Green Options

If you’re like most women, the aisle lined with attractive cartons of hair colorant has caught your eye at least once.  It’s human nature, after all — we want what we don’t have.  The allure of all those appealing shades and tints can be mesmerizing. The ingredient list tends to have a mesmerizing effect as well, but not exactly in a good way.  Chlorhexidine dihydrochloride and 2-methyl-5-hydroxyethylaminophenol, anyone?

Even the huge corporations don’t completely hide the hazards of the product.  Right there on oustide of the package, in plain view, the manufacturers warn us of the risks – severe allergic reaction and blindness. Of course, they leave out the dirtier details, like the association between hair dye and cancer. How bad is the situation? Well, even the FDA has admitted that “consumers will need to consider the lack of demonstrated safety when they choose to use hair dyes.”

Given the evidence, what’s a girl to do? Go green, of course — but preferably without literally green results. Fortunately, there is a solution.  I’m delighted to introduce a safe hair dye that actually works!  Advanced Cosmetic Technology’s permanent hair color is 100% vegan and plant-based, and is free from paraphenylene diamine (PPD), ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, bleach, and peroxide.

I often wonder why our beauty products do not come with warning labels; most of them are filled with toxins harmful to our bodies and our environment. Ingredients such as parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, germall, coal tar derivatives, urea, phthalates, toluene, formaldehyde, mineral oil, propylene glycol, triclosan, DEA, TEA, MEA, synthetic fragrances, PEG, BHA, and petroleum. Many of these ingredients have been confirmed to cause a wide range of cancers, reproductive concerns, allergies, and a sizeable list of health problems. Furthermore the ingredients which pollute our bodies also pollute the environment.To see the health effects of your current cosmetics check out the Environment Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. In the search field of the website, type your brand of cosmetics, or simply type one of its ingredients. Information will appear using a 1–10 ratio scale; 10 being the most harmful brand or ingredient.Your skin is your largest organ. It is porous; everything you apply on your body seeps into your pores. Therefore, what you put on your body is as important as what you put in it. Why not use beauty products kind to animals, kind to the planet, and kind to you?

What’s the solution?After much research concerning cosmetics which are safe, yet provide the desired results, I’ve found a great website to share: Holistic Beauty.