Eco-friendly and green products have been all over the place lately! With all the buzz words floating around, it can be overwhelming to find products that are better for you, your clients, and the environment.
It doesn’t help the situation when extension tape manufacturers aren’t being honest with you about their manufacturing process, or the ingredients in their products. In order to help simplify things, we’re going to clear up a few common questions about organic hair extensions.
Are There Organic Hair Extensions?
The quick answer is no. There’s no such thing as natural or organic hair extensions.
Why Aren’t Hair Extensions Organic?
All of the hair that’s used in extensions is chemically treated. This is done to remove germs and other gross things, like lice and bacteria. Unfortunately, this means there are no types of hair extensions that are organic. If your client is still on a quest to find the most natural hair extension option, we’d recommend sewn-in wefts. Although with this option, the hair is still chemically treated before it’s made into wefts.
Another great option to discuss with your clients are tape-in extensions. This type of extension is attached to your client’s hair with tape. In order to manufacture the adhesive used on the tape, chemicals are used. This is how every tape is manufactured – from extension tape to the tape holding your cell phone together.
While chemicals are used to make adhesive, tape-ins are actually a very safe option because the chemicals contained in the adhesive are flashed off during the manufacturing process. While this lessens your exposure to chemicals, they’re still used to manufacture the tape. Keep in mind that no extension option is 100% natural, this does not just apply to Beautify products.
Applying Heat During Installs
Tape-in extensions can be the simplest and least time consuming extension to install. While they aren’t chemically free, they don’t require any unusual tools to bond them in place. A flat iron, the tape tabs, and your clients extensions can be all you need!
There has been a bit of a discussion about why we recommend using heat during extension installs. The reason we encourage our stylists to use heat is that a flat iron provides enough heat during an install to heat up the tape and cause a chemical reaction.
By applying heat from a flat iron for a really short amount of time (less than a few seconds), you can help the tape cure. This will give it a tighter, stronger hold. The stronger and longer hold can be a great thing for some clients! However, if you or your client would still prefer not to use heat, you don’t have to. Our extension tape can be applied and will cure without the addition of heat. It’s generally just a longer curing process.
Greenwashing
We want to quickly cover a topic that has gotten quite a bit of attention recently and that’s greenwashing. Greenwashing is, at its core, a marketing technique. It’s a way to attract customers by labeling products as eco-friendly when they might not be.
Companies are able to do this because there is no legal definition of what “green” is, so companies can make all sorts of claims without providing proof. For example, the terms “environmentally-friendly”, “green”, and “natural” all have no legal meaning.
This means that companies can use these words in their marketing campaigns to look more appealing to consumers. Greenwashing isn’t an honest representation of their products and that really goes against one of our core company values: honesty.
Which of Our Products Are Organic?
Walker Tape only offers two products that lists any sort of organic claim. This is our famous Walker Signature Remover and C-22. Both of these products are organic and C-22 is also biodegradable. The reason why these are labeled as organic is because we can back it up. If you’d like more information on these products, contact our customer service department.
Both of these products contain organic wetting agents and are powered by citrus oils. If you’re not sure what wetting agents are, here’s a quick breakdown: wetting agents are substances that lower the surface tension of a liquid and allows it to spread more easily.
Removers are Flammable!?
They are! It’s actually much less scary than it sounds.
Many of our products are flammable because they contain ingredients like alcohol and citrus oils. Think of most hairsprays. They’re almost all flammable because they have an alcohol base.
Using C-22 as an example, the citrus oils used in this remover are flammable. To get more specific, it’s the D-limonene that’s contained within citrus oil that’s flammable. The flash point of limonene is 122 degrees Fahrenheit, so it needs to meet that temperature in order to spark.
We’re Here For You!
We hope this blog has been informative and helpful! The number one take-away is really that the phrase “100% natural” means almost nothing without looking at a product’s ingredient list yourself. It can be difficult to monitor when companies use greenwashing as a marketing technique, but we’re here to help.
If you have any questions about our products or their ingredients, contact us! Our customer service team will be honest and open with you, while helping you find the best products for your client’s needs.
