Millions of people have their hair straightened or colored every year. While some know the importance of choosing natural or organic products, others continue using conventional products that pose risk. Any person interested in having his or her hair straightened or colored should find a professional that uses high quality and natural ingredients or choose the same type of product if doing the job at home.

For instance, with hair coloring, a common ingredient is ammonia, which contains alkaline. This ingredient is widely used but it is also dangerous. For one thing, numerous studies have been conducted by scientists, researchers, and medical professionals that have discovered alkaline promotes certain types of cancers. For another thing, alkaline seeps deep into the person's hair shaft as a part of the coloring process, which means it goes beyond hair follicle surface and into the skin.

Along with alkaline and hydrogen peroxide, which are both chemicals, hair coloring products use synthetic dyes, yet another chemical. That means the person having his or her hair colored is now being subjected to an hour long process involving potentially dangerous chemicals. Obviously, this type of risk should always be avoided. The good news is that several natural products are now on the market that use ingredients still capable of producing beautiful color but without putting the individual at risk.

Then for people that want to have hair straightened, the same problem exists. However, this process can take much longer than hair coloring and some of the chemicals used are much stronger than alkaline. These chemicals rearrange curly hair, which results in it being straightened. For this to be successful, the most common chemicals used include sodium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate, both containing lye. While they work well to straighten hair, they are also extremely toxic. A third chemical called guanidine hydroxide is still harsh but because it contains no lye, it is the lesser evil of the other ingredients.

Men and women go to great lengths to look great but this goal can be achieved with natural products that will not cause potential health risks. In addition to the body being put at risk, often a person's hair is badly damaged because of the severity of the chemicals used. However, with an all-natural product, hair is colored or straightened but not damaged and most importantly, a person's overall health is not being exposed to dangerous chemicals that have been proven as cancer causing.