beginnings of my journey

Some years back in my career, while I was only concerned with using whatever products I felt performed well, I ran into a problem.  Several clients scalps were mildly to intensively reacting to the color line I was using.  For a while, I adjusted the formulas by watering them down and that a helped a bit, but eventually, with some of these clients, things progressed in a bad way.  I hate to admit that one even went into anaphylactic shock which then actually led her to the ER.  This particular client also expressed that she did not want to stop coloring her hair and pleaded with me, asking if there was anything I could do.  Another client, who was having a reaction not so severe but still, a reaction, brought me a photocopy of a study about a particular ingredient in most all hair color lines that was quite toxic.  So, this, amongst a few other things, got the ball rolling for me to begin really spending time researching ingredients in hair color, and then eventually all personal care products (ie. shampoo, hair gel, makeup, toothpaste, etc) to see what affect they have on the human body.

I’ve learned a lot.  I don’t think the things we do randomly or in moderation are things of high concern, but rather the things we do often and repeatedly… these have an affect, whether good or bad.  And so it is with all the personal care products that most of us use daily on our bodies.  Think about it.  From the time you wake up until you leave the house, what do you do?  You take a shower and use soap, shampoo, conditioner and shaving cream.  Then you get out and possibly use moisturizer, after shave, antiperspirant, toothpaste, hair products, perfume, sunscreen, makeup and more.  By the time you leave the house, if you add up the ingredients in all of those bottles, you’ll see that you easily have interacted with over 100 ingredients.  If half of these are toxic, meaning they contain things like carcinogens, hormone disruptors or allergens, this may explain some of your health problems as life goes on.

And so yes, there are other things that affect our health like how we eat, sleep and exercise.  There are also other products we use around our home, like cleaning products, that could be affecting us.  But, my industry revolves around personal care and so my salon as well as the info I share on this blog and on social media are just ways for me to do my part in helping people with their health via being educated about the many personal care products on the market today.  I feel that this will not only bless and help my many beloved customers, but also will help myself and others who work in the industry who would like to enjoy a long healthy career without the negative affects of toxins in hair and skin care products that we are around so constantly.

I will write more later about what some of these toxic ingredients are and how we have prayed and worked hard to find products to use and sell in our salon that do not contain them.

I also have to mention how happy I am to say that both the aforementioned ladies still come to get their hair colored with me and, with the new cleaner color line I am using, have absolutely no irritation or reaction.  So grateful for this!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read.  May you be blessed with a long and healthy life!