Found a stat about formaldehyde in hair straighteners that made me put down my brush

I was reading the FDA website last night after a client asked about safety and saw that some smoothing products release formaldehyde when heated above 300 degrees. I've been using a flat iron at 450 for years without thinking about it. Has anyone else switched to lower heat or different products after seeing those numbers?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimw579d ago

Did you check what specific chemicals are in your current straightener or styling products? I looked into mine after reading similar info and found methylene glycol listed, which is basically formaldehyde in liquid form. Feels like a lot of these brands hide behind fancy names for the same stuff. Does your brand list anything that sounds like a chemical name you don't recognize?

corah758d ago

Methylene glycol? Are you serious? I had no idea they could just rename formaldehyde like that and call it a day. I checked my bottle and sure enough, there's "methylene glycol" right there in tiny print. I always just assumed it was some harmless preservative, not the same stuff they use to embalm things. That's honestly a little terrifying

fionam117d ago

Oh gosh, I had the exact same shock when I looked closer at my own stuff... turns out my "protein smoothing spray" had methylene glycol listed third on the ingredient list. I felt so stupid for not checking sooner, honestly it's scary how common this is once you start looking. Makes you wonder what else they're slipping in there with a fancy name.

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