What The Beauty Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

You do not need most of the products that are in your home. They actually could be causing you some significant changes to your health.

If you are into true minimalism and you despise the commercial empire, and you do not want to subscribe to any product line, I completely understand and am here to validate that you actually do not need shampoo and conditioner to be "clean" or well groomed, you don't even need a branded product for your self-care, it is your choice to use the products being marketed to you, you can choose to brush your hair daily, rinse it with water and treat it with things you can easily grow and make, things that are even good for you to eat!

If you don't already have a brush I highly recommend getting yourself a really good quality brush like the FYH brushes, and if you already have a brush, try brushing every day! Your brush works for you by strengthening your scalp muscles, drawing your scalp oils down the hair shaft, and removing a lot of dust, dirt, and things you have accumulated from exposure to your environment. You can opt to use things on your scalp and hair like a fresh aloe vera mixture rinse, rosemary water, and jojoba. Honestly, there are so many amazing herbs, flowers, and plants on the earth with many uses and we just think they are weeds when they have something great to offer us, and it's a great way to be connected to the earth. Making your own remedies brings great satisfaction and makes you cognizant of the ingredients your body is absorbing. Many people choose to care for themselves in these ways, you are not alone and there is plenty of information accessible to formulate incredible salves, oils, balms, and hydrosols, and I digress, give it a search on the ol' youtube.

Won't my hair be dirty if I do not wash it with shampoo?

Hair isn't dirty when you skip cleaning your hair with detergents. When using shampoo the hair is being stripped of its natural biological processes for cleaning, and chemicals are left behind with cleansers and conditioners.
Brushing your hair is the number one way to keep your hair clean as hair accumulates 10x more dust, dirt, and environmental pollutants than skin do in a day. (Which is a good reason to brush your hair before you sleep on it at night)
Shampoo and conditioner actually can cause multiple skin issues and reactions, and many stylists have been taught that the solution is another product, but the truth is that other products could perpetuate the problem. Dandruff, itchy, dry skin, and lesions happen when the body reacts to the chemicals in the products being put on the scalp and skin, if one eliminates products, dandruff will decrease, if not eliminated totally.
Humans do not need shampoo and haven't always used detergents to cleanse their hair, Hairstory has a great article on The History of Shampoo, it's a great read to get your peepers on.

Why does my hair feel dry, oily, and like it has a build-up when I tried to stop shampooing in the past?

Hair can feel this way when you are not brushing sufficiently or often enough the solution is to BRUSH
Have hard water/mineral water, solve with a WATER FILTER
When other products are still being used on the hair, like synthetic styling or conditioners, there are many solutions, but we love washing with CULT & KING WASH BAR and recommended abandoning toxic products and stop mixing old products that a consumer is trying to finish off with toxic-free ones. Start fresh, finish your products, return them, or safely dispose of them in accordance with local regulations.
pH is out of balance, there are also many solutions, but one easy one is an ALOE VERA RINSE 4.64 pH diluted 1:5 with filtered h20.

ARE ALL PRODUCTS ON THE BEAUTY MARKET SAFE BECAUSE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO BE SOLD?

NOPE. In short, there are 85000 chemicals on the market and the EPA can't keep track of all the chemicals being used in products being sold on the beauty industry marketplaces.

Shampoos, conditioners, masks, smoothing treatments, and styling products can contain ingredients that are highly toxic, do damage the environment, cause sensitization, eye damage, reproductive harm, hormonal changes, and are carcinogenic.

Check out these resources for study links.

Do Not Heat Educational Article

Many shampoos do contain a variety of chemicals, including surfactants, preservatives, fragrances, and coloring agents. All these have documented toxic reactions. These chemicals are used to create a lather, preserve the product, enhance other chemicals, and make it more appealing to use.

Companies do not have to disclose their proprietary fragrance blends so this is where most often the icky stuff is hidden.

Some people may be more sensitive to certain chemicals and experience symptoms of toxicity because of chronic exposure to them, or even acute exposure.

Symptoms of toxicity from product use can vary depending on the type and concentration, and mixture of chemicals present in the product, as well as the frequency of use and individual sensitivity. Some common symptoms of toxicity from shampoo use may include:

Irritation or burning sensation on the scalp or skin

Itching or redness

Dryness or flakiness of the scalp or skin

Allergic reactions, such as hives, swelling, or difficulty breathing

Headaches or dizziness

Nausea or vomiting

Anxiety, confusion

If you experience any of these symptoms during, or after using hair care, you should discontinue use, seek medical attention, and report to the company that makes the product.

HOW TO BUY HAIR PRODUCTS & AVOID TOXIC PRODUCTS

BE VIGILANT, DO NOT BLINDLY TRUST

Don't assume products are safe just because they are being sold.

Products are not tested before they go to market, and they are only reformulated when reactions are reported or sales aren't doing that well.

Hairstylists use multiple products every hour on humans and are exposed to various VOCs during the workday while being around multiple services in the salon.

The safety sheets (MSDS) that go along with products point out that those products shouldn't be mixed with other styling products, many saying so even within their own line. But very rarely do stylists have access to these safety sheets and or have no knowledge the product they just bought at the local "beauty supply" distributor (where only licensed professionals can shop, because of safety reasons) has safety warns such as it shouldn't be used in addition to any other product, in turn, the stylist then sells these products to their clients, without disclosing the safety information they are liable to disclose.

It's not their fault, the company reps do not disclose safety information when they are trying to get hairdressers to buy their product lines. A hairdresser needs to know the safety material that exists and ask for it to review. But who is going to tell them that? That is not a part of most cosmetology training/ education, and it is not a part of the distributor, ambassador, or representatives of the product's training and education. They are in the crudest sense of the word, pushers of the product.

Product safety training has a gigantic gap and many loopholes in the beauty industry.

Makers of products want you to know the benefits of the product, not the negatives, so they do not present safety information in an accessible, easy to understand way, and they do not teach stylists how to handle the product safely, they will teach them how to sell it, and use it in ways that contradict their own safety recommendations.

FEAR NOT!

All stylists have access to google, and so do clients. With a little investigation, you can track down the safety information on a product, if there is any.

It's a good idea to read the ingredient list on your product container, and google 'safety information product name', or 'product name' MSDS and check the pictograms, the toxicity, and reproductive harm, eco-toxicity report sections, and their ratings.

Keep in mind when you read MSDS, the safety information is for the INDIVIDUAL chemicals in the product, not the chemical MIXTURE. And most do not disclose the chemical list as their product is "PROPRIETARY"

The product is only tested for stability, and if it will meet the goal of the intended use of the product. Frankly, you will see a lot of N/A in most categories.

There has been no longer term study on the acute or chronic effects of being around and handling these multiple product mixtures being used in the salon or in home use.

And I know it's common sense, but as the saying goes "common sense is not so common."...

Avoid products that contain chemicals that you are known to be sensitive to or that you are unsure of. Just because your friends use it doesn't mean you have to use it or that it will be good for you. I know we as humans get excited about things that work for others. And maybe we will love it too, but too often one person is just following someone else's influence without due diligence. And that is risky and can even be life-threatening.

I understand there is great influence out there about products, beautiful packaging, and celebrity-backed products with promises of social acceptance and self-fulfillment cause people to buy things that they do not need, and are sometimes harmful. But all products are presented to sell, so create a habit of looking past that beautifully done marketing to reason with yourself about the product being marketed to you, you can really insulate yourself from marketing influence, and exposure to harmful things, it will also keep unnecessary spending down.

You may find these questions helpful when making a purchase for yourself or your business

Why do I want it?

What issue is it solving for me?

Will this cause another issue or add to one?

Do you even need it at all?

Does buying it support my ethics and goals?

Who wants me to buy it?

Who benefits from the sales?

Who could it disadvantage?

Why am I inclined to avoid looking up safety information on a product I am going to use on my or another's body?

Do people deserve to know what chemicals they are being exposed to during beauty services?

Thanks for reading, hope it was helpful!

xx the hair hug, whit, a hair hugger.

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