The color-oxidizing agent used in permanent hair color is?

• A. Sodium hydroxide
• B. Hydrogen Peroxide
• C. Ammonia
• D. Alcohol

Answer: (B)

Hydrogen peroxide serves as the color-oxidizing agent in permanent hair color. It provides the oxidative power needed to convert dye precursors into their final, colored forms and to lighten natural hair pigment by oxidizing melanin. As it decomposes, it releases oxygen that drives these chemical changes and helps open the hair cuticle so color molecules can form and be trapped in the cortex. Sodium hydroxide and ammonia raise the pH to swell the cuticle but don’t oxidize the dyes, and alcohol acts as a solvent. So the oxidizer that actually activates and develops the color is hydrogen peroxide.