What's the difference between hair color & hair dye?

People who use (and want to use) hair dyes/colors have a lot of queries about them, but don’t know where to ask. We are pleased to inform you that we shall be publishing a series of articles on hair dyes/colors in the coming weeks.

Hair dyes and colors are being used by more and more men and women. Initially, people dyed their hair only when it turned grey with age. But, these days, the use of hair color is so common that it is even a fashion statement. A lot of people often ask us as to what is the difference between hair dye and hair color. In commonly spoken language, people use these terms interchangeably. In this article, we shall focus on clearing your confusion regarding the words hair dye and hair color.

A little history

Not very long ago, the word dye was the more commonly used one while referring to the process of colouring one’s hair. Initially, only natural dyes (from plant or food sources) were used to color clothes. Gradually, the natural dyes got replaced by synthetic ones, as they coloured the fabrics better and for longer durations. These later were developed into dyes for colouring human hair, keeping human safety concerns in mind.

The commercial difference between hair color & hair dye

Even today, the word ‘dye’ brings forth an image of the process of dipping a fabric in a dye solution. This is definitely not good for marketing, is it? So, almost all companies manufacturing hair dyes/colors prefer to use the word ‘hair color’ for their products. This may be because the word ‘dye’ suggests a ‘harder’ (or ‘harsher’) product than a hair color. That said, most of the products people commonly use (and see advertisements for) are actually hair dyes, and not colors.

The scientific difference between hair color & hair dye

Technically speaking, hair dye & color are different. A basic understanding of their mechanism of working clears this. A hair dye goes inside the hair to colour it and thus, the colour produced by the dye is usually long lasting. On the other hand, a hair colour stays on the surface and paints it from the outside only. Therefore the effect of hair color fades much faster. However, irrespective of whether you use hair dye or hair color, the new growing hair will be of its original colour only.

We hope that this article cleared some of your queries regarding hair colors. Stay tuned for more articles in our series on hair colors. If you liked this article, please do share it with your friends, using the social media links below!

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Dr Nitin Ranjan

Consultant dermatologist at Dermacosm clinic

Dr Nitin Ranjan is a consultant dermatologist at Dermacosm clinic. He possesses more than 7 years of experience in diagnosing & treating all skin, hair, and nail diseases.