If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed with the vast amount of hair styling products on the market, you’re not alone. Any hair care section at a grocery store can be stacked with untold amounts of products from salt sprays to clays and pomades to waxes, gels and run of the mill hair spray, it can be a confusing and intimidating and frustrating process to pick out a product for your hair goals - and that’s before you decide whether you want to go natural or not. This blog post will help you make that decision with confidence.

Today we’re going to explain why you should be using a natural hair styling clay. With this recommendation we’re also assuming that you have short hair that needs to be styled in some way. If you’re looking at what to do with those luxurious locks or curls, this isn’t your blog post. 

Let’s start first discussing the downsides of what you’re probably using right now - some big brand product with ingredients that more or less read something like this: 

“Petrolatum, Peg-75 Lanolin, Water (Aqua, Eau), Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Paraffin, Ozokerite, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax (Cera Carnauba, Cire De Carnauba), Beeswax (Cera Alba, Cire D'Abeille), Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Panthenol, Trocopherol Acetate, Hydrated Silica, Methyl 2-Octynoate, Propylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Amyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Green 6 (Ci 61565), Violet 2 (Ci 60725)”

Anyone out there know what Ozokerite, cyclopentasiloxane or Methyl 2-Octynoate are? I don’t even know if I want to know what some of those ingredients are but, let's take a look at some of them. 

 Ethylhexyl Palmitate is an ingredient that is used to improve the texture, feel, and the scent of skincare and cosmetic products. According to the Environmental Working Group, there is strong evidence that it is an irritant to humans.

Cyclopentasiloxane silicone is regularly used in cosmetic products. It's commonly found in medical implants, sealants, lubricants, and windshield coatings. Interesting. Again, according to EWG, it’s bioaccumulative which means it gets stored in the fats of animals that eat it and thus can end up in our diet, associated with uterine tumors in female rats, endocrine disruption and its a neurotoxin. Not exactly something I want to be rubbing into my hair on a daily basis. 

Let’s take a gander at one last compound in this mainstream, commonly used hair styling product on the market - Propylparaben.

Propylparaben is  a preservative typically found in many water-based cosmetics, such as creams, lotions, shampoos and bath products. Also used as a food additive. It has a role as an antifungal agent and an antimicrobial agent. Unfortunately, it's got a looong list of red flags and yet some of us probably are exposed to it on a daily basis. Propylparaben is associated with reduced sperm reserves, inducing allergies and skin irritation and is restricted for use in the European Union…yet again, not something I want myself exposed to on a daily basis.

As one can see, while some of these products may be deemed to be “safe” by certain organizations, they most definitely have their downsides and countries outside of the United States even restrict the use of them. So, what's the solution?

The solution is to find something without the chemicals and potential side effects yet offers the same product benefits and furthermore, with Green Theory products, actually do something to improve one's health rather than detract from it like the above mentioned product would do.

Our Vulcan all natural hair styling clay comes with just six ingredients total - beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter, bentonite clay, cedarwood and bergamot essential oils. That's it. You’ve heard of all of them and know what they are. Let’s look at the benefits:

Few things in the world are capable of penetrating the hair follicle better than coconut oil. Just by using our natural hair styling clay youre getting an all day oil treatment - but without the greasy, shiny sort of wet look associated with it. What this means is fuller, sexier and way softer hair than you’ve ever had.

Vulcan is scented with two oils that while they smell great together, they were chosen because of their benefits to hair. Cedarwood essential oil is thought to promote hair growth and reduce hair loss by balancing the oil-producing glands in the scalp. It also has antifungal and antibacterial properties, which can treat different conditions that may contribute to dandruff or hair loss. 

Lastly (and this is how it becomes a hair clay), bentonite clay is antimicrobial and helps with irritated or flaking scalps, in addition to psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis. Bentonite clay contains a mixture of natural minerals that are beneficial for your hair and can encourage hair growth. It moisturizes, conditions, softens, and reduces frizz.

All these benefits have no downside and it’s no wonder why the movement toward natural products for hair are growing so rapidly. You get healthier hair than you’ve ever had, it's fixable all day without the greasy hands that your chemical product left you with, hair that's less likely to break and cause thinning all without poisoning yourself!

Are there things you should know before jumping to a natural hair clay? Sure. Let's talk about them. One, since it's made with all natural oils and no stabilizers the clay can be temperature sensitive. What this means is you can't leave it in your car. It performs best in temperatures of 63-85 degrees. Too cold and it gets pretty hard, too warm and it can melt. If these things happen all is not lost. If it's too hard, you can just throw it in the microwave for a short amount of time and it'll be fine. If you don’t have a microwave, just remove a chunk and heat it up in your hands and it'll come right around in no time. If it melts, just mix it up and throw it in the fridge for a little bit and it will solidify right back up - its important to mix it because you don't want the oils to separate out however if this does happen and your clay is white oil on top, warm it up and mix it and then cool it back down. 

That's pretty much it! Have you made the switch to an all natural hair clay? Are you thinking about it? If so, as a thank you for reading this, here’s a 15% off discount code for our Vulcan all natural hair styling clay, GTHAIRCLAY15

As always, if you have any questions about natural hair clay or anything Green Theory related, let us know in the comments below!