It's time for natural hair to have a comeback!

I begged my parents to let me dye my hair when I was 13. My best friend Christi and I used to have so much fun playing with hair dye, until one day I over-bleached her gorgeous black hair and the highlighted pieces came out in handfuls. From then on, we trusted professionals only. By the time I was in my 20's, I was convinced my "dirty blonde" hair was a dull color that could never make me feel beautiful on its own. By my 30's, I didn't even know what my natural hair color WAS anymore. When I got pregnant the first time, I became concerned about the amount of harmful chemicals in hair dye and decided to grow my natural color out. After much thought and research, I decided never to dye my hair again. Why, you say?
- You and your hairdresser are exposed to many harmful ingredients. Your scalp absorbs all of these chemicals into your body, which then has to store or detox them. I do believe this contributes to increased rates of cancer and a host of other potential health problems. These chemicals can even potentially harm your unborn baby if you are pregnant.
- It is expensive and time-consuming to get your hair dyed regularly.  
- It hurts the environment to create these artificial dyes and then wash the chemicals down the drain into our water systems. 
- Dying your hair most certainly damages the hair itself. I am certain that old women would not have hair that is frail and thin like we commonly see if they didn't damage it most of their lives.

Now, these are the reasons that got me to stop dying my hair in the first place. And then something major happened! I realized SO many other reasons not to do it!!! Other take-aways-
- My own hair color was more beautiful than I knew. Yes, it looks mousy in certain lighting, but it shimmers in the sun unlike any dyed hair can do, with multiple hues of gold and red that only nature could create. 
- We all need variety. Women have so much fun dying their hair lighter in the summer or darker in the fall. Guess what? Your hair naturally changes color every season of the year. The sun provides beautiful highlights. It also changes with each season of your life.
- If you really want to dye your hair, you can use natural henna to darken it, or lemon juice or peroxide to lighten it!
- My biggest lesson though, is that I actually feel MORE beautiful with my real hair color. I am confident and proud that I feel like I am enough without altering my appearance greatly. 
- I feel like a true role model for my daughters. Most mothers know the feeling of being obsessively in love with their baby's hair. Nothing could be more beautiful than my two daughters' natural hair color. It makes me so sad to think of them feeling like in ten years or so, that they have to start to highlight or dye their hair in order to fit in, to compete, or to be beautiful. Nothing is further than the truth. 

I think it is time to start a new movement where we embrace our natural, God-given beauty and claim it as not just good enough, but better than altering it. We have had enough of the constant barrage of societal influence that demands we women (and men) alter our appearances to please others or to even have confidence in ourselves. It is time for natural hair color to have a comeback!