Hair Dye

Aajonus stated directly that almost no commercial cosmetic is truly natural, even when labeled as such. He said nearly all of them contain some form of lean, kerosene derivative, or formaldehyde. He described nail polish and polish remover as among the most toxic substances available in any industrial setting, so toxic that it is illegal to open a bottle on an airplane or in any closed environment. He extended the same reasoning to aerosol hairsprays, stating that exposure in a salon environment can disrupt intestinal bacteria, specifically E. coli, for as long as three months.

The mechanism he described applies directly to dye products: chemicals absorbed through the scalp enter the lymphatic and circulatory systems, are eventually built into hair and nails as the body attempts to discard them, and in the process damage the follicles through which they pass. A substance that damages follicles on its way out causes hair loss. A substance that depletes or neutralizes PABA within the follicle causes graying. Commercial hair dye, by introducing additional chemical and metallic load through the scalp, would by this logic accelerate exactly the processes it is cosmetically meant to hide.

Rather than commercial dyes or sprays, Aajonus consistently directed people toward food-based topical colorants. He described a method using berries and beet juice to create lip and cheek color. Blackberries or blueberries combined with beet juice produce a purple tone. Using only the red beet juice produces a red. Adding a light-colored berry such as mulberry dilutes the mixture to a pink. He noted that when applied correctly these stains penetrate the skin surface and cannot be licked off, remaining stable for many hours and sometimes the entire day. The same principles could be applied to cheek color by diluting the mixture with a little water and applying with a good paintbrush.

For hair specifically, rather than dye, Aajonus described a wash and conditioning formula using blended egg, strawberries, honey, and milk. The formula he gave was: one whole egg, approximately ten strawberries (or five to six if they are large), one tablespoon of honey, and enough milk to fill a ten-ounce canning jar, blended until warm, which takes approximately three minutes. A portion of this mixture was poured off for hair use without clay added, because clay makes the hair too dry. The remainder with a teaspoon of clay blended in was used as a body wash. If hair remained dry after the egg-and-fruit wash, he applied a very small amount of butter to his palm, rubbed his hands together, and worked it lightly through the hair.

For hairspray, he offered a specific natural substitute: one and a half teaspoons of unheated honey dissolved into one cup of good mineral water, poured into a spray bottle and used as one would use conventional hairspray. He noted this mixture will ferment over time, lasting as few as three days in warm temperatures and up to ten days if kept cool.

The graying that commercial hair dye is most commonly used to conceal was explained by Aajonus as a symptom of aluminum toxicity and, to a lesser degree, mercury toxicity. Aluminum, when present in excess in the body, is routed by the lymphatic system into the hair and nails as a means of disposal. As it passes through the follicle, it destroys PABA, the paraaminobenzoic acid B vitamin that governs pigmentation. When PABA is neutralized, the follicle loses its ability to produce pigment and the hair grows in gray or white.

He described this process in considerable personal detail. Whenever a section of his own hair went gray, he had that section tested and consistently found aluminum to be the dominant mineral, sometimes accompanied by high mercury. He described having patches go completely gray and then return to their natural color over periods of six months to two years as his body cycled through periods of heavier and lighter aluminum excretion. He stated that the gray comes and goes in direct correspondence with whether the body is actively discharging aluminum through the hair at that time.

By applying a commercial hair dye, a person would be introducing additional chemical and metallic load through the scalp at precisely the site where the body is already under stress from toxic mineral efflux. In Aajonus's framework this is directly counterproductive. The dye masks the signal the body is producing while adding to the burden that generated the signal.

Aajonus described the follicle as containing glands that produce PABA, which he also referred to at various points as paraaminobenzoic acid, parabenzoic acid, paraminobenzoic acid, the pyramid of benzoic acid glands, and the PABB vitamin. All of these references are to the same substance and the same mechanism. When heavy metals, particularly aluminum, are routed through the follicle as a disposal pathway, the PABA is consumed or neutralized in the process of the follicle attempting to manage the metal load. With PABA depleted, pigmentation ceases. The follicle is not dead, but its pigment-producing function is disabled for as long as the toxic metal is passing through.

He noted that if the metal load is severe enough, the follicle itself is physically damaged as the toxic mineral passes out, which can produce permanent hair loss rather than merely temporary graying. Chemotherapy damage to his own scalp was the primary personal example: the AZT he received in 1968 caused follicle damage severe enough that certain areas of his scalp never recovered hair growth even decades later, though other areas gradually regrew hair as he detoxified on the Primal Diet over the following decades.

For addressing the underlying aluminum-driven graying, rather than covering it with dye, Aajonus offered the following internal protocols drawn from the source material.

To help mineral imbalances generally, he recommended consuming three to four tablespoons of no-salt raw cheese with three teaspoons of unheated honey, twice daily, usually thirty minutes after each meat meal.

To specifically eliminate aluminum and reduce graying, he described a raspberry mixture: three quarters to one cup of raspberries, three to four tablespoons of coconut cream, one to two tablespoons of dairy cream, three tablespoons of lime juice, two teaspoons of lemon juice, and one teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar. He recommended this mixture daily for three weeks and then at least three days per week for as long as the hair remains gray. He specified it should be consumed as the fruit meal in the afternoon and not with meat.

He noted that raspberries and eggs together, or raspberries and cream together, help pull mineral deposits out of tissues. He distinguished this from citrus, which he said pulls out fat storages and dead cells but not minerals. Blackberries and especially raspberries were identified as the berries heavy enough in their own mineral content to attract and pull out toxic mineral deposits and drug deposits from tissue.

For topical support of follicles, he described rubbing bone marrow into the scalp. He experimented with a formula of approximately half butter and one third bone marrow, melted together, applied to the scalp two to three times per week and left on without washing out. He reported that five people experimenting with this approach experienced thicker hair and in some cases new growth in areas that had been bare. He also noted that butter alone, without bone marrow, helped thicken hair. The reasoning he gave was that bone marrow stem cells, being undifferentiated, can support follicle regeneration without the DNA restrictions that apply to adult tissue-specific stem cells.

He also referenced a formula from his book involving aloe vera and fermented coconut oil applied topically to the scalp: one ounce of fresh raw aloe vera gel taken directly from inside the leaf, blended with two ounces of fermented coconut oil that had never been heated above 96 degrees Fahrenheit, rubbed into the scalp to protect follicles and sometimes promote hair growth within several weeks.