By Jenna Brooks
There’s so much talk about natural hair care and natural skin care, however, is natural really that beneficial compared to normal, chemical products. While natural can be great in some instances, it’s important to have a balance, especially in your skin and hair care.
In the case of natural ingredients and products, sometimes it can be better to switch some products in your collection over to natural. Especially if you frequently suffer from irritation and poor reactions to the chemicals in your normal products, natural can ease some of the irritation and redness you’re experiencing. Additionally, natural products can be better for the environment. They contain natural ingredients and packaging that are able to be recycled and leave less of a carbon footprint on the planet. Additionally, they can bring some thickness back into your hair while having a pleasant smell that wasn’t loaded in artificially. Natural products also produce very little risk in using them, with issues usually only arising if you’re allergic to an ingredient such as coconut or almond.
However, just because a product contains a chemical, does not necessarily mean it is a bad chemical. Brands that often claim they are “all-natural” and “clean” usually have their own definition of what natural and clean exactly mean, with natural products usually being as un-regulated as chemical ones, sometimes even less regulated. The FDA has noted that using a natural product does not mean that the product is in any way, shape, or form safer for you, meaning that the difference is purely user preference. Finally, it’s hard to designate what “free of chemicals” means for a product, considering water is technically a chemical. A lot of things have the potential to be bad for you, including apple seeds and essential oils, and sometimes a chemical in a product is able to do a better job for you depending on your needs. If you’re looking for truly “all natural” products, your best bet might be to look for organic labels (which are regulated) or find easy natural hair care products that you can make from home.