Monica Be 'the Organic Stylist's Blog

Skin Deep

Monica Be — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:00:48 +0000

Skin Deep the Environment Working Group’s database that is designed to allow consumers to check the toxicity of their products, has redesigned their website. Search more than 65,000 products from shampoo and conditioner to toothpaste and sunscreen. Its worth searching your favorite products, you will be surprise of the score!

Brazilian Blowout Gets Hazard Alert By OSHA

Monica Be — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:52:28 +0000

Not to say that I told you so but I told you so. I reported the toxic formaldehyde exposure during the Brazilian Blow-Out service to clients and stylist in my post called Straighteners, Straighteners, and more Straighteners. OSHA has finally issued a warning against Brazilian Blow-Out products. Companies that were investigated listed the formaldehyde as one of its other chemical names or stated that the product was formaldehyde-free, but did have formaldehyde in the formula or did not list formaldehyde in the ingredients at all. Formaldehyde was also not listed in the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).

OSHA found formaldehyde in the air when stylists used hair smoothing products label Keratin or Brazilian.

Click the link to read the full report http://www.osha.gov

Female Pattern Hair Loss Study

Monica Be — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:47:03 +0000

Female Pattern hair loss has become an increasing issue in women of all races. Duke University is conducting a 52 week clinical trial on females who have been diagnosed with female pattern hair loss. To volunteer in the study participants must have one of the two patterns shown in the ad:

In this study, Duke University Medical Center has chosen to exclusively study hair loss experienced by Caucasian women. The loss of hair is on the top of the scalp, but not the back of the scalp. The hair becomes finer because the individual hairs are smaller or “miniaturized.” The overall density may decrease so dramatically that women may notice that their ponytail is smaller or that they can now easily see their scalp when they style their hair.

This particular study excludes African-American women that suffer from hair loss. But a type of hair loss that typically affects African-American women is called Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia. This type of hair loss also results in loss on the top of the scalp, while sparing the back of the scalp. It is different from the female pattern hair loss experienced by Caucasian women the hair follicles have a tendency to be destroyed, not just miniaturized. Once a hair follicle is destroyed, re-growth is not possible. Alopecia is often regarded as a consequence of certain hairstyles that put too much tension on the hair follicle. Unfortunately, there have been only a few clinical trials in the last 20 years on alopecia. So more studies need to be conducted in the area of hair loss in African-American women to better educate women on the effects of excessive tension on the hair during hair services that require braiding and hair extensions.

Aleve causes hair loss

Monica Be — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:52:01 +0000

Aleve, an over the counter drugs for pain causes hair loss. The hair loss side effect is not listed on the packaging to find out you have google the medication. Lyrice a prescription medications for fibromyalgia also causes hair loss. I have listed other medications that has a side effect of hair loss, so check your medicine cabinet!

Acne

All drugs derived from vitamin A as treatments for acne or other conditions, including:

Accutane (isotretinoin)

Blood

Anticoagulants (blood thinners), including:

Panwarfin (warfarin sodium)
Sofarin (warfarin sodium)
Coumadin (warfarin sodium)
Heparin injections

Cholesterol

Cholesterol-lowering drugs, including:

Atronid-S (clofibrate)
Lopid (gemfibrozil)

Convulsions/ Epilepsy

Anticonvulsants, including:
Tridone (trimethadione)

Depression

Antidepression drugs, including:
Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride)
Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride)
Paxil (paroxetine)
Anafranil (clomipramine)
Janimine (imipramine)
Tofranil (imipramine)
Tofranil PM (imipramine)
Adapin (doxepin)
Sinequan (doxepin)
Surmontil (trimipramine)
Pamelor (nortriptyline)
Ventyl (nortriptyline)
Elavin (amitriptyline)
Endep (amitriptyline)
Norpramin (desipramine)
Pertofrane (desipramine)
Vivactil (protriptyline hydrochloride)
Asendin (amoxapine)
Haldol ( haloperidol)

Diet

Amphetamines

Fungus

Antifungals

Glaucoma

The beta-blocker drugs, including:

Timoptic Eye Drops (timolol)
Timoptic Ocudose (timolol)
Timoptic XC (timolol)

Gout

Lopurin (allopurinol)
Zyloprim (allopurinol)

Heart

Many drugs prescribed for the heart, including those known as the beta blockers, which are also used to treat high blood pressure, and include:

Tenormin (atenolol)
Lopressor (metoprolol)
Corgard (nadolol)
Inderal and Inderal LA (propanolol)
Blocadren (timolol)

High Blood Pressure

See Above list of beta blockers under “Heart”

Hormonal Conditions

All hormone-containing drugs and drugs prescribed for hormone-related, reproductive, male-specific, and female-specific conditions and situations have the potential to cause hair loss, including:

Birth Control Pills
Hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) for women (estrogen or progesterone)
Male androgenic hormones and all forms of testosterone
Anabolic steriods
Prednisone and other steroids

Inflammation

Many anti-inflammatory drugs, including those prescribed for localized pain, swelling and injury.

Arthritis drugs
Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs including:
Naprosyn (naproxen)
Anaprox (naproxen)
Anaprox DS (naproxen)
Indocin (indomethacin)
Indocin SR (indomethacin)
Clinoril (sulindac)

An anti-inflammatory that is also used as a chemotherapy drug:

Methotrexate (MTX)
Rheumatex (methotrexate)
Folex (methotrexate)

Parkinson’s Disease

Levadopa / L-dopa (dopar, larodopa)

Thyroid Disorders

Many of the drugs used to treat the thyroid

Ulcer

Many of the drugs used to treat indigestion, stomach difficulties, and ulcers, including over-the-counter dosages and prescription dosages.

Tagamet (cimetidine)
Zantac (ranitidine)
Pepcid (famotidine)

The Secret Racist Industry

Monica Be — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 22:51:38 +0000

Racism has always been an issue in America. The media finds some way to contribute to the chaotic mayhem daily with stories about the President or local issues about ignorance. But the racism that has been left a secret or never discussed is the racism in the salon industry.

The salon is one of the only places left where services can be denied because the color of your skin. A salon can decide from the sound of your voice or the texture of your hair if they will provide you with a service. The Nationality of clients desired can be put in a business plan given to a bank and no one will ever address the issue of racism.

Let’s not place all the blame on only stylist, our slave master, the cosmetic institute that we attended rationed clients off to students by skin color, nationality and the verbs that clients used. In cosmetology school hair was defined by the size of the hips that it came from and not the follicle that it derived. Black stylist where given Blacks clients, Whites where given Whites and Spanish were given Spanish. Hair is never address as the follicle that it is, whether curly or straight, needing less or more of the same product, but Black or White.

Salons segregate by sending the nationality to their own nationality in their own section in the salon. Clients even help in defining salons as Black or White, sometimes meaning good or bad and even greasy or dry.

Diversity in the salon industry has created products and services that cross all of the racial lines but stylist are still coloring their money their own skin color instead of Green. This not only affects their credibility but also their bottom line.

2010 in review

Monica Be — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:20:15 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,700 times in 2010. That’s about 11 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 12 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 35 posts. There were 31 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 57mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was December 14th with 156 views. The most popular post that day was Straighteners, Straighteners and more Straighteners.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were answers.yahoo.com, facebook.com, networkedblogs.com, en.wordpress.com, and search.aol.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for methylene glycol, dark and lovely relaxer ingredients, methylene glycol formaldehyde, what is methylene glycol, and fda organic hair relaxers for african american women.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Straighteners, Straighteners and more Straighteners June 2010
1 comment

Your Hair Relaxer might be the same as LIQUID DRANO! August 2009

Alopecia and African Americans September 2010
2 comments

What’s a ‘Blow-Dry Bar’? August 2010

About August 2009
3 comments

Monica’s Salon Make-Over

Monica Be — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:33:42 +0000

Any stylist or salon owner that has watched Tabitha Salon Take-Over has dreamed of the day when someone could come into their salon change the decor, eliminate stylist bad habits, organize their back bar, improve stylist performance, and improve your customer service in one week!

Well your dreams have come true! With the help of my staff of construction workers, lawyers, accountants and The Fini’Me Green Concept I have been able to address every salon issue that exists. Along with the visible changes in your salon I am able to structure your behind the scenes performance from implementing an employee hand book, marketing strategies, continuing education and accessing your environmental impact.

The Fini’Me Green Concept’s complete environmental conscious guidelines and procedures, your salon can reduce waste, reuse and refurbish some fixtures and improve your indoor air quality. With environmental conscious efforts improving the indoor air quality in your salon is your bottom line.

The salon make-over provides continuous business consulting after all of the projects are complete in your salon until you and your staff are completely comfortable with your new organization .

Our latest project BEFORE and AFTER

Brazilian Blowouts

Monica Be — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:06:43 +0000

I was convinced months ago that the Brazilian Solution that I used that stated that the solution was a formaldehyde free formula had to have had formaldehyde in the ingredients or some other toxic ingredients. During the process of applying the product and using a flat iron while the solution was still on the hair, my eyes burned from the smoke. Both my client and I coughed frequently, my jaw boned ached and I was extremely tired after the service. I had decided then to never use the product again. I did some research and discovered that 0.2% of formaldehyde was legal t0 us in the US. None of the distributors or instructors for the product could confirm how much formaldehyde was in the formula. One company stated that formaldehyde was illegal to use in Brazil and the ‘real’ Brazilian Blowout product did not contain any.

The Brazilian Blowout Solution manufactured by Brazilian Blowout of California has been found to contain unacceptable levels of formaldehyde. Testing conducted by Health Canada found that the Brazilian Blowout Solution contains 12% formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is permitted in cosmetics at less than 0.2% when used as a preservative . A national press release was issued last week from Health Canada and ABC’s GMA did a cover story on the hair product.Brazilian Blowout company is confident that the Canada Health will reverse their position and has stated: Quote Formaldehyde (gas) and Methylene Glycol (liquid) are the same and/or related is 100% false. Methylene Glycol is in a completely different chemical family than Formaldehyde and other “aldehydes.” unQuote

They still need to answer the question: what ingredient is causing such adverse effects to the client and the stylist?

Go Green

Monica Be — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:51:09 +0000

Since the widespread environmental awareness about wasting resources as a professional in the beauty salon industry, why not take a leadership position in “green”? Salons require electric power, plastic containers and most of all water. Here are a few tips to reducing your carbon footprint in the salon:

Reuse liter bottles by refilling them from gallon containers.
Recycle newspaper and magazines.
Use eco-friendly bulbs,turn off lights when a treatment room or the entire salon is not in use.
Run the washer/dryer in the evening, when there is less demand.
Reduce the amount of water pressure in sinks and toilet.
Supply reusable canvas bags for clients who purchase hair care products and encourage them to use the bags for other shopping.
Use hair and cleaning products without harsh chemicals.
Attach weather stripping around the door.
Use eco-friendly paper products.
Use towels made of bamboo.
Offer free-trade organic coffee and tea.
Use a water cooler instead of small water bottles.
Buy as much as you can in bulk.
Offer to match every client’s donation of $1 to an earth-freindly organization.

When remodeling:

Buy eco-friendly furniture.
Install wood floors from renewable sources.
Purchase energy-efficient washers, dryers and other appliances
Use eco-friendly paint.

Alopecia and African Americans

Monica Be — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:53:37 +0000

A growing number of African American women are suffering from hair loss. Alopecia is a condition that diminishes the hair follicle and leaves a bald area. Alopecia can first appear to be a few spots on the scalp known as diffuse alopecia areata. As the area grows to cover large areas of the head, known as alopecia areata, the body’s own immune system attacks the hair follicles and disrupts normal hair formation. Alopecia is sometimes associated with autoimmune conditions such as allergic disorders, thyroid disease, vitiligo, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Some clients with hair loss are settling for hair extensions to cover up the problem rather digging deeper to assets the root of the problem. Alopecia can be genetic but a family history of hair maintence could also be the reason.

Traction alopecia occurs when the

hair is tightly pulled for braided styles and hair extensions, the hair follicle suffers slight trauma. The hair that sheds after the removal of either styles is sometimes regarded as the normal hair loss of 50-100 strands per day combined together when the hair style is taken out. The added hair loss from the tension of the prolonged style sometimes goes unnoticed until large section of hair loss is noticeable.

Things to consider when suffering with hair loss:

Hair products: African America hair products are the most toxic hair products on the market. These products contain ingredients such as mineral oil, petroleum, P-Phenylenediamine . Semi-permanent hair colors, which are aniline dyes, are made from coal tar. These ingredients cause hormonal disrupts, organ system toxicity and many other problems. Relaxers are the only hair product in history of hair products that can be made into a bomb, clear drainage systems, dissolve a plastic container, dissolve human flesh, and completely discenagrate a hair follicle while straighten the hair. All of these ingredients have harmful effects on the human body that are sometimes ignored, or just medicated and the hair product or service is never considered.

Other factors:

Genetic Modified foods (GM) have spread through the food chain for over 10 years. Testing for safety of these foods where only performed 90 days on mice, yet the FDA approved the procedure to be used by farmers. Data of human side effects are now being documented.

Cosmetic body products also have high levels of toxins listed in their ingredients and possibly more that are not list on the packaging.

Cleaning products are also very toxic and jeopardize indoor air quality. These products have long term fatal effects on the immune system. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently regulating products such as Clorox, Pine-Sol, oven cleaners, even dish detergent to eliminate toxic ingredients that absorb in the the human body and cause cancer and other diseases.

When the human body tallies up numerous invaders the body becomes a toxic pool. Hair follicles sometimes represent the condition of the body and if the body is unhealthy the hair shaft is too!!

How to assess your products: Eco-Consultants can help you through the process of eliminating toxic food that you eat, products that you use on your body and in your home everyday. Eco- Consultants can help you establish a overview of possible product ingredients side effects related to your health issues. Eliminating some of the major toxins can improve overall health.

Monica Be is an Eco-Consultant certified specialist in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Green Cleaning. She can be contacted at www.finimegreen.com or 520.302.5029 ‘Completing Your Home, Health,Business & Wealth Green’