When I first started dying my hair a couple of months ago, I didn’t really pay attention to the products that I was using to take care of my hair. I would use the same products that I had been using for years, not knowing the damage they were causing to my hair. As a business student, I have spent a lot of time learning about the way that businesses operate and the ethical standards to which they produce their products. Because of this knowledge, I have been actively trying to become a more conscious consumer in my day to day consuming. However, the biggest reflection of my conscious consumption is in my hair products. In addition, I have changed my routine entirely to improve the color saturation and longevity of my hair. But the real game changer would be when I discovered the Think Dirty app.
Over the months I have reduced the amount of times that I shampoo, from almost everyday to only once a week and conditioning twice a week. Shampooing is the main component of washing that strips the dye from hair too quickly. Nevertheless, I still noticed that my dye had faded within a couple of weeks, in spite of the low wash method that I had been using. It was at this point that I decided to do some research into my hair products. I discovered an app called “Think Dirty”, which is an app where you can scan the barcode of products you are thinking of buying or whatever product you currently have and it will show you the “dirtiness” of the product.
To explain, it has a scale of zero to ten on the Dirty meter.
8 to 10 signifies that the product’s ingredients have potential serious negative long-term health effects.
If a product is ranked 4 through 7, the product’s ingredients have potential moderate long-term health effects.
Lastly, if the product is rated a 0 to 3, then the product does not contain any ingredients which have been documented to have a potential negative health impact.
The best thing about this app is that whenever you scan one of your products, it shows you the specific ingredients that are good and bad. From there, you can click on each of the individual ingredients and it will give you the name of the chemical (the other names for it as well) and then the usage health impact explanation for it. My favorite part is that the app shows you their sources as well. I think that feature is the most important thing for me, because not only do I want to be conscious, but I also want to make sure that the information that I’m using is relevant, accurate and true. I want to make sure that what I am putting on my body is safe and beneficial for me and I can only do that if I have reliable sources to find my information from.
So, if you are like me, and want to be a more conscious consumer and take care of your hair and your color, the Think Dirty app is perfect for you. But remember, becoming a conscious consumer doesn’t stop at your hair, it can change your entire spending habits entirely for the better.
XO,
Sarah
