The color just sits outside the hair shaft closely hugging the hair surface. They cannot penetrate into the hair cuticle as their color pigment molecules are large in size (larger those of semi-permanent hair colors). They just get absorbed on the hair surface only and easily wash out within one shampoo. However, on poor quality highly porous hair or bleached hair, they can be absorbed deeper and may stay longer. These are mainly used for fun, for parties, for special occasions, when you would like to sport very bold, bright and funky colors. These are available as shampoos, gels, hair color sprays, foams and color rinse. All other hair colorant types come in colors close to natural human hair colors. But temporary colors are typically unnatural hair colors like blue, pink, purple, green,fuchsia, gold, silver etc. They can be used to highlight a few hair strands or on the full head.