Chattanooga is going green, or haven’t you heard? From buildings, to dining, to transportation, there’s nothing in Chattanooga that can’t be made better for our bodies and the environment with a kiss of green. Joining this movement toward better stewardship of ourselves and our resources is Banana Tree Organic Salon, which has developed its own organic hair coloring product.
Angela Oliver, who co-owns Banana Tree Organic with her husband, Terry, assured me this is revolutionary. Being bald – sorry, hair challenged, for those of you sensitive about your shiny dome – I didn’t know the store-bought stuff was bad for you. But apparently, coloring your hair is about as healthy as dipping your head in a bucket of motor oil. Doctors advise pregnant women against coloring their hair with chemical-based products, so there must be something to the notion that those bottles of hair color from China might not be the best thing to absorb into your bloodstream.
I don’t know. I’m just a guy with a salt and pepper goatee, but Angela is convincing.
Back to the organic hair coloring system. Angela couldn’t use the store-bought stuff because her scalp would break out and she’d get sick. She wasn’t alone. More than a few people are allergic, or react badly, to the chemicals in store-bought hair coloring products.
This must be an untenable situation. Sure, God gave you dirty brown follicles, and you don’t mean to be ungrateful, but you’d like to be bright blonde with streaks of vibrant purple lining your coiffure, only you break out like a spotted cheetah cub whenever you try to color your hair.
Angela’s dilemma inspired her. Instead of resigning herself to her natural color, she teamed up with (this is where this column gets technical) a biomedical engineer, a chemist and a resiratory therapist to devise an organic hair coloring system free of bad stuff, including parabens, compounds used as preservatives in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. (Okay, technical part over.) The result: great color and no more bad reactions.
Fortunately, Angela didn’t keep this product to herself. Located on Shallowford Road just off Highway 153, Banana Tree opened two years ago and is still the only organic hair salon in the tri-state area. At least, that’s what she says, and she’s convincing.
Getting your hair colored at Banana Tree is no more complicated than it would be at a salon that uses non-organic products. Your first time, your stylist will give you a free ten-minute consultation during which he or she will deal with a variety of factors ranging from the texture of your hair to the colors you’d prefer. Based on that, Banana Tree makes a blend suited to your hair and tastes. Then, the next time you come in, your stylist will have your data on file and be able to re-create YOUR color.
There’s literally no limit to the number of colors Banana Tree can create, so if you find yourself wanting something between two store-bought color gradients, but can never hit that mark, you’re in luck.
Now, Angela might be unnaturally persuasive, but I resolved to find out for myself how well Banana Tree’s organic hair coloring system worked. Being hair-challenged precluded me from doing the investigation, so I sent in an operative – my wife, one not easily impressed. She likes to keep her grey hidden beneath a sheen of jet-black coloring, and begins to complain about needing to dye her hair at the first hint of root growth.
Angela handled my wife’s coloring personally. To my surprise, my wife came home raving about not only the color but also the experience of going to the salon, which included time in a high-end massage chair. (Being a massage therapist, she’s rarely impressed with mechanical massage, but really liked the chair.) I took one look at her shiny, smooth hair and agreed – it looked really good.
Angela says the color lasts as long as other hair coloring products, though it does cost a little more.
Now, Angela and Terry didn’t stop with the creation of their organic hair-coloring product. Rather, they took it a step further by creating a product people can use at HOME. If you’re too busy to go to the salon, or would rather color your hair yourself, stop in at Banana Tree, do the consultation, and then pick up your Green Box in a few days. Even better: If you don’t want to return to the salon, Banana Tree will ship your hair-coloring product to you.
What’s more, if you don’t even have time to do an in-person consultation, Angela or one of the other stylists will consult with you over Skype. Then, if you want to color your hair on a regular schedule, they’ll automatically send you your product.
Green Box costs just shy of 20 bucks for a single application.
If you’ve read this far, then either organic hair coloring sounds appealing to you or you’re interested in the many ways in which Chattanooga is going green. In some ways, companies and organizations in the Scenic City are on the cutting edge of the green movement. That’s certainly true of Banana Tree.
I’m just happy to see my wife happy. As I’ve written before, she’s not easily impressed. Her stamp of approval even has me thinking about coloring my salt-and-pepper goatee. I’ll skip the purple streaks, though.
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.