Long Hair Cuts & Chemicals

Long hair cuts often require special care and treatments to keep strands healthy, shiny and smooth. You may desire to check out different hair care products designed specifically for long hair. If you wish to go this route, make sure to read what is in the ingredients, and look out for some pretty harmful chemicals that may actually give you a different result than what you had hoped.

Keep an eye out for these harmful chemicals in your personal care products:

SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) – it can dry out your skin and makes it flake long term.
Propylene Glycol – This chemical is supposed to prevent drying out, but according to the American Academy of Dermatologists, this irritant causes a significant number of reactions, including skin dehydration and thickening of the skin, even at low concentrations (below 2%).
Formaldehyde – a preservative, fixative, and disinfectant. Why stay away from Formaldehyde? Because it can irritate the respiratory system, causing skin reactions and weaken the immune system.
Coal tar dye – is most commonly used in D&C Blue #1, Green #3, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33, and phenylenediamine. It is found in shampoos, especially dandruff shampoos, bubble bath, toothpaste and hair dyes. Coal tar dye can cause severe allergic reactions, asthma attacks, headaches, nausea, fatigue, nervousness, and lack of concentration.

There are more such chemicals you should watch out for that harm your hair and even your whole body, but this list will get you started in what to avoid. If you can’t read what’s on the ingredient label, there’s a good chance you should avoid using it. There are many good natural products available to choose from. That goes for food labels as well!

Protect your hair from chemical, heat and sun damage. Long hair faces a great risk of irreparable damage when it comes to high levels of these exposures. Avoid overly exposing your hair to chemicals like the chlorine found in swimming pools. And try styling products that are gentle on your tresses.

Note: Many of these tips aren’t only for long hair, but for hair in general.

-Megan Valdivia

Long Hair Cuts – Stop Using Chemicals!

 
Long hair cuts require special treatment, of course. But special treatments don't mean chemicals. You can give your hair special treatments everyday by brushing it with the right comb, washing your hair properly, using the right accessories, etc.

The short and sweet version of this little story (oh, and by the way – I haven't had dandruff since I decided to cut out all chemicals and harmful treatments from being applied to my hair) is that I found that the problem always came back worse after using the product for a while. My hair appeared to have “gotten used” to the treatment and the damage became worse as time went by. By not attacking the “root” of the problem, it is only covering up the problem of a dry scalp that can be cured by not abusing it with chemicals.

If you're trying to revive your healthy hair, don't use chemicals and harmful treatments! That's the last thing you want to do! You may have the best intentions, but your hair doesn't know that. It thinks you're trying to kill it! When you use these chemicals, they strip away your natural shine, dry out your scalp, create split-ends, cause frizz and breakage, hair loss, and a whole bunch of other terrible symptoms of abused hair! And to add to this, these chemicals are invading other parts of your body through your scalp.

So let's treat our hair with the care it deserves and stop using those chemicals and harmful treatments! Be patient, it took your hair likely years to get to the state it’s in; it may take quite a few months to recover. Use healthy shampoos and conditioners that won’t damage it. Your hair will thank you later on by supplying you with gorgeous, long and flowing tresses that everyone will shower compliments on!

-Megan Valdivia