There has been an ongoing debate whether to use products with natural ingredients over synthetically crafted ones. Both can show promising effects on your hair. Sometimes, you can even try two different products – a natural product and a chemical-based product – and get very similar outcomes. You just can’t point a difference with the way your hair feels or looks. If that’s the case, which one would you pick?
To help you choose the right products, here are some things you need to know about chemical-based and natural ingredients.
Do You Use Chemical-Based Products?
From instant lift to instant bounce to instant soft hair – goes the usual promises of today’s hair products. Many of them fill in the racks of various beauty stores and people are crazed about it, probably including you.
Here’s the thing with using chemical-based products: You are just putting artificial things on your body. Not only are you creating “artificial beauty” for people to see, you are also throwing yourself into greater risks.
Using chemicals on hair and skin often causes premature aging in the long run. Toxic ingredients exhaust your hair and skin over time. The skin slowly sags due to loss of natural regenerative abilities while hair weakens and becomes lifeless. You get a higher risk of having allergies, irritations, and long-term side effects. These products can be too harsh especially for people with fine and brittle hair. For some, it results in sudden breakage and falling out of hair. Stiffness and frizz starts to develop, revealing what bad hair really looks like.
Many people like that some beauty products have a pleasant scent. Chemical-based products may smell great but sometimes the smell comes from synthetic fragrances. These types of fragrances mimic the smell of a rose or any other type of fragrant flower. The smell can sometimes be indistinguishable from the real thing. Some people start sneezing the moment they smell any kind of fake fragrances. Synthetic fragrances may also cause irritation and rashes once it comes in contact with your skin.
Possibly the only good thing about chemical-based products is their price. It’s no secret that some of these products are very cheap. Because the ingredients are readily available, there’s no need to go through great lengths just to get them. You don’t need to cut off thousands of leaves or cold-press hundreds of plant seeds just to get an ounce of raw ingredient. Cold-pressing is the best way to get the natural oils from plant seeds. Most castor oils are obtained using this process. Learn more about cold pressing and castor oil in the next article.
Going for Natural Options
Natural products use naturally derived, non-synthetic ingredients like plant-based essences and oils. “Naturally derived” means the substance has a natural origin. The substance did not go through physical or chemical changes to alter its properties.
Some say that it’s a common myth about natural ingredients that they are “better” since they are as beneficial for the skin as their synthetic counterparts. The truth is: It’s not about the immediate outcome but the long-term effects from using them. You already know what risks chemical-based products put you in. By opting for natural products, you save yourself from such risks while helping protect Mother Nature.
How? Most of these natural products use organic ingredients that are farmed or grown through chemical-free farming. This means that the process of growing the raw materials did not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides nor were these plants genetically modified.
Go for products that have an organic label from USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). This branch of the US government sets organic farming and production standards to promote product safety and protect the environment. A USDA seal is one that you should look out for when buying high-quality castor oil. Learn what makes a great castor oil product for personal care.
The choice to use natural products over chemical-based product is a change that you need to make. Not only are natural products great for your body, they’re also great for the environment. Choose natural and give your body the best care it deserves.