Monday, May 13, 2013

For Those Of You New To This Blog


The natural approach to hair and skin care is all the rage today. It has become a booming business. Just remember, that it is a business.

This blog is set up as a resource of reputable information on products, natural and conventional, that is referenced accordingly, to help guide you through separating fact from fiction. There is a post on organic food as well and information on organic labelling. Organic does not mean pesticide-free.

There are many ongoing scientific studies on hair and skin care products and ingredients. I have created ways of using some natural products differently than you may be used to, or aware of and have written about them here. There are no magic solutions to hair or skin recovering from damage, preventing all damage (there are variables including product overuse) or illness, or growing hair faster, as some online information and marketing hype would have you believe.

Often such information includes products for sale on the page, despite disclaimers stating that products are not being promoted. Advertising is carefully planned and placed, especially when an author has their own line of products, which are then marketed to become associated with specific text. That is how advertising is designed to work effectively. There is no advertising in this blog. That is a choice I have written about here too.

There are simpler solutions that are cost effective for dealing with all of the above except health issues (see a qualified medical doctor) but when it comes to stimulating hair growth and other misleading claims, the laws set up to prevent the advertising of cosmetics that state such, exist for a reason. No cosmetic, natural or otherwise has been proven to do so. Hair growth spurts can happen naturally and are affected by but are not limited to, diet and health. Hair growth can also be affected by prescription medication(s).

Cosmetics that are also drugs for hair regrowth, contain government approved drug(s) in a cosmetic base and are regulated.

My posts are copyright protected and I respect the copyright of others. The information here comes from online research and other sources, including my own experimentation. It is designed to help you avoid purchasing extra products you may not need, and discover others you may want to try, after reading about them in accurate detail.

Some people are genetically blessed with strong hair and great skin, they have taken the time to avoid damaging by not being rough on either, and staying out of the sun, a major cause of both hair and skin damage.

Other practices, like overdoing chemical processing and colouring, synthetic and otherwise, overusing cosmetic products in general, and making connections between some of the natural products you may be using and problems are addressed here too. I have debunked the hype with legitimate references, so that when you do make a product or ingredient choice, you can do so with the understanding of why products and ingredients can work better used certain ways as opposed to others.

Not every product or ingredient touted as being all natural is so. Not all ingredients demonized as being all synthetic, or synthetic are so. Everything contains chemicals. It is about which products or ingredients are safe, for how long, and in what quantity, that are issues as well. Not all sulfates or parabens need to be avoided. Not all sulfate-free, paraben-free products are the best choices. Not preserving cosmetic products properly or at all, that need preservation is unhealthy, and contravenes legislation many countries have on safe manufacturing practices.

You can search within this blog using keywords. See the top left corner of this or any page.

I reply to all legitimate email questions on topics I write about. I delete all spam.

Reference
FDA, "FDA Authority Over Cosmetics", updated 2014