I think that it’s our right as stylists to know what chemicals we’re exposed to so that we can make informed decisions on whether or not we want to use certain products for our own protection as well as for the safety of our clients.
Freda Cullins, Hair Professional
My name is Freda Cullins and I’ve been a licensed hairstylist for 24 years, I’ve taught cosmetology in beauty school, and I’ve owned my salon, Hair by Texture, for about 5 years now. I got my start doing hair when I was a little girl in the kitchen with my Grandmother. She was a licensed cosmetologist and I was obsessed with this kit she had with rollers and hair tools. I used to do hair for anyone that would let me, and when my mother let me relax and hot comb her hair around 13, I loved it. By 17, I already had clients, and then I decided to go to beauty school to learn more. It intrigued me that hair could be transformed using tools and products, so it’s a harsh truth now knowing that many of the creams, treatments, and products that I grew up thinking were potions in a bottle are actually bad for my health and the health of my clients.
Personally, I don’t believe I’ve experienced too many health concerns related to my work though I do deal with numbness in my hands at night so I have to wear a brace. I also sometimes feel discomfort in my throat when I do thermal treatments that produce smoke. It really makes me sad that my work went from this pure love of doing relaxers and bonding with my mom to toxic chemicals and lies – I feel like the purity of hair care has gone away and so has the quality of many products. I have trouble understanding and reading many product labels because the language is too technical, the writing is small, and some products don’t even have labels in the first place. We also shouldn’t have to spend so much time trying to understand every ingredient on a bottle and it’s unfortunate that some ingredients, like those used in fragrance, are almost never listed. Because of these difficulties, myself and many other stylists I work with tend to use products that are more established in the industry. My clients sometimes ask for products that are “natural,” “organic,” “green,” or “clean” so I also use products with these labels even though I sometimes wonder if they’re accurate. I think that it’s our right as stylists to know what chemicals we’re exposed to so that we can make informed decisions on whether or not we want to use certain products for our own protection as well as for the safety of our clients. I hope for honest, effective, clean products with ingredients that I can identify and trace back to a source that has a place in maintaining the health of hair.
Español – LA HISTORIA DE FREDA
