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August 24, 2011 ·

Are hair straighteners safe?

Self Care

OK, I’ll admit it.  I do get hair envy occasionally when looking at photos of various celebrities and their perfectly straight hair.

My hair was bone straight as a child but over the years has developed this kinky wave to it.  And I don’t mean a nice wave where you can just wash your hair and go… I mean the type where it looks like I’ve just rolled out of bed and encountered some serious static electricity along the way.

and not nearly as cute as this...

So when salons started offering those Brazilian or Keratin straightening treatments… I was tempted.  Well except for the price… $200-$600 per treatment seemed extreme… and I was slightly concerned about what it would look like once it started growing out.

In a recent conversation with a friend she had mentioned that she was thinking about getting it done… and I just said I don’t think it’s safe.  But that I would research it more for her – below are some of the questions she wanted answers to:

How does a chemical hair straightener work?
Your hair is made up of strands of keratin.  Chemical straighteners use substances like formaldehyde to to break the keratin bonds that hold the hair in its natural state. The new bonds reshape and hold the hair straight.

Is formaldehyde safe?
No, in a gaseous form, Formaldehyde has been classified as a known carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.  Often, during the process of chemically straightening hair either a flat iron is used to speed up the straightening process; or customers are asked not to wash their hair for a couple days post-treatment.  Heating the formaldehyde would cause it to vaporize making it easy to inhale.   While, leaving it on for periods of time enables it to be absorbed into the skin.

My salon or product says it’s formaldehyde – free, is it safe?
No, according to EWG when they investigated 16  brands that claimed to have little or no formaldehyde – in testing them, they found 15 of them to have substantial amounts.   To see the list of the products that have been tested by EWG and the results click here.

Is there a safe way to straighten my hair?
Yes, you can straighten hair using a hot flat iron.  No chemicals are involved, only heat.

Where can i find additional information on this topic?

  • EWG
  • National Cancer Institute
  • OSHA

 

 

 

 

 

 

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☘️Happy St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️ I’m we ☘️Happy St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️ 

I’m wearing my green today and preparing to make some corned beef and cabbage for dinner, but what is this day about? Here are some fun facts:
☘️
What are we celebrating? St Patrick’s Day commemorates the patron saint of Ireland, a missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland. It is celebrated on March 17th, which is the day he is believed to have died.
☘️
Why shamrocks? St. Patrick used the 3-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.
☘️
Why green? Green has tradition in Ireland but an old folklore states that wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns. If they can see you, they will pinch you! 
☘️
Why corned beef and cabbage?  Well, corned beef and cabbage is NOT the traditional dish in Ireland! When Irish immigrants came to America, they couldn’t afford the more traditional pork and bacon, so they used the cheapest cut of meat they could find, beef brisket. So corned beef (not in any way related to corn but is a reference to the brine) and the inexpensive vegetable, cabbage, became the celebration dish of choice. (Side note, if you are Catholic and St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday during Lent, like today, diocese will usually issue a dispensation from abstinence, which means meat can be eaten today.  So queue the corned beef!).
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#funfactfriday #stpatricksday
Because I love this quote so much, I had to upgrad Because I love this quote so much, I had to upgrade it from a story to a post. Michelle Yeoh, 60 years old, is the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for best actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. 🏆What an inspiration! 💗 And not to be overshadowed, Jaime Lee Curtis won her first Oscar for a supporting role in the same movie. She is 64.

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If you’re looking for a way to volunteer this ho If you’re looking for a way to volunteer this holiday season - Wreaths Across America is this Saturday, Dec 17th. “In many homes there is an empty seat for one who is serving or one that made the ultimate sacrifice” this holiday season. Visit wreathsacrossamerica.org for more details on volunteering, donations, and locations near you.
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