Jaszy McAllister: Hey! This is Jaszy with modernhippiemag.com, your online source for hip, healthy living.

Male Speaker: The greengirls.com.

Jaszy McAllister: This afternoon we are visiting BD Michaels Salon. Recently we had the pleasure of meeting owners, Erin and Michael Konrath, over at Sarasota Naturally. What impressed me the most is that they use organic and eco-friendly haircare systems in their salon. More importantly, that they use an all natural organic hair color system.

I wanted to see if it was really going to be as good as what they said it was. So with the help of one of our really good friends, Lauren Chase, we put them to the test.

Lauren Chase: I am excited to go green.

Erin Konrath: Our brand is Organic Salon Systems. Again, it is free of ammonia and has organic ingredients, certified organic ingredients.

I have been doing hair for 12 years. I get allergic reactions to lauryl sodium sulfate, which is in just about every shampoo and body wash and anything like that, that is out there.

They use it in gyms to decrease and garage floors to clean them up. So yeah, it's pretty harsh.

Jaszy McAllister: No, I really don't want that in my toothpaste, I don't want that in my soap, I don't want that in my shampoo.

Erin Konrath: They say that once you put on your skin, it gets soaked in. So if you can do something better instead of harsh chemicals and ammonias and things like that, I think you have done yourself a favor.

There is actually quite a few bad things, but ammonia is probably the worst. Because it's not only you putting that in your skin, but you are sitting there smelling it and breathing it in as well, which is not nice for your lungs.

Lot of times I had to walk away from my client, because I was like, I couldn't breathe from the chemicals, and I just never thought of it. Okay, that's how it is.

Lauren Chase: No. I don't smell, I don't see, I am not squinting, talking, yeah, it looks great. I can almost smell like the coconut in it very deeply. But you can tell that it's a lot healthier than any other chemical hair dye.

Erin Konrath: Yup, I am seven months pregnant, and I don't have any reactions or not breathing in any harsh fumes.

Jaszy McAllister: These are products that any salon has access to, correct?

Erin Konrath: Uh-huh.

Jaszy McAllister: So if I went into a salon, say I have been going to the salon for 10, 20 years and asked my stylist, hey, I have heard about these eco-friendly hair coloring, can you get them for me, that wouldn't be a problem, then?

Erin Konrath: It shouldn't be. Unless they for whatever reason don't want to.

Jaszy McAllister: Or you go to your stylist and you walk in and she says, so what I can do you? You can say, well, I can tell you what I don't want you to do. I don't want you to give me parabens, I don't want you to give me SLS, I don't want you to give me propylene glycol. Can you do that today please. Thank you.

Erin Konrath: Other hairdressers will say, well, that can't work or they doubt it, and everything that we do, we are connected.

Jaszy McAllister: It's definitely your prerogative to decide whether or not you are going to use a product that is eco-friendly or not. That's fine. But please understand also that, that same product that you are washing down the drain, it is affecting me, because it's going into my soil.

Lauren Chase: It's just weird, because these are the things that we do, not on a daily basis, but these are the things we do monthly. People don't even realize or don't even care to take the time to ask or to assume or anything, especially of course being a female, you want your hair done, your makeup done, your nails done.

Jaszy McAllister: That's just being a woman.

Lauren Chase: Exactly.

Jaszy McAllister: Yeah, that's what we are trying to make a little bit more prominent in Modern Hippie Mag is that, it's not necessarily about being green, because people have different criteria to what being green means. I mean, you can't be a purist. I don't care. You can go off the grid, it's impossible, and unfortunately in the society that we live in. But being more conscious in the decisions that we make, whether it's foods that we eat or the products that we buy or the clothing or whatever, being conscious about those and understanding that there could possibly be an alternative. Do that.

So the other products that you carry that are eco-friendly or organic haircare, you have several lines. Tell me about some of them.

Erin Konrath: Well, Onestà is exactly made here in the United States, in Minnesota. They are a very earth conscious company as well. They use wind power, 100% to further factory. They keep their packaging very minimal. Once again, nothing special, recycled plastic, recyclable.

Jaszy McAllister: Silky smooth is how I would describe both the shampoo and conditioner. Because a lot of times you will find a shampoo that it's like a soap. It washes and it does that.

But not so with the Onestà Shampoo, in that, I found it was really, really creamy and the scent is very citrusy. So I just like that it had that -- more than anything, I really like that it was really creamy and silky and sensual.

Erin Konrath: Actually, I think it works better than those in better than more shampoos.

Jaszy McAllister: Organic is the actual line that you have your hair colors.

Erin Konrath: Yes. They have the certified organic ingredients. I feel these are kind of a little more concentrated. They are a little bit thicker shampoos. So you need a little bit less, and like I said, really wet the hair down, make sure it's real wet and it will work just like any other shampoo you use.

Jaszy McAllister: Now, what made a really big impression on me was how yummy they smell.

Erin Konrath: Yeah, those are pretty fruity kind of, almost like bubblegum. I have little samples of those. I just went out and just passing them out to people. I have people come just after using that little packet and be like, I have to have this. This stuff is amazing.

Lauren Chase: Organic is the way to go.

Jaszy McAllister: It looks natural. The highlights are beautiful. So what do you think of your hair color ?

Lauren Chase: It's so much lighter than any other product that's ever been put in my hair chemically. As far as dyeing your hair goes, I wasn't coughing. I wasn't itching or scratching my eyes. I wasn't afraid my contacts were going to fall on the floor, because they are so dry from all the chemicals that are being instilled in my hair.

This is light. It smelled good. The dye of it even smelled good. Products they used after the shampoo, even the hair spray, I have just lost ten pounds. It's phenomenal. I love it.

Jaszy McAllister: What do you think of the color?

Lauren Chase: The color is perfect. It matched everything that I wanted. Every one thing is organic. It may not last as long, it may not be as bright, but this is very bright and very colorful and perfect for everything I was going for and looking for.

Jaszy McAllister: It looks natural.

Lauren Chase: It feels great. I can't stop touching it. So yes, thank you so much Modern Hippie Mag and Erin and Mike, thank you so much.

Jaszy McAllister: Well, thank you for being the guinea pig. I mean, I am really impressed. I was a little bit skeptical. I mean, just like I think with everyone else, when you think of organic and you kind of wonder, yeah, so what, it's good for me, but does it work ?

Lauren Chase: Exactly.

Jaszy McAllister: I really can see from when you walked in until now that the color looks amazing. I can tell that your hair is soft. How you keep running your fingers through it. So I think you are probably coming back.

Lauren Chase: Sold! Definitely!

Jaszy McAllister: Very cool!