So far, my “cosmetics quest” (an effort to minimize the number of toxins I willingly apply onto my hair and skin each morning) has been a combination of hits and misses. The two most challenging items I’ve been trying to source to date are deodorant and hair dye.
As you can see in my blog photo, I like to keep my hair red. But not long ago, I liked to keep my hair blonde. And before that … well, you get the picture. I’ve liked changing up my hair colour since I was a teenager. I’ve had pretty much every colour under the sun. Twice. What can I say? I just find my natural hair colour boring and want to add a little oompf to it.
For most women my age, colouring hair becomes a “must do” because they don’t like the look of their grey hair. So it’s a topic worth digging into a bit. The first time I had ever heard of hair dye as a health concern was when one of my book club friends said that research was starting to tie brown hair dye to cancer, so she was going to bite the bullet and go “au naturel.” Personally, I think it’s a great choice — grey hair has a real flair to it, I think.
But for those who insist on “needing” to colour our hair, Gillian Deacon, author of There’s Lead in Your Lipstick has some bad news for us:
“Permanent dyes last the longest and contain the most serious toxins. The semi- and demi-permanent colour rinses often avoid some of the troublesome chemicals, though not all. No matter what, if you’re going to hide your age with hair dye, you’re signing on for a chemical bath.”
