Natural Hair Care

We all put our hair through alot each and every day. Whether like me you don't use a lot of products but live in a humid summer and dry winter area, or you are the type who fully styles your hair daily. Weather, heat, styling products, blowdrying, pollution and more all can cause havoc with your hair. So why would you use anything that is full of chemicals on your hair? Your revitalizing daily shampoo might have been formulated to add volume and shine, but consumer watchdogs say the scads of chemicals used in cosmetics aren't adequately assessed for safety by either the federal government or the manufacturers. Similar health concerns were echoed in a study presented Sunday by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine neurobiologists at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in Washington, D.C. In tests on rats' brains, Pitt researchers have found that prolonged exposure to low levels of a common shampoo ingredient called methylisothiazolinone (pronounced METHYL-lie-so-THY-a-zole-a-nohn) dramatically restricts the growth of neurons. Methylisothiazolinone -- shortened to MIT for obvious reasons -- is often added to water-based shampoos and hand lotions to prevent bacteria growth, said Pitt neurobiologist Elias Aizenman, the study's senior author. The chemical also is used widely as an antimicrobial agent to kill germs in industrial water storage tanks and cooling units. Read more about chemicals in your shampoo including information that they may contribute to Parkinson's Disease as well as Alzheimer's on ewg.org . "The good news is: Hair-care products are better than ever before," says Paula Begoun, a former makeup artist who writes extensively about the cosmetics industry. "It's really hard to buy a bad product, but you can get conned by products that are overpriced or bad for your hair." There are many unrecognizable ingredients on a shampoo bottle label. Propylene glycol (which inhibits freezing). Ethylparaben (a preservative that prevents bacterial growth). Cyclopentasiloxane (smooths the hair). It's hard for a curly haired girl to figure out whether the ingredients back up what's promised on the label and support the $25 price tag. Basically, all shampoos have the same recipe. Lathering agents. Cleansers. Preservatives. And fragrances. So do all conditioners. OK, maybe most of them don't have butane, a pressurizing agent that helps force the mousse out of the can. (It doesn't harm people, just the environment, Begoun says.) So if it's harming us or the environment, what is the difference? There is no real safety check on ingredients in personal care products including make up, shampoos, conditioners and all of the styling products we use everyday. "The key for consumers is to look at the ingredient list, because the first is what's most in the product, and clearly whatever comes at the end, there's not much of it in the product," says Marie-Pierre Stark-Flora, assistant vice president for global product development at Kiehl's. (see ewg.org for full article) The best way to see what is in your hair product is to find out the ingredients yourself. Use natural and organic hair care products as much as possible to avoid having extra chemical buildup in your system. Also stick to mineral makeup (about my favourite brand)so more chemicals do not get into your bloodstream through your face. If you have long hair then this article on long hair care may be a big help too.