Original & Mineral

Ammonia Free hair color with a twist. Original & Minerals mission is to challenge the artificial norms of professional haircare with the message that healthy hair begins when it's free from stress.

I like the sound of that, don't you?

This ammonia free hair color was all the rage when I lived in Sydney about 2 years ago and by the look of it, it still is. I love the edgy packaging that adds a bit of glamour to the organic world and I am dying to try out their hair care products as well.

Organic hair color

Pure and organic hair color is not a hairdressers dream. It consists of herbs and is very limited in shades and tones. Most of you know about henna, the herbal organic hair dye used as far back as in ancient Egypt. This is where we are going if we want completely organic hairdyes and it is just not good enough for me.

In my hair salon I work with an Italian brand of ammonia free hair dye. My options are unlimited when it comes to choosing the shades my clients desire and as it is ammonia free it does not make me sick.

When working with the larger brands of hair color such as Schwarzkopf, Wella, Matrix and Goldwell my nose gets runny and my head starts aching. With ammonia free hair dye this does not happen.

There are many different brands of ammonia free hair dye out there and depending on what country you reside in your options may vary but here are some of the brands I know of that are good.

Greenlight Luxury (Italy)
YO. Coloring (Italy)
Original & Mineral (Australia)
CHI Ionic (America)

For some reason many of the ammonia free hair dyes originates from Italy and I really have no idea why.

 Many of the larger brands are now producing ammonia free hair color but with limited options in shades such as Loreals Inoa and Schwarzkopfs Essential.


Why is ammonia free hair color better?


Ammonia is used to open the cuticle of the hair to deposit the color. The ammonia does this in a harsh way and leaves it wide open after the process of coloring is done with. It is also used as an activator for the color.

When using ammonia free hair color the color is deposited within the hair in a more gentle way .This also means a shinier, healthier and even stronger hair in the end as the hair structure is less tampered with. Although the color may fade a bit quicker this is so much better for the hair.

Ammonia free hair color

Yo. Coloring is the new, innovative ammonia free hair color line from the Kemon research laboratories that dedicates special attention to the naturalness of the formula and comfort during application. The main treating ingredient is yoghurt extract as the lactose contained in yoghurt has hydrating, nourishing, protecting, anti-oxidant and restoring properties and helps keep hair strong and healthy.

Yo. Coloring provides maximum ammonia free coloring to eliminate unpleasant odours and reduce hair swelling to a minimum thus maintaining the quality of the hair preventing it from becoming damaged. The hair color is also PPD free and careful research has led to the selection and use of extremely pure oxidation intermediates that provide maximum security in toxicological terms.


The extremely small size of the molecules means that the pigments of the hair color do not oxidise outside of the hair but rather penetrate easily inside it without significantly swelling the cuticle. The molecules only oxidise once they are inside the structure, becoming larger and remaining firmly anchored. This translates into shine, color stability and intact hair.