Want to know why I really opened my own salon? It wasn’t because I wanted more money...

It was because the entire beauty industry failed me as a professional.

I have been drawn to hairstyling since I was a kid. I loved wearing headbands and cleaning my moms hairbrush out (true story I was like 3 or 4 and remember the sound it made haha). I would imitate Mary Kate & Ashley hairstyles on myself after binging on one or two of their movies. I loved flipping through magazines and picking out a new haircut. I was fascinated by the emotional charge behind such a change. I loved the creativity, the ability to help people feel better about themselves and I was good at it (hello every school dance I did everyone’s hair and no one wanted to do mine 😂). And when I had my Ah Ha moment that this could be a career I was hooked!

I’ve always battled heath issues. Even while studying cosmetology in Fl I was seeing a specialist for my endometriosis and receiving monthly shots to put my body into menopause (true story. It sucked). Seriously what 20 year old wants to deal with that shit while they’re trying to figure out themselves??? And through the salons I worked, grew and learned, I hid my physical battles the best I could.

But you know what the industry doesn’t have time for? Sick stylists. Especially chronically ill stylists. It gets in the way of seeing clients in a timely manner. It affects the services you offer = affects your income. It pisses off your bosses, allows other stylists who don’t get it to say mean things behind your back like “she’s faking it” or “she looks fine” and at the end of the day beats you up not only physically but emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Like why am I even in this industry if I don’t belong? If it doesn’t work WITH my needs?

For an industry that prides itself on taking care of others and making them feel amazing, it does a shit job of caring for professionals who’s gifts + abilities offer this to others. Burn out is real, even if you don’t have chronic health issues. And when you do it’s a larger monster to contend with.

So yeah, I opened my own space in hopes of finding peace, resting my body when I need it and using products that my body could handle. Which worked for a little bit. But now I’m starting to have another Uplevel and realizing I’m still being failed by the industry.

I bought into the “organic professional hair color” hype and was excited something existed. But now I realize it’s just a fad. And the holistic hairstylist movement in relation to these color offerings doesn’t encompass the true word of wholistic (whole body, mind, spirit, emotion, internal health, stress relief, etc). Im just done being nice or polite about it.

Yeah those color lines (which I have used, so I know how they work) are cleaner than previous ones because they lack ammonia, ppd, phthalates, etc but y’all...they swapped them out for less studied chemicals which we have No idea their long term affects.

If I want something true to my calling, true to my body’s needs I need to listen to my intuition. That gut feeling when something doesn’t feel right, the little nudge to dig deeper and find the truth. And now that my burning lungs and headaches prove to me my former “organic” color line still isn’t healthy enough, it’s time to grow.

I’m linking below an amazing article written by This Organic Girl on hair color, ingredients and their affects on our bodies. She worked hard digging deep to find answers; hair color manufacturers are void of being required to list ingredients so she had her work cut out!

I may not be your cup of tea and you may not want to hear any of the above thoughts and truth and that’s fine. I’m here to be true to myself and what my healing requires. I hope this will spark some curiosity in others on their own healing journey. Don’t believe the hype and funded campaigns. Do your research, ask the questions and don’t settle. I didn’t advocate for myself for a long time and it nearly ruined my career.

This Organic Girl Haircolor Truth