10 Best Ammonia Free Hair Dyes To Buy In 2024

Updated on August 17, 2024

Do you know that using ammonia-based hair dyes can result in permanent damage to your hair cuticles? Ammonia is a common ingredient in many hair dyes. This is because it causes the hair follicles to expand to open up the hair cuticle layer to allow the dye to penetrate the hair shaft to the thickest layer of your hair. It ensures the dye is fully absorbed into your hair and not sitting on the surface.

While everyone wants a richer long-lasting dye, ammonia is a harsh chemical that can damage your hair permanently over time. It weakens your hair strands, which leads to breakage. It also makes your hair cuticles lose moisture and become brittle and dry and irritates your scalp. Today we have ammonia-free hair dyes that are much safer and will color your hair while strengthening its strands. Here is a list of the best ammonia-free hair dyes.

Editor’s Choices

Top 10 Ammonia Free Hair Dyes

1. Clairol Natural Instincts Semi-Permanent (Best For Oily Skin)

This is a gentle hair color that is formulated with 80% naturally derived ingredients. It is perfect for all hair types and textures, and it gives a rush color and a boost of shine for radiant healthy-looking hair.

This dye has no ammonia or added parabens, meaning it is safe for use and it will not damage your hair. It is made with coconut and aloe vera as some of its ingredients and covers pesky gray hairs. This semi-permanent hair color can last for up to 28 washes without fading.

Key Features:

• Available in 37 shades
• Lasts up to 28 washes
• Lacks ammonia and parabens
• Made with 80% naturally derived ingredients
• Boosts shine while blending away grays

2. Naturtint Ammonia Free Permanent Hair Color (Best For Normal Skin)

This is a permanent hair color that offers long-lasting results and 100% gray coverage. It is free from ammonia, parabens, artificial fragrances, heavy metals, and sodium.

This hair color is enriched with plant and seed oil extracts to color nourish, and protect your hair and scalp naturally derived ingredients like oleic acid derived from olives and meadowfoam seed oil deliver dehydration to nourish and moisturize your hair leaving it soft with a gorgeous shine. Since it is ammonia-free, it does not contain any harsh odors.

Key Features:

• Enriched with plant ingredients to nourish and moisturize hair
• Free of ammonia and bad parabens
• Available in 32 mixable shades
• Offers 100% gray coverage

3. Garnier Olia Ammonia Free Permanent Hair Color (Best Inspired By Nature)

This is an ammonia-free hair color formulated with a 60% oil blend with natural flower oils. It comes with a unique no-drip cream formula that is easy to apply. It lacks the harsh ammonia smell and offers a temporary hair color to enhance your look.

This dye comes in 34 shades to choose from to meet all your color requirements. It provides brilliant hair color and visibly healthier hair that is hydrated, silky, and up to 3x shinier.

Key Features:

• Offers 100% gray coverage
• Ammonia-free hair color
• Made with 60% oil blend with natural flower oils
• Available in 34 shades 

4. L’Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss (Best Dark Brown Color)

This is an ammonia-free hair color that offers optimal gray coverage. This oil-based product gives a permanent, long-lasting color that lasts up to 28 shampoos. It offers a rich ultra-glossy color with its extremely natural mix of ingredients that work to give a permanent color that does not wash out quickly.

The dye comes to win 113 different colors, which can lighten or darken your hair by up to 3 shades. This dye is infused with coconut oil, goji extract, and honey that adds a rich shine to your hair.

Key Features:

• Adds shine and gloss to hair
• Lass up to 28 shampoos
• Available in 113 different colors
• Effective formula for covering gray

5. Revlon Colorsilk Permanent Hair Color (Best Easy To Use)

This is a permanent hair color kit that is safe to use at home. It offers 100% gray coverage, and since it is ammonia-free it lacks a harsh odor. The formula is enriched with keratin and silk amino acids to leave your hair in a better condition.

It offers rich natural-looking multidimensional color from root to tip with a shine that lasts. With 41 natural-looking shades, you are guaranteed to find a shade that suits your personality.

Key Features:

• Offers long-lasting color with 100% gray coverage
• Ammonia-free, which makes it gentle on hair
• Smooth and strengthens hair
• Available in 41 shades

6. ONC NATURALCOLORS Permanent Hair Dye (Best For Dry Skin)

This is a permanent hair dye and hair care formula in one bottle. It is formulated with naturally derived ingredients with no chemicals to harm your hair. You get both vibrant hair color and healthy-looking hair.

This dye is enriched with certified organic ingredients like argan oil, aloe vera, orange extracts, coconut oil, chamomile, and vitamins to make your hair shiny, soft, and silky.  This dye is ammonia-free and lacks parabens, sulfates, and other harsh chemicals thus it is gentle on your hair and scalp.

Key Features:

• Nourishes and protects your hair
• Gentle on your scalp and hair
• Offers 100% gray coverage
• Makes your hair silky, shiny, and soft
• Ammonia-free dye

7. Herbal Care Herbatint Permanent Haircolor Gel (Best Create Style)

This is a permanent hair color gel that contains 8 certified herbal extracts. It colors your hair with a natural even color; this gentle formula is ammonia-free and offers 100% grey hair coverage with a natural intense rich color.

Its natural ingredients tone and soothe your hair and scalp during the coloring process. Its gel consistency and odorless form make it easy to mix and apply. You can find your ideal shade from the 36 available colors to choose from.

Key Features:

• 100% gray coverage
• Ammonia-free coloring formula
• Has 8 herbal extracts to protect and deliver intense vibrant color
• Gentle formula on your scalp and hair

8. Schwarzkopf Simply Color Permanent Hair Color (Best Gentle On Scalp)

This is a color-caring formula that dermatologists texted to be non-irritating to the skin and scalp. It is free of ammonia, alcohol, and silicone and offers a beautiful vibrant color that is even from root to tip. This gentle dye is formulated with botanical oat milk, soy protein, and argan oil that moisturizes and nourishes your hair.

Key Features:

• Offers long-lasting color with 100% gray coverage
• Free from ammonia, silicone, and alcohol
• Nourishing formula with botanical ingredients
• Gentle on the scalp
• Dermatologist-tested

9. Shea Moisture Nourishing Hair Color Kit (Best Light Blonde)

If your hair is dry and needs a hydration boost, use Shea Moisture Nourishing Hair Color Kit. It deeply moisturizes while conditioning your hair and scalp. It is made with natural and certified organic ingredients like soy proteins, which rebuild and strengthen hair.

This ammonia-free product not only colors your hair but makes it softer and silkier. It treats and hydrates your hair, which gives it a healthy look. This permanent hair color will cover gray hair and offer long-lasting results.

Key Features:

• Rebuilds and strengthens hair
• Moisturizes and conditions your hair and scalp
• Ammonia-free dye
• Made with organic-certified ingredients

10. Dabur Vatika Henna Burgundy Hair Color Ammonia-Free (Best Natural Looking)

This is a henna hair color with a range of vibrant natural shades to enhance your hair color. Henna is a known great natural conditioner that also strengthens your hair.

It has no ammonia meaning it has no that harsh odor, and it provides 100% gray coverage. This is a natural alternative dye if you fear using chemicals to color your hair. It contains a blend of a unique combination of revitalizing ingredients that make your hair soft, silky, and shiny.

Key Features:

• Ammonia-free
• Provides 100% gray coverage
• Conditions and strengthens your hair
• Makes your hair soft, silky, and shiny

How To Pick The Right Ammonia-Free Hair Dye?

Staying Power

When buying ammonia-free hair color, it is good to consider its staying power. You do want a hair color that fades quickly within a few washes. Anything that can last you up to 5 weeks maintaining its vibrant color is great. Go for dyes that offer long-lasting results so that you don’t have to color your hair often.

Shades

Ammonia-free hair colors come in different shades thus you should look for one that comes with a shade that will suit your skin tone. It is best to pot for shades closer to your hair’s natural color and make sure that it compliments your face. Some formulas offer a variety of shades that can be mixed to attain the most preferred color.

Ingredients

A dye is ammonia-free does not mean that it does not have other harmful chemical ingredients that can irritate your scalp. Always consider the ingredient list in the product description especially if you have sensitive skin and scalp. Avoid any ingredients that may cause itchiness, irritation, redness, a burning sensation, and other adverse reactions.

Type of hair dye

There are different types of hair dyes, and you need to consider which one you want. We have permanent, demi-permanent, semi-permanent, and temporal.

• The permanent hair color does not fade away easily after several washes but has chemicals like PPD, ammonia, and hydrogen peroxide. 
• Demi-permanent is milder than permanent but lacks ammonia. 
• Semi-permanent hair color is also ammonia-free, but the color molecules stay in the hair’s outermost layer.
• Temporary hair colors sit on the hair’s surface and wash out easily with just one shampoo.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of using ammonia-free hair color?

It is less harmful to your hair strands and does not cause any irritation or a burning sensation to your scalp and skin. It nourishes your hair shaft and leaves your hair soft, smooth, and shiny. It also does not emit a pungent odor.

Are ammonia-free hair dyes better?

Yes, they are a safer option, unlike their ammonia dye counterparts that damage your hair by making it dry and brittle.

How does ammonia affect hair?

It expands the hair follicle to open up the hair cuticle for the dye components to enter the hair’s innermost layer. This damages the cuticle and allows moisture to escape causing weak, frizzy, dry, and brittle hair.

Conclusion

Ammonia is a chemical compound present in many hair dyes that will not do any good but harm your hair. It makes your hair become weak, dry, and brittle. This leads to easy breakage and leaves your hair in bad shape. To avoid damaging your hair or experiencing irritation and itchiness, use the best ammonia-free hair dyes instead. These are a safer option that not only color your hair but also nourishes it and strengthens it. From our list above, our top pick dye is Clairol Natural Instincts Semi-Permanent. This is an ammonia-free hair color made with naturally derived ingredients. It is a long-lasting formula that maintains the vibrant color of your hair and gives it a boost of shine. It also comes in a variety of shades to choose from.

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