Pure Shades

Pure Shades is a line of ammonia-free direct hair pigments made by Mowan, an Italian professional hair-cosmetics company based in Angri, in the province of Salerno [1][2]. The line is sold into salons rather than to consumers directly, and forms part of a wider colour catalogue that also includes the oxidative Megix 10 system. Mowan operates through the legal entity Create Images S.r.l. [1]. The brand remains active: its most recent public product asset, a Pure Shades colour chart, was published in November 2024, and the company maintains a current catalogue and salon locator.

The founding year and founders are not stated on the company's own pages. According to Mowan, the name derives from the word "Woman", reflecting a stated focus on women's beauty needs, and its founders had extensive experience in hair cosmetics [2].

Pure Shades is a range of direct pigments — colour that deposits onto the hair without the oxidation step used in conventional permanent dye. Mowan positions it as a "zero impact" formula, free of ammonia, PPD (paraphenylenediamine) and resorcinol, and without the foaming agents SLS and SLES or parabens [1][6]. The line is offered in 28 shades plus a Clear variant, grouped by the company into three families it calls Brilliance of Light, Softness of Light and Depth of Light, with individual shades named after gemstones and minerals such as Sapphire, Amethyst and Obsidian.

The pigments carry an active complex the company calls Keraveg-18, described as a blend of 18 plant-derived amino acids together with soy protein, arginine, serine and threonine, intended to hydrate the hair and hold colour and shine [6]. In salon use, Pure Shades is presented for creative fashion shades, for toning blonde hair, and for refreshing existing colour, including a short toning-and-reconstruction service that pairs the pigments with the brand's Synergy Mousse [6].

A US salon-supply retailer describes Pure Shades as achieving its results through what it calls an "exclusive spectrum technology" [6]. Mowan applies the same Spectrum Technology name to its separate Megix 10 oxidative line, where the company says it allows colour to process in about ten minutes at low ammonia levels [5]. The two systems are distinct: Megix 10 is an oxidative colour that uses ammonia, while Pure Shades is the ammonia-free direct-pigment line [1][5].

Mowan describes innovation, efficiency and what it terms "cosmeticity" as the pillars of its work, and frames its aim as serving the practical needs of the salon market while protecting hair health [2]. Pure Shades reflects that positioning through its ammonia-, PPD- and resorcinol-free formulation. The company states that its products are dermatologically tested and made in Italy [4].

Pure Shades is a professional product sold through salon channels rather than general retail. Mowan's international presence runs largely under the Megix 10 name; company and distributor copy describe that system as made in Italy and distributed in a number of countries, and Pure Shades is stocked by salon-supply retailers in markets including the United States.

The brand is active. Mowan maintains a live product catalogue, an English-language site under the Megix 10 name, and a salon locator, and the Pure Shades colour chart carries a November 2024 date. No awards, press coverage or controversies were found in the sources reviewed, which is consistent with a business-to-business salon brand rather than a consumer-facing one.