Best vitiligo hair colour

Last Updated on 17th April 2023 by Caroline Haye

Another chapter in my henna story

Despite my long history of widespread vitiligo, I consider myself lucky in that I have never developed much white hair. But I eventually started to grey naturally in those areas that most people eventually do. In other words, around the temples and at the front hairline… Which may or may not have something to do with carrying the vitiligo gene. Either way, I have been searching for some time now for the best vitiligo hair colour to use to cover up depigmented hair.
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Not everyone (whether they have vitiligo or not) wants to hide their greys. But many of us do, hence my search. In particular I have been looking for the best hair dye to cover white hair without causing allergies or inflammation that can aggravate vitiligo.

Life is unfair

It’s no secret that life can be unfair. It is a well known fact that some men start to look distinguished with a few flecks of silver in their mane. (That is, if they are lucky enough not to go bald first.) And some women also manage to carry off that stately, elegant look that can result from strands of platinum streaking artistically through their coiffure.

I, on the other hand, do not belong to that happy group of people who grey gracefully. In fact, I belong to that other group that just looks tired, like a drab and faded shadow of their former self!  As a result, the past couple of decades have found me either sitting in the salon on a regular basis, having my head plastered with an evil-smelling concoction of hazardous chemicals, or reaching for equally noxious over-the-counter dyes every time those white roots threatened to make a re-appearance.

It wasn’t until a gradual increase in scalp irritation prompted me to read up on the ingredients contained in commercial hair dyes (even in most of the so-called “natural” hair colourants) that I realised what I was doing to my already vitiligo-susceptible skin amounted to madness. Repeatedly dying my hair was exposing my scalp, and my entire system, to an unacceptable and unnecessary toxic load. And it might cause more of my hair to lose natural pigment by aggravating vitiligo. So I vowed never to go anywhere near chemical dyes again. Which is how I came to try pure henna powder as a safe and non-irritant alternative.

My first experience of henna had pros & cons

Safe, non-irritating but messy to use and less than perfect grey coverage

At the time of writing this, I had been using henna bricks from Lush for a couple of years and been relatively happy with the results. From the moment I stopped using chemical dyes I had absolutely no more scalp irritation whatsoever. Better still, I had peace of mind, knowing that colouring my hair was no longer bringing me into contact with any substances that might trigger new areas of vitiligo.

Compared to these benefits, the fact that the grey coverage was not always 100% and the process of applying pure henna was time consuming and very, very messy seemed unimportant and well worth the trade-off.  But I have to admit that the palaver of melting and mixing the henna with water in a Bain Marie on the stove, until it was just the right consistency, was a bit of a chore. Trying to get the gritty mixture to cover every individual strand of hair – especially the problem white ones – was tricky and messy too.  I then used to have to leave the henna on for nearly 3 hours to stand a chance of getting a dark enough shade on the greys.  And, then rinsing it off was a bit like trying to wash clods of dried mud out of my hair, to say nothing of the mess it left behind in the shower.

So my next discovery came as a welcome relief and something of a godsend to me. This was the Surya Brasil range of henna and other hair care products. It was free from virtually all the nasty chemicals usually found in hair products, but proved to be quick and easy to use at home, giving my hair superior colour, shine and grey coverage, even compared to the professional salon permanent colours I used to use.
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​My next henna discovery

Surya Brasil Henna Cream shades as applied to grey hair

I found this range when I was researching natural products for inclusion in Vitiligo Store.  I was a bit skeptical at first because all the products I had found previously that claimed to be “more natural” than salon dyes whilst delivering similar results did not stand up to scrutiny. These were usually marginally better than most hair dyes, in that they did not contain ammonia and boasted a bunch of natural sounding plant extracts, but they still contained hydrogen peroxide (which is the very last thing anyone with vitiligo needs to apply to their skin) and Paraphenylenediamine (PPD: the same chemical as used for dying fabrics and carpets – and the main cause, in hair colourants, of irritation, allergic reaction and even, occasionally, anaphylactic attacks). So I had more or less given up on finding anything that would improve on the slightly disappointing performance of pure henna without compromising on safety.  But then I came across Surya Brasil.

I was delighted with the ease of use and the lovely results from using this henna product. But the main thing for me was that it allowed me to continue to use an alternative, henna-based hair colour that significantly reduced the risk of aggravating my vitiligo. I have, since first publishing this post, moved on to other alternatives in my quest for the perfect vitiligo hair dye solution and you can read about these in 2 Chemical-Free Ways to Colour Your Vitiligo Hair.