Beauty at what cost? Learning to minimize toxic exposures…

I don’t go to salon’s anymore due to the chemicals just floating about in the air. It’s noxious the minute you walk in even if you don’t apply anything to your body or head.  I instead take care of my hair at home. I use organic unscented shampoo and conditioner and nothing else on my hair. I even stopped coloring it and let the grey come in.

I actually also started cutting my own hair, which I pleasantly discovered isn’t all that hard. I was forced to learn because I was bedridden and then homebound for a long time. Now I’m quite thrilled by the fact that I can do it myself. Not only do I control my haircut, I save a lot of money. I also really love my hair for the first time in my life. There is no way I would have believed I could do this a few years ago. I actually learned by watching DIY (do it yourself) youtube videos.

Minimizing toxins that we are exposed to can be done in a myriad of ways with things we CAN control…there are so many things in the environment we cannot control so I go for maximum on that which I can control.

I’ve come to believe that my protracted withdrawal issues are, among other things, the compounding of many years of toxic chemical exposures…it’s not just the psych drugs. For me it started in childhood with the overuse and abuse of antibiotic drugs. All of us are exposed to a contaminated food and water supply too. We get toxins in the air we breathe from cars and industrial pollution and then more with the products we use on our bodies. The list goes on and on of course.  It’s well worth considering how we can minimize our exposures. We can’t avoid all environmental toxins but we sure as heck can reduce them greatly and that will support our general well-being.

In refusing toxic products we also send a message to industry that they might stop making the products that not only harm us individually, but also poison our only home, planet earth.

From Women’s Voices for the Earth:

On a daily basis and often for long periods of time, salon workers are exposed to chemicals such as formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate, toluene, methyl methacrylate (MMA) and many other chemicals that are used in dyes, glues, polishes, straighteners, acrylic nails and other salon products. Many of these chemicals are linked to cancer, allergies, respiratory, neurological and reproductive harm…

…Women’s Voices for the Earth supports the Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act, which is a bill that would phase out harmful chemicals in salon products and retail cosmetics. Until we pass stronger laws like this one, one of the things you can do is arm yourself with the information you need (like WVE’s resources & factsheets) to protect yourself from harmful chemicals.

Not a Salon Worker?

If you’re not a salon worker but are concerned about what chemicals you may be exposed to when you go to a salon, download this fact sheet and bring it to your salon to ask your stylist or manicurist if any of the chemicals listed are in the products she uses on you. If yes, maybe you can start a conversation about switching to a safer alternative, both for her health and yours. After all, sometimes the price of beauty just isn’t worth it! (read more)

More on Beyond Meds:

• Aging gracefully: allowing the gray

• Chemicals in our food, in our cosmetics and body products and in the environment: Unacceptable levels

• Mothers and children and chemicals in our environment (and pharmaceuticals)

Because: 

• Everything matters

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