Live free and dye: minimize chemicals for a more natural hair color

YOU STEER CLEAR of pesticides, UV rays, and dry-cleaning chemicals, but when it comes to covering up the gray--well, you slather on the dye and hope for the best. Happily, a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association found virtually no link between hair dye and cancer.

Still, many companies have begun to voluntarily reduce the use of ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, resorcinol, and p-phenylenediamine (PPD) in their products. Here are our picks for the most natural color enhancement:

permanent

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"CERTAIN INGREDIENTS need to be in hair color in order for it to work," says Peter Matravers, vice president of research and development at Aveda. "That's why there's no 100 percent natural way to dye your hair permanently," explains John Masters of the John Masters Organic hair salon in New York City. If you're dying at home, he advises looking for a formula with minimum PPD and ammonia and maximum conditioning. Try Garnier Nutrisse ($7.29; garnierusa.com) with hydrating avocado oil, vitamin E, and grape seed oil; Naturcolor ($15; 800-784-8212), which is ammonia-free and low in PPDs, but changes color only one to two shades; and EcoColors Home HairColor Kit ($16.50; ecocolors.net) with flax, castor oils, and scant PPD.

semi-permanent

WITH THESE DYES, you can go darker than your natural color, but you can't go lighter. Also, "you can camouflage grays but you're not going to get 100 percent gray coverage like you would with permanent color," says Jennifer J. of the Juan Juan salon in Brentwood, Calif. "Semi-permanent color lasts anywhere from about four to 12 weeks. As hair grows out, the color fades." Try Clairol Natural Instincts ($8; at drugstores) with no ammonia and low peroxide, plus strand-strengthening botanicals; Surya Henna Powder ($4.95; bytheplanet.com), which conditions with honey and is available in six hues; and Light Mountain Natural Henna ($4.98, bytheplanet.com), which colors with henna, an all-natural option, but lasts only about six weeks.

color extenders

SPECIAL SHAMPOOS deposit small amounts of botanically derived hue into your hair to revitalize your shade. For best results, use them once a week. Try Wella Biotouch Nutri-Care Color-Nutrition Reflex Shampoos ($14; wellausa.com), which convey color with natural plant extracts (chamomile for blond hair, pomegranate for red, cinnamon for brown, and mallow for gray); Aveda Pure Plant Shampoos ($8.50; aveda.com), rich in botanical extracts and available in seven colors, including chamomile for blond hair, madder root for red, clove for brown, black malva for black, and blue malva for gray; and Jason Color Enhancing Shampoos ($8; jason-natural.com) with their medleys of naturally derived botanical extracts.