Clean Hair, Clean Air

If you've ever noticed that visits to the hair salon end in a perfectly styled coif accompanied by a dull headache, it might be worth considering just how good for your hair all that processing and coloring really is. And consider the stylists: If you're leaving with a headache, just imagine what they feel like at the end of the week.

From stripping out the color to adding in curls, some salons perform as many as 50 chemical applications every day, filling the room with noxious indoor air contaminants, such as ammonia (found in hair dyes and hair lighteners) and lye (used in hair relaxers), which can cause headaches and irritate respiratory passages. If the salon also does manicures and pedicures, patrons and employees are at risk of inhaling formaldehyde, a known carcinogen; phthalates, which are a possible reproductive or developmental toxin; and toluene, which triggers headaches, dizziness and fatigue.

In an effort to protect stylists and their customers from respiratory problems and skin irritation, some salon owners are clearing the air. John Masters, a longtime advocate for healthier beauty, opened his "clean-air" salon, John Masters Organics, in Manhattan's SoHo 15 years ago, before any attention was being paid to the problems with chemical beauty products. "People's impression of a clean-air salon was really off," he says. "They would ask, 'Do you cut hair with twigs? Do you use a banana to color hair?'"

You won't get a headache at John Masters, but you also won't get a manicure, a perm or a relaxer and you won't go from jet black to platinum blond, we discovered when we dropped in for a cut and color.

Rod Rayson, one of the stylists, previously worked at a conventional salon where he said the bleach was hard to take. "It was so strong," he says. "The smell would fill the whole salon, and it would give you a headache."

At Masters's salon, the dyes are herbal-based and free of ammonia, the malodorous chemical you're smelling at typical salons. During our visit, we inhaled nothing but the faint smell of cedar furniture and the occasional whiff of essential oils. "We do things gradually and much more naturally, which is much easier on your hair," said Masters. (And your nose and lungs, we might add.)

All the hair colors used at John Masters have low doses of Para-Phenylenediamine (PPD) (one line of color contains no PPD), a chemical used in home hair dyes and even some upscale salons. PPD is petroleum-based coal tar dye and was found to heighten allergies and contact dermatitis in hairdressers in a study by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. None contain parabens, which mimic the hormone estrogen and have been associated with the development of breast cancer, or resorcinol, a skin irritant that causes dizziness and cardiovascular problems in high doses. In addition, for hair lightening, Masters uses a dye solution containing 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, rather than a more potent 6 percent, as found in conventional dyes and bleaches.

Masters also uses only his own product line in house, which includes no sprays or mousses. Not only do many styling products hold hair in place with polymers (liquid plastic) that can build up on the hair shaft over time, leading to a dull and lifeless 'do, but spray and foaming products often contain a propellant, such as propane and butane, that fills indoor air with yet another respiratory irritant. You can buy John Masters Organics hair care products online at his website.

Unfortunately, clean-air salons like John Masters aren't yet the norm. So what can you do if you want a healthier salon experience? If yours doesn't carry ammonia-free dyes or paraben-free products, just purchase your own and take them with you. Most salons are comfortable with this practice. Finally, it doesn't hurt to encourage your salon to use only safer products, which would be healthier for you, your stylist and the other clients.

Services range in price from $50 for a blowout to $185 for a full color. Call 212-343-9590 for an appointment.