Cleaning Up Your Hair Care

Maybe the words “clean beauty” have graced your emails, or instagram feed these days. But, what does it really mean to use clean beauty products? When my best friend was opening up the salon I work at, Boss Hair Group in Chicago, we went through a serious Sherlock Holmes-type investigation on what exactly clean beauty means. And, it took a long time. There are some dark paths that one can get lost on when exploring this topic. Here is the gist that you as a consumer need to know. Companies that make beauty products such as makeup, skin care and hair care don’t have a lot of rules or oversight they have to follow when it comes to labeling their products. In fact, there are only about 50 ingredients that are illegal to put in skin/hair care products. Given the millions out there—most of them toxic—that doesn’t make our detective jobs any easier. In the last 5 years or so it has come to many people's attention that ingredients being put in cosmetics are basically poison. A lot of them contain things that disrupt our hormones and throw us way out of balance. So, now the detective work is placed on the desk of the consumer!

One of the things I come across on a daily basis behind the chair at the salon is a confused or overwhelmed customer. People want to avoid toxic chemicals, so they throw out their expensive toxic salon brand and head down to Whole Foods to snag a non toxic hair product off the shelf. This isn’t a bad thing. However, what no one is telling you is that the ingredients in that non toxic hair product aren't high performing and might make you hate your hair. They aren't necessarily bad for your hair, skin and body,in fact they are probably much less dangerous than the one you were using before. But, they certainly are no good for improving the hair. So, after a couple months of using that store bought product, my client shows up with greasy roots and dry ends, dandruff, or maybe lack-luster locks that just hang with no shine. And, they are wondering what went wrong. The unfortunate thing is that those companies are using “safe” ingredients; they just happen to be cheap and don’t perform well. They tend to build up quickly, and leave the hair looking dull and greasy. Another problem is that big corps have jumped onto the “clean beauty” trend so they plaster phrases like “paraben free” and “sulfate free” on the bottles. It’s called greenwashing—don’t fall for it, Pantene and Garnier and anything that is sold at CVS or Target will not be a high performing product for your hair. So now what? Of course you want to use safe shampoo that is high performing. So, where in the heck can you find it?

When it comes to haircare I wanted to make things easy for you. I have compiled a list of hair product lines that have done the work for us. They have vetted the ingredients and have ensured that what is going into them is not detrimental to our health and hair. They also have chemists who work hard making sure that their expensive, safe ingredients work really well on human hair. The first 2 on the list are the brands we carry at Boss Hair Group. They are what I use behind the chair on a daily basis. But, I know a lot of you don’t live near Chicago and need some additional resources. The best part of the clean beauty trend is that more and more companies are realizing that we desperately need to clean up our routines. I’m sure this list will be updated again very soon.

Another thing that should not go by the wayside, when it comes to clean beauty, is sustainability. What I've noticed is that a lot of these brands have wonderful sustainability practices, such as using post consumer recycled products, and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon credits to fund revegetation projects. Wins across the board. One more caveat:PLEASE don’t buy professional products from Amazon. They are probably old, expired, or they might not even have the real shampoo in the bottle—people do weird shit to make a buck. Support small businesses directly and ensure you are getting the right product.

Products Picks—

1. Evo

This the closest clean hair care product I’ve used that resembles Kerastase. It’s luxurious and it performs beautifully on many hair types.

2. Oway

BEYOND Organic hair care. Everything comes from a biodynamic farm in Italy and is packaged in amber glass bottles. The scents smell earthy and unique, and products have no silicones ever.

4. Davines

One of my absolute favs. 10’s across the board every product is wonderful, vast product line with lots to choose from. The ingredients are beyond ethically sourced, and the smells are delish.