Experts of Beauty: Hair & Skin Care

Beauty Expert Advice

Style Chicks interviews top dermatologists, Makeup Artists, Hair Restoration Doctors, hairstylists, and other industry beauty experts in hair and skin care.

Guest Post: Organic, All-Natural, Non-Toxic, Chem-Free. What’s the Difference?

February 12, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: We are pleased to bring you an informative article by guest blogger Diane Elizabeth of Skin Care Ox!

Green is the new black when it comes to the beauty industry. Green beauty is a popular movement, as many switch to products that are safe, clean, and all-natural.

There are incredible brands who create clean products to exacting standards. But there are also plenty of imposters who claim they do but don’t. So how can you tell them apart? The first step is to unpack the industry’s key buzzwords. This way you understand what they mean and when you can trust them.

Breaking down the buzzwords

Organic, natural, non-toxic, GMO-free. These are some of the most popular buzzwords when it comes to clean beauty. Surprisingly, none of these terms are strictly regulated by the FDA or USDA for cosmetic industry use.

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular buzzwords:

Organic

Organic means produced without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), sewage, ionizing radiation, antibiotics, or growth hormones (1).

To ensure that a product is “organic,” look for a seal from a third-party organic certifying organization, such as the USDA Certified Organic program. If you don’t see the USDA seal, then there is no guarantee that the product meets organic quality standards.

Even if a product is USDA Certified Organic, that doesn’t mean that it contains 100% organic ingredients. In fact, a product can contain as little as 70% organic ingredients and still have the USDA seal. Even with the fancy USDA seal, you’ll still want to read the ingredient labels of organic cosmetics and beauty products.

Here are a few ways to evaluate if products are organic and high quality:

How many ingredients are listed as “certified organic”? Which organization certified them?
Research all listed non-organic ingredients online—are they safe and clean?
Look for a seal from a third-party certifying organization

Natural

The term “natural” is frequently used in the beauty industry. Yet, there are no official regulatory standards to define it. That means that any cosmetic product can claim to be “natural” while still containing synthetic ingredients. The simplest definition for “natural products” are those not containing any synthetic ingredients or additives.

Here are a few tips to identify them:

Natural ingredients tend to be easy to read and recognize. If you don’t know one, google it to confirm.
Natural ingredients should be at the top of the list on the label, any unnatural ones should be at the end.
Look for a seal from a third-party certifying organization

Non-Toxic

Non-toxic means “a substance that is not expected to cause symptoms or be dangerous” to humans or the environment (2). A non-toxic product should not have any ingredients linked to toxic responses in humans. Toxic responses include death, organ failure, reproductive and hormonal disruption, and cancer.

Chem-Free

The term “chemical-free” or “chem-free” is incredibly misleading. Not only is it completely unregulated, but it is also deceptive. All ingredients in a product are technically chemicals, including water! Steer clear of all beauty products marketing themselves as chemical-free.

About our Guest Blogger

Diane Elizabeth is a beauty expert and founder of Skin Care Ox: a skin care blog focusing on publishing accurate, beautiful, and informative skin care research and content. Diane’s skin care advice has been featured in many top publications such as HuffPost, Glamour, Reader’s Digest, and Yahoo!

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, not of Style Chicks.

Hair Loss Awareness Month: Doctor Paul J. McAndrews Interview

August 24, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Style Chicks has been covering advances in Hair Restoration for many years now. Back in 2008, we spoke with Doctor Paul J. McAndrews, a prominent advocate for women with hair loss. We thought in honor of Hair Loss Awareness Month, we would republish his comments.

Interview with

Doctor Paul J. Andrews

Hair Restoration Dermatologist

The Style Chicks are thrilled to have Doctor Paul J. McAndrews as a guest columnist today. Doctor McAndrews is a renown dermatologist who specializes in hair restoration. His technique, The McAndrews Method, blends artistry and surgical skill to restore hairlines that are natural looking and have the highest rate of hair follicle survival and growth. Hair loss is a growing issue for women – even young women. This can result from genetic predisposition, emotional stress, and yes, the toll that styling, coloring, and even hair extensions take on our scalps. The McAndrews Method is an exciting option for those looking for permanent hair restoration.

Who Is a Good Candidate for the McAndrews Method?

Here’s what Doctor McAndrews has to say when we asked him what makes a woman a good candidate for The McAndrews Method:

“To put it simply, expectations. The art and science of Hair Transplantation has improved dramatically in the last ten years. But with all of the technological advances that make the procedure virtually undetectable, the one constant throughout this evolution is that there is a fixed and limited amount of donor hair available to transplant into the thinning areas. Heredity hair loss – also called Androgenetic Alopecia or Female Patterned Hair Loss –affects 1 out of 4 women by the age of 50.

While this is significantly less than men – sixty percent of men will have some level of hair loss by the age of 50 – it’s still a very troubling issue for those women affected. For some women, hair loss can become noticeable as early as their 20’s, but hair loss can start at any age and there is a wide range of hair loss patterns that can occur. Women may lose 50% or more of their hair density before it becomes visibly noticeable. Most women experience diffuse thinning across the top of the scalp, while others actually experience a receding hair line – similar to a man. Some women will have diffuse hair loss all over their entire scalp. I also work with women who have hair loss as a result of cosmetic surgery, such as facelifts and browlifts. When I evaluate a woman for hair transplant, the first thing I must determine is her hair restoration goals and expectations of what can be achieved. Because there is a limited amount of donor hair available, I have to be sure I use this hair as wisely as possible and The McAndrews Method assures this. For some women, there is just not enough donor hair to return the thinning areas to a satisfactory density which means they may still have a “thinning” look. And since there is a limit to the amount of density I can achieve in a single transplant session, the patient may need more than one procedure to reach their desired density. If your expectations are realistic and you understand the limitations to hair restoration, then you will be a good candidate for the McAndrews Method.

It’s also important not to overlook the value of the medical therapies, in particular Rogaine®, in preventing hair loss and in some cases, regrowing hair. For more information, please visit www.McAndrewsMethod.com or call (877) 424-7362.”

We’d like to thank Doctor McAndrews for sharing his expertise! Be sure to visit his website for more information on The McAndrews Method!