If your hair has always been your crowning glory, and then one day you notice it’s starting to look lackluster, doesn’t style as well as it used to, and – the worst horror – it’s thinning, it may be menopause and hormonal changes wreaking havoc on your hair. (You should of course, first rule out medical reasons). Or maybe your hair is simply rebelling from all those years of harsh chemicals, blow drying, straightening and all the other things we’ve done to our hair. We actually “ironed” our hair in the olden days before hair straightener devices were invented. Maybe it’s time for a gentler hair care routine and hair care products.  Here are a few tips and a few organic products your hair will appreciate. The downside is that the organics, of course, are more expensive than the chemical counterparts.

General Tips

Wash your hair less. All that washing strips your hair of its natural oils.  Try going 2-3 days without shampoos.  Use a dry shampoo which has the added benefit of adding volume to your hair. Blow dry less.  Let your hair dry til it’s just damp, and then blow dry. Use the cool setting. And those hair straighteners and curling irons should be used sparingly. Try old fashion rollers (after you blow dry) that will smooth and add volume.

Organic Hair Colors

Salon Products:

Standard hair dye is loaded with all sorts of questionably safe chemicals: ammonia, formaldehyde, sodium laurel sulphates and parabens, to name a few. But the good news is that many hair salons now have professional, organic hair color products, like  Simply Organic Beauty, that are better for our hair, and definitely better for our stylists. Ask your salon about organic colors.

DIY Products:

There are several do it yourself choices.  Here are a couple that some of our tomato pals give thumbs up to.

Natrutint is a permanent hair color that is has plant-based ingredients to nourish and protect your hair. It’s free of harsh chemical that can damage your hair and leave it dull.  Long lasting color, covers grey. $13.05. Amazon.

Herbatint is a vegan, biodegradable, ammonia- and cruelty-free herbal hair color gel that contains only very low concentrations of PPD and peroxide. $13.60. Amazon.

Naturcolor is an ammonia- and cruelty-free, plant-based option that’s low in PPD and contains therapeutic herbs like rosemary and lavender. The best part about Naturcolor is that it doesn’t come with that nasty, toxic scent that chemically-based dyes emit. $12.99 Amazon.

Organic Shampoos & Conditions

A biotin deficiency can contribute to thinning, dull hair. Biotin shampoos can help volumize and make your hair shiner too.  But beware, because they can dry your hair out too, so alternate with a moisturizing shampoo.  Here are a few of the top rated biotin and organic shampoos.

Biotin Based Shampoos & Conditioners

Avalon Organics Biotin B-Complex Thickening Shampoo & Condition. $21.97 Amazon.

Mill Creek Botanicals Biotin Shampoo and Conditioner Hair Growth Bundle. Both $17.00 Amazon.

Moisturizing Shampoos

Avalon Organics Shampoo, Nourishing Lavender. $13.19 Amazon.

Mill Creek Botanicals Jojoba Shampoo, locks in moisture. $8.97 Amazon.

(Conditioners available too.)