I was allowed to start wearing makeup when I was twelve and a half – the same time I was allowed to get my ears pierced, subscribe to Teen magazine, and start getting perms to achieve the big hair trend of the late eighties. It all happened during the summer before I started junior high, and the new beauty treatments were an exciting rite of passage.
I liked curly hair but naturally had hair with an unruly wave, so I got spiral perms twice a year. It didn’t matter that the permanent solution stung my scalp and the odor made my eyes burn – I was getting the look I wanted. As soon as the smelly solution was rinsed out, I had cascading curls yet again.
By the time I was in my twenties, I was introduced to the wonder of hair color and it quickly took on the same novelty as perms had a decade before. Again, it didn’t matter about overwhelming odors. I just wanted highlights.
After two decades of regularly using products and potions, imagine my shock when I learned that toxic chemicals were integral components of hair dyes, shampoos, soaps, and makeup.
One easy way to hurt yourself, your family, and the environment is to continue to use artificial hair dyes. As some of the most toxic personal care products on the market, hair coloring is hazardous to use.
Buyer beware
Some hair dyes include P-Phenylenediamine, a skin allergen, lung and nervous system irritant; 1 P-Aminophenol, a chemical that irritates eyes, skin, and respiratory systems, requires the use of safety glasses, gloves, and good ventilation, and is toxic to aquatic organisms; 2 Resorcinol, a chemical linked to convulsions, dizziness, vertigo, confusion, disorientation, and tremors, as well as a potential harm to thyroid glands; 3 and Ethanolamine, a toxin that irritates lungs, skin, and eyes. 4
Safer choices
I stopped dyeing my hair – cold turkey – about six months before my husband and I started trying to get pregnant. When I learned the coloring was so toxic, I didn’t want another drop coating my hair and covering my scalp. (No wonder the dye smelled so completely atrocious!)
Stopping is the easiest and safest choice I can recommend. Henna dyes are available; while they’re safe, I have no idea how effective they are. And experimenting with hair products – especially coloring – can be a little disconcerting.
Talk back
Have you started avoiding artificial hair color? Please share your process!
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I still highlight my hair but my stylist uses an organic hair line http://www.organiccolorsystems.com/ it may not be perfect but free of ammonia,uses certified organic Ingredients, certified vegan & cruelty-free by PETA. You can also ask your stylist if you could bring in your own color dyes for them to use. I think if you have a good relationship w/ your stylist they would be up for it. I too didn’t dye my hair during the years that I was trying to conceive and while pregnant w/ my children. At 40 the hair is getting grayer by the minute and I need something! LOL
Thanks so much for telling me about Organic Color Systems, Trina!
This has been a very hard thing for me. I stopped dying my hair for some of the same reasons, but it is hard to watch the grey come in especially hard with all of the women surrounding me having beautifully colored hair with no grey showing. My mother a long life long hair dyer had at 60 a large bald spot on top. She decided to let her hair go grey and her bald spot is starting to fill in with hair.
I agree with you, Cara … it’s getting tougher to see more and more gray hair, especially when everyone else seems to color their hair. (I try to remind myself that I’d rather gradually go gray.)
I’ve been coloring every 4-6 months since I turned 30. A few months ago, I thought about going gray and talked to my husband. He wasn’t really excited about the idea, but told me to do what I thought was best :). In the end, I decided to keep coloring for now. I am definitely interested in the Organic Color Systems.
Hilary, we’ve had similar paths but I didn’t dye my hair until I hit 32. I was too afraid of the chemicals after feeling the burn from perms.
When I tell my hairstylist about the chemicals in her products, she just laughs and says that everything is alright nowadays! I limit what I do because of chemicals but I haven’t stopped completely, except while trying to get pregnant and nursing.
I love you blog title. Please link up with us at No Ordinary Blog Hop. We would love to have our readers read your posts. Every blessing, Kelly
Like some of the others, I don’t like seeing the grey come in. My husband doesn’t really like seeing the grey either. I would like to transition to something more natural but I feel like I would have to cut it all off or go to a really expensive natural hair dresser (not an option at the moment). Has anyone else made the transition smoothly?
Karen’s Organic hair coloring is great! I started using it about 2 yrs ago
After using the chemical box stuff since I was about 14, I’m 61 now. I
Started having numbness on my head when using the box stuff so I
Went about 3 months without dying my hair when I found my new
Hair dresser who uses many organic products. It worked great the first
Time and I have’nt had any problems with the organic hair dye. And no,
You don’t have to cut off your hair! There is even organic hair spray
Which I really love. Organic is the only way to go, whether you’re putting
It on your hair or body, and especially if you’re eating it! Joy to all of you!
I decided to stop coloring my hair about three months ago. But for me, it is more than a physical health question. I feel like a fraud when I color my hair. I am also taking a stand against the current culture that glorifies youth and physical beauty, and ignores wisdom, kindness, and acceptance. (I know, you are all thinking what a crackpot I must be!) But seriously, I sincerely want to be able to look in the mirror and like what God has made. Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
I don’t think you’re a crackpot at all! I completely agree with you … and I feel a lot like you when it comes to taking a stand against glorifying youth and physical beauty. I’ll admit that sometimes it’s hard when I notice more and more gray in my hair! :)