A trend coming into fashion

In November of 2020, teacher Elizabeth Cyr found herself in her stylist’s chair frowning at the overgrowth of her hair after months of avoiding a salon due to the spread of coronavirus. It could have been the joy of seeing another person during the isolating pandemic that made her take a risk. Maybe it was the boredom of quarantine.

“I was just so over the day-in-day-out of COVID,” Cyr said. “I needed to take control of my life in some way, sort of shake things up.”

Cyr cut seven inches off her hair that night and dyed it silver, a color that was true to her natural hair.

Fear of contacting COVID-19 kept teacher Elizabeth Cyr from visiting her hair stylist for most of 2020. After artificially dyeing her hair for years, she was forced to let her natural gray and silver locks peek through. During her first visit back to her stylist she decided to stick with her natural roots and look.

Whether it be natural hair, less or no makeup, or even switching to natural everyday hygiene products, the pandemic-led trend to go natural emerged. Famous stars like

Hilarie Burton, Kelly Ripa, and Kevin Hart, have been posting pictures on social media of their grey hair showing through. Others like Nikki Bella are posting no filters and no makeup photos.

So many people are going natural that grey hair and curls hide no more. Sometimes, it may be because of the ingredients of the products or maybe simply wanting to be natural. 

The trend has so many positive effects on people and our environment. 

Synthetic chemicals can harm animals and plants. Creating the product in the first place is harmful to the environment because of the amount of pollution made by mining. A good number of real natural product companies also do not test on animals and are far more gentler on your skin.

The trend lends itself to helping people are able to feel like they can be themselves. They embrace who they are. It is not even just hair color and chosen styles. 

The shift to natural can be to choices like face and body products like deodorant.

The health benefits of natural products have been publicized so much so that even in rural areas, following this trend has led to a healthier, happy life.

Teacher Pam Gower said, “I feel proud that I’m allowing myself to age naturally. I also really love my silver and gray streaks and the texture of my hair.”

The fad of straightened hair has losts its luster.

People can go years without ever even knowing they have curls. They just think they have frizzy hair because they straighten and brush it so much and use damaging products. 

While hair trends have gained attention, other natural choices have emerged during the pandemic. 

Some consumers use antiperspirants, thinking the product is deodorant. Antiperspirants contain chemicals like aluminum. Unknowing buyers, do not understand that aluminum is a dangerous possibly cancer causing chemical. 

As there are no official studies proving it yet, it is a big concern because the aluminum salts can be absorbed by your skin and collected by the breast tissue. 

This concern led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require antiperspirant manufacturers to include warnings specifically for people with kidney disease according to the University of Pennsylvania medical researchers.

Studies on the relationship between aluminum antiperspirants to kidney disease and dementia are currently taking place. Aluminum is in antiperspirants to plug up your pores so they can not release sweat but sweat is a natural necessary function of your body.

While the shift to natural fad brought mental and physical health benefits, going natural provided other added benefits: time and money. 

“I have stopped coloring my hair,” Gower said. “My last color, to cover up my gray hair, was February of 2020. I feel thankful to not have to spend the time and money on coloring my hair. I’ve even stopped using any heat to style it and it looks and feels so much thicker!”