Pregnancy-safe and Vegan-friendly Hair Products
by Jaqulene Harper-Roth
Within the many faces of motherhood, lies a woman of beauty. Throughout her hormonal, physical and emotional evolution, there is a need for nurture, appeal, color and balance. Each change, each conquered phase of growth, allows her to wear the feminine celebration of living beauty, as she becomes gently caressed by the simplicity of her senses. Today, all women can feel enchanted by the gifts of nature’s balance. With colors and gentle cleansers created in organic botanicals, she can make and use safe, natural resource dyes, shampoos and conditioners while pregnant and lactating with low or no chemical, risk. Designed to work with each woman’s individual hair chemistry, these wild-crafted, herbal formulas are selected for their superior cosmetic properties and actions, working in stages as they gently lighten, darken, restore or completely change a woman’s whole approach to beautiful hair, and self-love.
The words – safe and hair-beneficial, are not familiar terms that express the production and use of today’s commercially available, hair dyes (regardless of the brand or cost). If the overwhelming eye-watering and suffocating aroma, isn’t enough, maybe the reactions and application cautions are. Or maybe you need more convincing. What if you discovered that most of these familiar and trusted hair dyes are skin-harmful, and now thought to be a highly toxic contributory factor to the increasing number of auto-immune deficiency diseases, in women in America, today? Allergic reactions and animal cruelty made us into label detectives, yet when we see those words ‘FD&C approved’, we immediately think these products are regulated substances and therefore, safe. Not so, look them up in your local library, or get the information on the web, or write directly to the manufacturer and request an ingredient origin and function list. All dyes regulated as ‘FD&C’ (food, drug and cosmetic), are in fact petroleum-derived and known more commonly as the cell-toxic, coal tar dyes.
The scary thing is that this isn’t cutting edge new research. People in the cosmetic industry have known about the danger of artificial dyes, and other laboratory formulated ingredients such as wetting agents, preservatives, emulsifiers, disinfectants, fragrances and deodorants for years, and done nothing to prevent their continued production and use. No manufacturer goes into this business without seeing a high margin for profits. They’re not really people friendly, or particularly concerned about ingredient origin or formulations, because it could take years (and billions of dollars in lost profits), before reactions are reported. And after all, everyone else uses them, so where’s the harm? People who work in the hairdressing, make-up and skin-care industry have known as far back as the early 1900’s when US legislation put a control on the use of artificial coloring agents for cosmetics, (for the fear of ingestion). Today there are only nine safe colors, yet even these are still under scrutiny. And let’s face it, all these come with warnings, especially the ‘do not use this product while pregnant or nursing’, ones.
Why is it that with so many beauty-scare reports, are we still falling prey to the televised opinions of others. What exactly do we mean when we say, “I think I’m worth it”? It isn’t just your money you’re parting with. Okay, so you may not have a reaction the first five times you use these products, but it doesn’t mean you won’t in the near future. It doesn’t mean that your body isn’t storing these poisons in your brain and fats cells. It doesn’t mean that your body isn’t becoming in a state of toxic overload. What if you’ve been suffering with a bizarre collection of health conditions that your doctor just hasn’t been able to effectively treat? Then, once your cells and DNA messengers have been poisoned, denatured and reprogrammed through the absorption and distribution of these poisons, you get to pass it on to your kids too. Outbound to the normal disease circuit, doctors and skin specialists are overwhelmed and bewildered. Who’d have thought just dyeing, washing and conditioning your hair could have such a devastating effect on your health, even your life? There are many alternatives to chemical formulated products, but be watchful of the new arena of companies ‘touting’ their hair-care products as natural, organic, cruelty-free or pure. Always read the small print. More than often you’ll see color dyes, preservatives, and fragrances are in fact included, and then you’ll know it isn’t natural, or safe.
The only safe and truly nature-pure hair coloring, cleansing or conditioning products, are ones that you make fresh yourself. Natural resource and pregnancy-safe, recipes can be customized to be gentle and unique to your hair type and conditioning needs. They offer shade changes and allow you to experience true hair beauty without (poisonous) petrochemicals, cruelty or cellular disease. Let nature-created dyes transport you into a world of seasonal reflective colors, with an ingredient base of mineral rich clays, cold pressed nut and seed oils, herbs and essential oils. Take the hair test and determine what category your hair falls into. Are you a dry normal oily, combination or ethnic hair type? Is it white, without pigment? What are your present conditioning requirements? Is your hair dull, and lifeless? Tangled, too thick, or completely unmanageable? It is heat damaged, brittle, flaky or split? Are you balding or loosing handfuls of hair prematurely?
With this information you’re ready to get started on making your own collection of living, and pure shampoo, conditioning and dyeing treatments. And the great thing is, there’s no waste, little expense, they look, and smell great (and behave as expected), and they’re biodegradable, so earth friendly, too.
Continue to Part 2, which includes recipes for dyes, shampoos, and conditioners.
