Levero vs the Best Sellers
DHALIORA
Screening Desk
Report LV-2026-09
Published 14 Sep 2026
dhaliora.xyz
Amazon’s best-selling grey shampoos, screened against ours — ingredient by ingredient.
Abstract. We took the published ingredient lists of Amazon’s three best-selling grey-coverage shampoos and graded every entry on the EWG-style scale we apply to our own catalogue, then read the dye chemistry line by line. Findings: two of the three run on PPD; the one that doesn’t isn’t a dye at all. Levero sits between — a permanent colour with PPD’s disclosed substitute and the shortest high-risk list of the permanent three. Trade-offs are reported for all four products, ours included.
Scores grade ingredient-risk profiles, not performance. Amazon ranks as observed 3 Sep 2026.
Each product’s published list was read from its public Amazon listing and graded entry by entry — low, mid or high risk — on the same scale as the 54 products in our own catalogue, with the grading rationale published per ingredient in our glossary. We then classified each product’s colour mechanism from the dye entries themselves. No performance testing was conducted; review data is cited where the source and count are known.
“Grey coverage shampoo” hides three different machines. Table 1 is the heart of this report; every finding below follows from it.
| Levero (ours) | Control GX · #1 | Polar · #2 | Bablabear · #3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary dye | Toluene-2,5-diamine — the standard PPD substitute, disclosed as such | None on the screened list — colour builds by gradual deposition | PPD (p‑phenylenediamine) | PPD (p‑phenylenediamine) |
| Couplers | Resorcinol · m-/p-aminophenol · 5-amino-o-cresol | — | Resorcinol · 2,4‑diaminophenoxyethanol | Resorcinol · m‑aminophenol |
| Developer | Hydrogen peroxide | None | Hydrogen peroxide | Hydrogen peroxide |
| High-risk entries | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| What holds | Permanent — covers and stays | Dims over weeks; drifts back if you stop | Permanent | Permanent |
Levero (ours) · 8.5/10
Primary dyeToluene-2,5-diamine — the standard PPD substitute, disclosed as such
CouplersResorcinol · m-/p-aminophenol · 5-amino-o-cresol
DeveloperHydrogen peroxide
High-risk entries2
What holdsPermanent — covers and stays
Control GX · #1 · 8.5/10
Primary dyeNone on the screened list — colour builds by gradual deposition
Couplers / developerNone
High-risk entries0
What holdsDims over weeks; drifts back if you stop
Polar · #2 · 7.5/10
Primary dyePPD (p-phenylenediamine)
CouplersResorcinol · 2,4-diaminophenoxyethanol
DeveloperHydrogen peroxide
High-risk entries3
What holdsPermanent
Bablabear · #3 · 7.4/10
Primary dyePPD (p-phenylenediamine)
CouplersResorcinol · m-aminophenol
DeveloperHydrogen peroxide
High-risk entries3
What holdsPermanent
Table 1 — Colour chemistry by product, from each screened list.
4.1 Just for Men Control GX Grey Reducing Shampoo
Neither of us uses PPD, and Control GX goes further — no resorcinol, no peroxide, so it screens gentler than ours. The trade is what it does: it dims grey gradually over weeks and drifts back if you stop. Ours is a permanent oxidative colour that covers and holds, at the cost of a dye system that still needs a patch test.
Mid (5): ethanolamine · sodium sulfite · cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine · laureth-23 · laureth-4
Our read — the cleanest list of the set, and it earns that by not being a dye. There is no colour engine here: no dye, no coupler, no developer. That is why grey dims rather than covers, why results take weeks, and why they walk back out when you stop. For subtlety over coverage it is a fair buy; for grey actually covered on wash day it is a different product category from the other three on this page.
4.2 Polar Haircare Hair Dye Shampoo (Jet Black)
The same oxidative format as ours, but built on PPD with extra dye intermediates on top. We removed PPD and it did not — that is most of the gap between the two scores. It also costs about double.
Mid (6): hydrogen peroxide · ethanolamine · triethanolamine · sodium sulfite · polysorbate 20 · cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine
Our read — this is the product we get cross-shopped with most, because it is the same machine: oxidative dye, peroxide developer, shower format. The differences are on paper. Its engine runs on PPD plus a third dye intermediate; ours runs on PPD’s disclosed substitute, one high-risk entry fewer. Its listing was marketed with “no harsh chemicals” when we researched it, with PPD, resorcinol and peroxide on its own list — we run the same chemistry class and print every entry with a grade. At its $34.95 / 200ml list price it runs roughly $17.50 per 100ml, against about $9 for Levero on the everyday pair: near enough double, for the longer risk list.
4.3 Bablabear Black Hair Dye Shampoo
PPD and resorcinol, plus an SLES cleanser base — a busy mid/high list. Ours keeps resorcinol but drops PPD and the sulfate base, which is why it screens a full point higher.
Mid (4): hydrogen peroxide · ethanolamine · sodium laureth sulfate · sodium sulfite
Our read — the same PPD-and-resorcinol engine as Polar, delivered through a sulfate cleanser base. To its credit, the botanical tail is real: polygonum, ginseng, keratin. But a dye is decided at the top of its list, and the top of this one reads like a standard box colour with SLES doing the washing. Between the two PPD products, this one at least prices like what it is.
pointed at us
We do not get to skip the exercise. Levero’s own list carries two high-risk entries — toluene-2,5-diamine, the dye that replaced PPD, and resorcinol, its coupler. That is the fewest of the three permanent colours here, but it is not zero, and the substitute is PPD’s closest chemical relative. This is exactly why the 48-hour patch test line survives every page and every email we send.
What the 2026 reformulation removed: PPD from the dye engine and phenacetin from the developer — both visible on the printed declaration, not just the marketing. What it kept: a real permanent colour that covers on wash day and holds.
Control GX is a fair buy and we will not pretend otherwise. Expect dimming over weeks rather than coverage on wash day, and expect grey to return when you stop.
That is Levero’s lane — permanent oxidative colour, PPD’s substitute doing the work, two high-risk entries instead of three, gloves in the box, patch test still required. This page is our pitch, and this row is it.
Then compare price and list length. Both PPD best-sellers carry three high-risk entries; the #2 also runs roughly double Levero’s per-millilitre price at list. Our GDS Black sits in that PPD lane too, at $29.99 with every entry graded.
The pair discount is permanent.
Any two bottles of Levero are 10% off, every day — no code, no deadline, not a sale. Two bottles run $53.98 instead of $59.98 ($26.99 a bottle, about $9 per 100ml), same shade or mixed. Roughly a year of fortnightly grey coverage. Ships from Korea in 1–3 business days, tracked.
PPD-free does not mean safe for a PPD allergy. Toluene-2,5-diamine took PPD’s place on Levero’s list and cross-reaction between the two is common — patch test 48 hours before every use. Levero remains a permanent oxidative dye: resorcinol, aminophenol couplers and a peroxide developer are all present. Coverage builds over two or three washes, gloves are in the box because bare hands will stain, and it is not for eyebrows or lashes.
Screening scores and risk grades assess each product’s published ingredient list on the same EWG-style scale we apply to our own catalogue; they measure ingredient risk profiles, not performance, safety in use, or regulatory status. Competitor ingredient lists, Amazon ranks, marketing language and the Polar Haircare list price of $34.95 / 200ml were observed from public Amazon listings on 3 September 2026 and may have changed since. High/mid-risk counts refer to entries on those screened lists as graded by us. Clinical figures are the maker’s commissioned results against its own baseline product. Review counts aggregate Korean-language reviews on Naver Smartstore and the maker’s own store; customer photos are verified DHALIORA reviews. Pair pricing is our standing everyday discount.