If you have blond hair you may have experienced the same thing as my daughter, that the hair turns green after swimming in a chlorinated pool. I am not a big fan of a chlorinated pool in the first place, but sometimes you're at a place where you have no other choice.  We used  salt for our own pool a few years ago and it worked great. Chlorine competes with iodine in our body so it is a good idea to be cautious if you suffer from thyroid problems. I like to make sure that we boost our iodine intake if we are going to be using a chlorinated pool. A chlorinated pool has a lot of chemicals/metals so I also make sure that we increase food and/or supplements and essential oils that are detoxifying. The chlorine is the reason why  metals such as copper, manganese and iron oxidize in the pool. It is the copper that turns green as it oxidizes, and it  is responsible for the greenish tint often seen in  blond, gray or white hair. So, naturally I want to get rid off my daughter's green hair without using harsh chemicals and here are some things that I found out: Baking soda  You can make a paste of baking soda and water and apply to your hair. Let it sit for five minutes before you rinse. This worked great on my daughter's hair. Lemon or tomato juice The citric acid in the juice can be used to remove the metals in the hair that are responsible for turning the hair green. Apply lemon or tomato juice and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing. Wash you hair as usual after the rinse. If you use essential oils, mix lemon essential oil with apple cider vinegar and water and use as a hair rinse. Leave the rinse for a few minutes before removing it. I'm out of lemon oil so I have not tried this yet but I will as soon as I have lemon essential oil at home again. Other tips This article also says to rinse your hair before you swim since saturated hair will not absorb as much of the pool water as dry hair would. I have also seen people recommend to use ketchup and tomato paste. It is also important to rinse the hair immediately after getting out of the pool.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives.  Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information. This post is linked to: Monday Mania hosted by The Healthy Home Economist Domestically Divine hosted by Far Above Rubies WFMW  Simple Lives Thursday

Free Digital Photos  Do you know that fragrance products targeting teenage girls contain many secret chemicals not listed on the labels? According to a new analysis, these hidden chemicals  can be found in fragrance products from  Hannah Montana's Secret Celebrity and Britney Spear's Curious to Calvin Klein's Eternity and Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce.  These secret chemicals not listed on the labels contain chemicals that can disrupt hormones or trigger allergic reactions.  Exposing growing and not fully developed girls  to fragrances that disrupt the hormones is a bad idea. Fortunately, essential oils can be used to make quick and easy perfumes and other body care products that not only smell wonderfully, but also possess powerful healing properties.  My post Make Your Own Perfume explains how to blend essential oils to get the most out of the oils. My other post, Perfume blends will share some recipes so that you can get started on making your own. Many of these chemicals can also be found in other beauty products. The President's Cancer Panel  came out with a recent report that pointed out the largely unregulated toxic and understudied chemicals used by millions of people daily. The Cancer Panel recommends that  pregnant women and couples planning to become pregnant avoid chemicals known to disrupt the hormones due  to cancer concerns. The same hormone disruptors that may play role in cancer were also found in the fragrances analyzed. The Environmental Working Group, EWG, recently performed a study where they found the synthetic musk chemicals Tonalide and Galaxolide in the umbilical cord blood of a newborn baby. The same musk chemicals were found in almost all the analyzed fragrances. 17 products were tested and 12 of the products also contained diethyl phathalte also known as DEP. DEP is also linked to behavioral problems and sperm damage. From EWG's website: "For this study, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of health and environmental groups, commissioned tests of 17 fragranced products at an independent laboratory. Campaign partner Environmental Working Group assessed data from the tests and the product labels. The analysis reveals that the 17 products contained, on average: Fourteen secret chemicals not listed on labels due to a loophole in federal law that allows companies to claim fragrances as trade secrets. American Eagle Seventy Seven contained 24 hidden chemicals, the highest number of any product in the study. Ten sensitizing chemicals associated with allergic reactions such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis. Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio contained 19 different sensitizing chemicals, more than any other product in the study Four hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to a range of health effects including sperm damage, thyroid disruption and cancer. Halle by Halle Berry, Quicksilver and Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow each contained seven different chemicals with the potential to disrupt the hormone system." Follow me on twitter and facebook This post is linked to; Seasonal Celebration Sunday