WELCOME TO GREEN GROTTO BEAUTY

When you think about beauty, what often comes to mind are stereotypical concepts of long legs, slender bodies, glossy, flowing hair, and perfect skin. Or…it could be the recent movement towards promoting unadorned beauty and self-acceptance in the forms of natural, cultural hairstyles, plus-sized models, make-up free movie stars, and practical fashion. It's really all of these things and more. Beauty isn't inside out or outside in. It's the yin and yang balance of both. To be your most beautiful self, your best self, requires a blend of caring for the physical and the spiritual, living in harmony with yourself and the world.

Green Grotto was born in the spirit of a deep love of creating beauty for every individual and an equal desire to create a better world through eco-friendly, sustainable practices. It melds creativity with hard science and makes ethical, sustainable, healthy beauty practices accessible to anyone. The impact of a daily beauty regimen can take its toll on us in many ways: physically, economically, and environmentally, but most people are never made aware of the interconnectedness of those "superficial" routines. Through our blogs, Green Grotto is setting out to reveal what is happening behind the scenes of your traditional beauty practices and products and educate us on incorporating ethical, sustainable, eco-friendly beauty as part of a holistic approach to self-care and healthy living.

So, what does it matter if your hair care and beauty products are organic, eco-friendly, and sustainable?

First, let's talk about you – your health and your wellbeing. In the age of increasing transparency and the continuing revelations of the impact of chemicals on the human body, think Monsanto, your exposure to beauty products occurs much more frequently and directly than to RoundUp! Companies are required to list the ingredients on packaging but not explain what they are, where they come from, and potentially harmful side effects. There probably isn't a single person who considers soaking his or her hair in formaldehyde yet you can find several formaldehyde-based chemicals like DMDM hydantoin, Imidazolidinyl urea, Diazolidinyl urea,and Quaternium-15, in nail polish, hair gels, and shampoos among others products.

Think about the food you eat, if you spend time trying to choose organic, all-natural, or locally sourced products to improve your health from the inside, you know ingredients are important. Choosing beauty products that maintain strict standards offers numerous health benefits that work from the outside in. Our skin and hair absorb nutrients that improve their look, feel, and vitality. For example, organic grapeseed oil, one of many ingredients found in Green Grotto's product selection, is high in antioxidants and linoleic acid which strengthen hair and make it smooth, shiny, and more damage resistant. Skin can improve its resiliency to air pollution, free radicals, and dehydration. Hair can retain moisture, thickness, and strength. As we delve deeper into which ingredients are harmful and which are helpful, you will be able to understand your skin and hair type and tailor a hair care "diet" to give you exactly what you need. And just like spending a little more money on higher quality food has lasting benefits on your physical health, so does investing in higher quality beauty products.

So often, people are living paycheck to paycheck; it seems unrealistic or financially irresponsible to spend more money on sustainable, organic products. Consider the long-term impacts of using cheap or traditional products. It can take more products to perform the same job (if it even works as well), those chemicals are pouring down drains into water systems and septic tanks leaching into the ground, tons of styling waste are improperly disposed of by thousands of salons, and harvesting resources for products wipes out hundreds to thousands of acres of rainforest. Using sustainably sourced and organic products (No they are not the same thing! Stay tuned to learn more.) protect the environment and natural resources for future generations and reduce exposure to toxins. And imagine how much money you could save if using higher quality products meant more time between cuts and colorings?

Although it is rare to see in salons and on-site beauty treatment businesses, products often claim to be "green" "eco-friendly" "biodegradable" "vegan" and "all-natural", but what do these terms really mean and what standards does a company have to meet to put those words on their labels? "Greenwashing" is putting these terms on labels and in advertising to give one company's products an edge over the competition without fully informing the consumers as to the broader, longer lasting impacts of their claims. Green Grotto works towards improving the beauty industry on a personal, community, and global scale, making sustainability and eco-friendly practices practical and easy for everyone regardless of hair type, gender, identity, ethnicity, and economic status. As a certified Green Circle Salon, Green Grotto participates in a specialized recycling program that benefits the environment by diverting 95% of salon waste away from landfills and waterways to be repurposed.

Green Grotto values its clients above all else, and that means not just making you look and feel beautiful at each and every salon visit, it also means informing and educating them about why Green Grotto emphasizes the importance of sustainability, environmentally sound practices, and holistic wellness. Follow our blog to discover for yourself what's really behind beauty from the inside out.