Rogers recommends that before buying and using a new pack of synthetic braiding hair, shoppers should:
Check for recalls. MedWatch is a good starting point (while our recent search didn’t reveal any recalls, they would be posted here). Consumers should also consult the manufacturers’ websites to see if there is additional information on the product.
Read product labels carefully. There could be important information on ingredients that could cause allergic or other adverse reactions.
Report adverse effects. If there are any adverse reactions when using braiding hair, consumers should report the issue(s) to their healthcare provider, and to the FDA (via MedWatch).
James-Todd, the lab director of Harvard’s Environmental Reproductive Justice Lab, says her approach is to err on the side of caution. “People say, ‘Well, there’s chemicals everywhere; I don’t care.’ But there are some things that are safer than other things,” she says. “People need to be a little more cognizant about what they may be exposing themselves and their kids to.”
Social media mavens on TikTok and YouTube swear by the trick of prerinsing with apple cider vinegar before installing synthetic braiding hair in order to “wash away” ingredients that may cause itching. Although it’s a commonly shared remedy, Silent Spring Institute scientist Elissia Franklin, PhD, who is leading a study on synthetic and natural hair, says there is currently no scientific evidence that rinsing is effective at reducing exposure to harmful chemicals. Cheryl Burgess, MD, of the Center for Dermatology in Washington, D.C., clarifies that soaking the synthetic hair in apple cider vinegar may make it silkier and less hard and bristly. However, she says, “Rinsing is not a cure-all. You still can be irritated by the polyvinyl, the nylon, or whatever is being used.” If you do choose to go the prerinsing route, Burgess also advises using caution: “You could potentially release harmful chemicals,” she says. “That’s why you’re not supposed to do it at 100 percent concentration. It should be a dilution of 2:1 water.”
Franklin recommends choosing to buy hair products with claims of using only nontoxic ingredients, but, she warns, “because the products do not need to be tested for these claims before they are put on the market, companies can make those claims without regulation.”
“For the most part,” she says, “relative to other products, those might be the better option for folks interested in being more conscientious consumers.”
An internet search for “nontoxic synthetic braiding hair” generates a list of brands that claim to be anti-itch, antibacterial, organic, and even biodegradable. “Plant-based” is also a recurring buzzword, as with such brands as Lillian Augusta Beauty, Nourie, and Róun Beauty. Rebundle, a line of braiding hair that lists banana fiber as its main ingredient, states that its products contain no polyvinyl chloride or phthalates. (A group of chemical compounds often used as plasticizers, phthalates have been identified as endocrine disruptors.) EZbraid also states that its brand is free of phthalates. (CR did not test these brands but is considering future tests of products labeled as nontoxic.)
Even with companies that make “nontoxic” claims, many of the manufacturer sites omit ingredients lists. As the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a program of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), says: “There are no legal standards for personal care products that are labeled ‘clean,’ ‘pure,’ ‘natural,’ or ‘organic.’” So, braid lovers attempting to do their due diligence can still find themselves tied up in knots.
“It’s unfair for the consumer to have to be the one to have to figure out,” says Kindred, the dermatologist. “That onus should fall on us, the medical professionals and the stylists.”
But she has found a ray of positivity amid all of these seemingly bleak beauty prospects. She says the expansion of a cosmetic chemistry science program at Spelman College in Atlanta is a program that gives her hope for the future.
“We’ll have a whole cadre of Black women that will be equipped to take this on,” Kindred says. Likewise, James-Todd is optimistic about the rollout of a Department of Health and Human Services competition that awards innovators who are aiming to reduce EDC exposure risks for Black women. Phase 1 winners, according to a 2023 HHS press release, included Black Women for Wellness, which provides healthy hair information to Black communities in Los Angeles; Hackensack University Medical Center, which is creating an educational training program focused on racial/ethnic disparities related to salon products for hair professionals working in New Jersey’s salons; and Emily Hilz, a researcher in Austin, Texas, who is developing an app to help consumers reduce exposure to EDCs. Franklin also led a team that was a winner in phases 1 and 2; she is working on phase 3 now.
“Hopefully, as we become not only more aware, but the workforce becomes more diverse, we’ll be able to know more in order to advise better,” James-Todd says.
In the meantime, she recommends reducing the use of synthetic braiding hair to short-term rather than constant wear.
Thomas, the Albert Einstein student who turned her personal experience with these products into compelling professional research, echoes that sentiment: “While there has not yet been research to define the actual extent of risk of synthetic braids, one thing stylists and healthcare providers can do now is advise against immediately reinstalling a new set of braids after four to six weeks, to lessen overall exposure.”