Its unique oil-delivery system has replaced the need for a highly toxic substance such as ammonia to swell and blast open the cuticle. Instead, soya oil softens the cuticle allowing gentle heat to open it, deliver the color into the hair shaft, and create a permanent result.
You may ask why other color lines aren’t employing this oil-delivery system that’s been proven to work for 15 years, and in 32 countries around the world. Simply put, it’s more expensive to manufacture this type of color line. The ingredients required are more costly, so profit margins are affected, and large corporations are much more driven by their bottom line.Fortunately, this corporate attitude provided an opportunity for a couple of hairdressers and a chemist from the UK to come up with an alternative, and Organic Color Systems™ was created. Although it has gained much popularity in Europe over the last 15 years, and has been available in this country for 7, the growth has really only begun to explode in recent times with the consumer’s focus on eco-conscious alternatives that are less damaging to their health, but still give them a superior salon-quality result. Stylists and salons that fail to ride the wave of the green and organic movement will surely be left behind as more and more clients demand something better.
It is important to understand that when one is using the term “organic” that it has different definitions depending on the context. An “organic tomato” is grown with no chemicals and can be certified as “organically grown”. Organic Color Systems™ is obviously not a food and there are no such designations for organic hair color. That being said, Organic Color Systems is made up of at least 5 Certified Organic Ingredients.
At least 89% of the Organic Color System line is naturally derived and 10% is made up of organically grown ingredients. This is a huge percentage in contrast to other color lines. Also, all of our lines of products are completely cruelty-free as they are never tested on animals and contain absolutely no animal by-products and is a qualified vegan product. Not only does it have ZERO ammonia, it also contains ZERO resorcinol, which is a pigment that has been banned in the European Union due to its adverse health effects. Ammonia is an extremely toxic ingredient and resorcinol is a toxic substance with carcinogenic properties much like parabens. Organic Color Systems products are free of ammonia, resorcinol, parabens, and the other toxic and carcinogenic ingredients commonly found in other products.
The term “green” has been constantly redefined as we learn more and more about sustainability and the common sense principles of “recycle – reduce – reuse”. Technology has also been emerging to help us make this possible in our daily lives. Any salon or stylist using Organic Color Systems™ has the perfect opportunity to define what “green” means in the salon environment. As importantly, using it demonstrates the changes you’ve employed and the alternatives you are providing your clients. Perhaps, as this movement towards conservation, awareness, and sustainability continues; salons such as yours will join us as we revolutionize the beauty industry one head of hair at a time.
Percentage of Naturally Derived Ingredients By Product Line
As early as the 1800’s, so-called “scalp flaps” where used to address natural balding. Today, hair transplantation has grown widespread for both men and women. While natural hair loss is more common among men, women are often faced with the challenges of dealing with hair loss too. Hair loss in women has been a fast growing problem for both the individual and their chosen beauty professional as the population has been aging, and medical advancement has been developing highly effective treatments for specific diseases that have proven to compromise other aspects of patient’s health such as their hair, transplantation has become a more and more popular option.
Hair thinning and balding of men and women
While there are some common characteristics of male and female hair loss, there are even more important differences. Most notably, hair loss has a much greater psychological impact on women than it does on men. While society generally accepts male baldness, female baldness shoulders the burden of being less feminine and therefore more difficult for society to associate with women. This is probably because baldness has traditionally been associated with the male hormone testosterone and its interaction with enzymes in the hair follicle converting it into the more potent androgen known as DHT which inhibits hair growth.
Today, experts have a better understanding of the causes of baldness in women but it will likely take more time for society to break the association. Another difference in female baldness is that it often leaves the front hairline in place while affecting the broader scalp in general causing thinning and sometimes patchy spots. When baldness is caused by medical procedures, the physical manifestations are more similar between the genders.
The growing popularity and effectiveness of hair transplants
There have been many attempts to overcome or manage baldness in both men and women. Over the past few years, hair transplantation procedures have proven to become the most highly effective way to combat hair loss in both men and women. The rapidly decreasing costs coupled with the advancement of technique, technology, and process; especially the progress made to virtually eliminate the recovery time and make hair transplantation an outpatient procedure, has made hair transplantation a quite common and popular solution for baldness for both genders. This popularity has caused the rapid proliferation of transplanted hair, and thus the need to color and care for such hair. This has presented a unique challenge for beauty professionals to deal with on an almost daily basis.
Information every hairdresser should know about treating or coloring transplanted hair
While primary cosmetology education has been struggling to keep up with this unprecedented important change in the characteristic of so many of our client’s hair, the responsibility for us as beauty professional to properly treat their special needs still falls squarely on our shoulders. The following list of must-know information regarding the professional color and care of transplanted hair represents the top five (5) things every beauty professional, especially those working with hair color, must know about treating transplanted hair.
The flow of blood to transplanted hair follicles is a result of surgical grafting which can pose different exposure risks when dealing with chemicals. Modern methodologies of hair transportation employ highly sophisticated and advanced techniques to harvest hair follicles from a donor site on a patient’s scalp and grafting them in the desired targeted areas. After grafting, the follicle cells reside in micro incisioned holes, similar to pin holes, created by the surgeon. These micro-incisions may result in a new man-made risks of exposing the blood stream, complete with its own unique set of characteristics, to the chemicals found in hair coloring products. Research has shown that some chemicals found in many professional hair colors can be found in the blood stream within hours of applying them to a client’s scalp. The unknown access to the blood stream created by the transplanted hair follicles grafted to the scalp during a hair transplantation procedure is a difficult variable for a beauty professional to mitigate. Therefore, special consideration should be exercised when determining the products applied to transplanted hair. We highly recommend strictly limiting the hair color products used on client’s with transplanted hair to those which openly disclose their full ingredient list. As importantly, a beauty professional should understand the ingredients which they are applying to their clients scalp. Organic Color System has their complete list of ingredients, along with the originating source each ingredient is derived from and the purpose and reason for including the specific ingredient in the product, published on their website. Organic Color Systems is also manufactured in the United Kingdom and uses Certified Organic Ingredients which stand up to the stricter scrutiny of the UK’s standards and regulations.
Transplanted hair follicles tend to be more vulnerable and sensitive to chemicals. It is common sense that transplanted hair follicles have endured more physical trauma than their naturally located comparable follicles. Because of this, these follicles will naturally be more sensitive to any irritants. Moreover, because of the simple and undeniable reason that these follicles have been intentionally grafted to their transplanted location, these follicles are irreplaceable and reside in a valuable location to the client. When treating these follicles, proper care should be exercised to protect them especially considering their sensitive, valuable and irreplaceable characteristic. Organic Color Systems uses a unique treatment delivery system that coats the hair shaft and follicle with oil and uses heat to deliver the color application.
Over time, transplanted hair can thin or demonstrate different characteristics than naturally-located hair in the specific area of the client’s scalp. Healthy looking hair is never more important than when dealing with transplanted hair. Despite the tremendous success of hair transplantation, variations in follicle angle, texture decided by the body’s DNA, and growth patterns can result in some thinning and change in the characteristics of the hair grown by the transplanted follicle. This makes it absolutely critical to minimize damage to the follicle and cuticle during a color treatment. Ammonia is a corrosive chemical, used by many hair colors to corrosively open the surface of the cuticle so that the coloring pigment can attach to the hair shaft, which can damage the cuticle. When a cuticle’s surface is broken open, it is damaged causing hair to be more difficult to style, treat, and control. Organic Color System’s unique oil-delivery system has replaced the need for ammonia by gently swelling the cuticle rather than damaging the surface. Organic Color Systems maintains a healthier cuticle which makes it easier for beauty professionals to manage the variables introduced to a client’s scalp by hair transplant procedures.
Clients who have undergone hair transplant procedures will often present thinning in other parts of their scalp. There are specific techniques that beauty professionals may employ when dealing with transplanted hair which is often characterized with additional areas of the scalp that is or will be thinning in the future. For example, avoiding haircuts longer than shoulder length, choosing a hair color that will not impose a strong contrast with the scalp, and using highlights to add the appearance of movement, volume, and thickness are all methods successfully employed by the most skilled beauty professionals to deal with thinning hair. Organic Color Systems provides an ammonia-free and highly versatile full range of color, care, and curl products providing an incredible range of tools enabling professionals to exercise a refreshing degree of flexibility to yield the best possible results for their clients.
Clients with transplanted hair will be extraordinarily loyal once they find the right stylist.
The latest hair color trends are out. As 2008 comes to a close, beauty industry trendsetters are looking forward to trends in the New Year that will close out the decade. And the verdict is in—natural, earthy tones with lots of dimension are the new beautiful.
Beauty experts and fashion consultants everywhere agree—thick, chunky highlights are a thing of the past – as are brightly colored and contrasting streaks. While the staple colors of blond, brunette, and red will never go out of style, this season’s take on the traditional colors has a little more depth and a lot more verve.
Natural is the byword of 2009 but it’s a far cry from the old, flat blonds and browns of the 90s. A gorgeous, multi-dimensional blond is created by weaving several different shades of blond through the hair to get a blond like Cameron Diaz. It’s a little more expensive, but the end result is well worth it. Lowlights and two-toned blond color make a more sophisticated blond.
And, contrary to everything women have worshiped for the past decade, dirty blond may be the new hot color. Tommy Hilfiger’s fall/winter 2008-2009 fashion show featured girls with darker shades of blond in soft, feminine styles. But here again, the key is natural—so dark roots are out.
Brunettes make their statement this season with warm brown hues paired with subtle golden highlights. Jessica Biel’s warm caramel brown compliments her golden skin tones, but even pale girls can be show-stopping in brunette (think of Anne Hathaway and Audrey Tautou). The key is natural color with subtle highlights. And for added depth, a slightly darker color at the roots and underlayers can be smashing.
Auburn is a big hit for the 2008/2009 winter season. Here, too, natural and earthy are the watchwords. Lighter reds achieve dimension with golden highlights that make the color flicker with warmth. Amy Adams’ strawberry blond is one example.
And if natural is the word for color, it’s also the growing trend for products from shampoos to hair color. ammonia-based hair color is fast becoming a thing of the past, with salons everywhere switching over to gentler, plant-based alternatives that work even better. For the richest color and best shine, we like Organic Color Systems ammonia-free hair color that actually leaves your hair healthy and doesn’t dry or damage it. Plus it’s true to the color chart and will give you that beautiful, dimensional color of the season.
So the verdict is in—harsh colors are out. And natural is gorgeous.
Are the Products in Your Salon Putting Others at Risk?
There are many different ideas about what causes Allergies. There is some evidence to suggest that working with skin and lung irritating chemicals could increase the incidence of allergies. At a meeting of the American Public Health Association it was revealed that researchers at the Boston School of Public Health in Massachusetts have been investigating the health risks of exposure to chemicals in hair salons. Out of 56 workers interviewed, 15% said they suffered from hives, Eczema and asthma. Thirty percent reported they had hay fever.
The study did not report whether these conditions stemmed directly from working in the salon, but the workers interviewed had a much higher than average exposure to skin and lung irritants found in permanents and hair relaxing treatments. This brings up another reason why switching to an ammonia- and thioglycolate-free hair treatment, like those offered by Organic Salon Systems, would be an excellent choice for salon workers. Not only is the worker who uses the chemicals exposed, but the worker next to her is exposed to airborne chemicals like ammonia.
Permanents and hair relaxing treatments contain powerful chemicals that break down the chemical bonds in the hair so that it can be reshaped. Most of these treatments contain ammonium thioglycolate, a known skin irritant and lung irritant. Ammonia is a gas with a density .589 times that of air. This means that when released, it is carried on the air. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry states, “Exposure to high levels of ammonia in air may be irritating to your skin, eyes, throat, and lungs and cause coughing and burns. Lung damage and death may occur after exposure to very high concentrations of ammonia. Some people with asthma may be more sensitive to breathing ammonia than others.”
While it may not be verifiable that chemicals used in hair salons cause allergies, there certainly is a link between allergies and harsh chemicals, if only in the fact that harsh chemicals are far more likely to cause allergic reactions than everyday substances and people with allergies can be more sensitive to these substances. Many of the chemicals used in hair color, perm, and hair relaxing treatments are known to cause irritation to skin, eyes, throat and lungs, and cause coughing and rashes. These factors are some of the principal symptoms of allergies—watery eyes, coughing, eczema and other skin irritations. So it could be possible that people working with strong irritants without the proper safety equipment could be mistaking exposure to a toxic substance for allergies.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) set exposure limits for ammonia at 25 ppm for an eight-hour period and 35 ppm for a short-term, 15-minute period. In addition to installing adequate ventilation in the salon, the exposure levels to this chemical could be almost eradicated by using products that do not contain ammonia. Because ammonia is a gas that spreads through the air, everyone in a salon is exposed to ammonia when it’s being used. The client is only there for a few hours at most, but the workers are in this environment 8 or more hours a day for a full week. This means that the hairdresser in the next station, as well as assistants and even the receptionist in some salons are being exposed. Changing a salon over to non-ammonia based products is a responsible and worker-friendly choice for salon owners. Additionally, with a lower incidence of illness in the workplace, they may find production increasing and business going better as a result.
Could strange allergy symptoms be caused by visits to your hairdresser? Eczema, watery eyes, coughing, scalp burns? If you have ever had strange allergy symptoms after seeing your hairdresser, you may have had an allergic reaction to ammonia.
Most hair coloring products contain ammonia, a harsh chemical used in explosives, fertilizers, and the production of plastics. The side effects of ammonia inhalation range from mild eye and upper respiratory inflammation to severe respiratory distress and pulmonary edema. But could ammonia contribute to skin problems like eczema?
Stacy Long, a professional hairstylist, found out the hard way that they could.
Ms. Long has eczema. Her job as a hairstylist seemed to be aggravating the condition. It was so bad that her doctor even told her to switch professions. Not wanting to change jobs, she searched for another solution.
Organic Color System provided the answer. A remarkable new hair product used only in salons, it reduces the allergen component of hair color and permanent products without compromising on results. In fact, according to Hilton Bell, the distributor of Organic Color Systems in the U.S., it produces better results than the leading ammonia-based products.
“Organic Color Systems is in a form that is predictable, causes no scalp or skin staining, and preserves the life, richness, and shine of hair. OCS’ staying power is greater than ammonia and ammonia-substitute based alternatives; the fade factor is virtually eliminated, and it covers grey beautifully.”
So why would anyone continue to use the old products when such a revolutionary new method of hair coloring is available?
The answer for some hairdressers may lie in their nervousness about trying new things. OCS’ products require a different method than what most people were taught in beauty school. It has a gentler formula that requires heat to open the cuticle. Professional hairstylists need to learn the techniques before using it. Luckily this product is even easier to use than ammonia-based products.
The techniques are not hard to learn, according to Hilton Bell. He offers seminars and classes on using the products and states that problems usually stem from the hairstylist’s misuse of the product.
“I’ve discovered that every time a hairdresser has had a problem with Organic Color Systems they have done something other than following the procedure relevant to that head of hair or situation. The people that have had the most success with Organic Color Systems have followed the standard procedures and understand the rules in play.”
Those who have had problems with hair products irritating their skin, eyes, throat, or lungs, could benefit from switching to Organic Color Systems. And those with worse reactions like eczema may find the condition diminishes. With better color retention, less hair damage, and reduced allergens, what’s not to like?
You can ask your hair dresser to switch to a safer and less allergic producing product.
Did you know that some common Allergies and symptoms could be connected to the chemicals in your hair products? Anyone who has ever been in a hair salon has some idea that harsh chemicals are being used there. The smell is the first giveaway. And many people who get their hair colored have experienced the burning sensation when a little bit of bleaching agent comes in contact with their scalp. Some who are more sensitive experience itchy, watery eyes the whole time their hair is being processed.
I once had the unfortunate experience of having a strand of bleach-covered hair hit me directly in the eye. Although it was a tiny amount and I flushed my eye for about ten minutes afterwards, my eye stayed bright red and my vision was blurry for several days. For those with allergies or even just increased sensitivity, a product with mostly natural ingredients like Organic Salon Systems might be a better answer.
The fact is that most hair coloring and perming products contain harsh chemicals like ammonia, sulfates and synthetic fragrance that are known skin and lung irritants. Not everyone has the same level of reaction to these irritants and some with higher levels of sensitivity will have an increased reaction. Because certain chemicals build up in the system over time, a person can develop sensitivity to one or more of these chemicals from increased exposure. It’s not just the hair salon that’s exposing you, either. Sulfates and synthetic fragrance can be found in almost every shampoo and hair care product you can buy at the grocery store.
A recent study out of England has linked, octynoic acid, a commmon chemical found in hair color products but not contained in Organic Color Systems, with progressive liver disease and other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid and coeliac diseases.
Published in the international gastroenterology journal, aptly called Gut, British researchers revealed the findings of over 5,000 people who were surveyed about their risks for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) which is an early form of liver cirrhosis and long-term progressive autoimmune disease. PBC is thought to be caused, at least in part, by certain chemicals commonly found in hair colors, specifically octynoic acid.Organic Color Systems, which openly and fully discloses its ingredients, their sources, and it specific purpose for being included in the product; does not contain octynoic acid.
The results of the study also associates other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid and coeliac diseases with PBC.
The full results of the study were published and featured on AOL’s the Stylist
Its unique oil-delivery system has replaced the need for a highly toxic substance such as ammonia to swell and blast open the cuticle. Instead, soya oil softens the cuticle allowing gentle heat to open it, deliver the color into the hair shaft, and create a permanent result.
It is important to understand that when one is using the term “organic” that it has different definitions depending on the context. An “organic tomato” is grown with no chemicals and can be certified as “organically grown”. Organic Color Systems™ is obviously not a food and there are no such designations for organic hair color. That being said, Organic Color Systems is made up of at least 5 Certified Organic Ingredients.
The term “green” has been constantly redefined as we learn more and more about sustainability and the common sense principles of “recycle – reduce – reuse”. Technology has also been emerging to help us make this possible in our daily lives. Any salon or stylist using Organic Color Systems™ has the perfect opportunity to define what “green” means in the salon environment. As importantly, using it demonstrates the changes you’ve employed and the alternatives you are providing your clients. Perhaps, as this movement towards conservation, awareness, and sustainability continues; salons such as yours will join us as we revolutionize the beauty industry one head of hair at a time.
While there are some common characteristics of male and female hair loss, there are even more important differences. Most notably, hair loss has a much greater psychological impact on women than it does on men. While society generally accepts male baldness, female baldness shoulders the burden of being less feminine and therefore more difficult for society to associate with women. This is probably because baldness has traditionally been associated with the male hormone testosterone and its interaction with enzymes in the hair follicle converting it into the more potent androgen known as DHT which inhibits hair growth.
There have been many attempts to overcome or manage baldness in both men and women. Over the past few years, hair transplantation procedures have proven to become the most highly effective way to combat hair loss in both men and women. The rapidly decreasing costs coupled with the advancement of technique, technology, and process; especially the progress made to virtually eliminate the recovery time and make hair transplantation an outpatient procedure, has made hair transplantation a quite common and popular solution for baldness for both genders. This popularity has caused the rapid proliferation of transplanted hair, and thus the need to color and care for such hair. This has presented a unique challenge for beauty professionals to deal with on an almost daily basis.
While primary cosmetology education has been struggling to keep up with this unprecedented important change in the characteristic of so many of our client’s hair, the responsibility for us as beauty professional to properly treat their special needs still falls squarely on our shoulders. The following list of must-know information regarding the professional color and care of transplanted hair represents the top five (5) things every beauty professional, especially those working with hair color, must know about treating transplanted hair.
created by the transplanted hair follicles grafted to the scalp during a hair transplantation procedure is a difficult variable for a beauty professional to mitigate. Therefore, special consideration should be exercised when determining the products applied to transplanted hair. We highly recommend strictly limiting the hair color products used on client’s with transplanted hair to those which openly disclose their full ingredient list. As importantly, a beauty professional should understand the ingredients which they are applying to their clients scalp. Organic Color System has their complete list of ingredients, along with the originating source each ingredient is derived from and the purpose and reason for including the specific ingredient in the product, published on their website. Organic Color Systems is also manufactured in the United Kingdom and uses Certified Organic Ingredients which stand up to the stricter scrutiny of the UK’s standards and regulations.
in the characteristics of the hair grown by the transplanted follicle. This makes it absolutely critical to minimize damage to the follicle and cuticle during a color treatment. Ammonia is a corrosive chemical, used by many hair colors to corrosively open the surface of the cuticle so that the coloring pigment can attach to the hair shaft, which can damage the cuticle. When a cuticle’s surface is broken open, it is damaged causing hair to be more difficult to style, treat, and control. Organic Color System’s unique oil-delivery system has replaced the need for ammonia by gently swelling the cuticle rather than damaging the surface. Organic Color Systems maintains a healthier cuticle which makes it easier for beauty professionals to manage the variables introduced to a client’s scalp by hair transplant procedures.
