Is there a hair dye that will not break hair off?

• Hair dyes have caused bad reactions among some people like redness, itchy or irritated skin, burning, hair loss and -- with an extreme allergic reaction -- facial swelling and labored breathing.

The cream dye mixture makes the hair shaft swell to accept the color and process further. Certain ingredients that do this are metallic lead and bismuth citrate --- and in proscribed doses that are approved as safe. Our hair has keratin and it's the sulfur within that oxidizes with the chemicals, causing a color change.

The three types of hair color --- permanent, semi-permanent and temporary --- all have chemicals in varying levels. The permanent colors are obviously meant to last longer and, according to the Food and Drug Administration, they are broken up into two categories: oxidation dye or progressive dyes.

The oxidation type becomes a dye after a chemical reaction with hair. The progressive type are dyes themselves but need additives to get to the desired shade; some of the chemicals used to do that are ammonia, soap and detergent, a conditioner and hydrogen peroxide. What you generally see in the box are a developer and an ammonia-based dye that are mixed together to form a cream.