Milena Prinzi, Editor in Chief at All Things Hair, a Unilever brand where she spearheads Unilever’s entire hair brand portfolio editorial presence working directly with the brand teams at Dove, Nexxus, Axe, Love, Beauty, and Planet, SheaMoisture, TRESemme and founder of Food vs. Evil which is a lifestyle destination where her and her team celebrate people, beauty, and wellness and fight against anything that keeps us from feeling and looking our very best joins the podcast today to talk about what plant based foods we need to eat to have strong hair, skin and nails. We also talk about some frequently asked hair care questions such as how often to wash our hair and how to use dry shampoo. This is a great podcast to learn more about what plant based vitamins and minerals we need to eat {or supplement with} to have healthier skin, hair and nails.
- Connect with Milena at allthingshair.com
- Learn more about foodvsevil.com
- Get social: https://www.instagram.com/mileprinzi/
- Get social: https://www.instagram.com/allthingshairus/
Show Transcript
Bowl of Life (00:00):
Today on the podcast I talk with Milena Prinzi. Milena is editor in chief of allthingshair.com, which is part of the Unilever brand. This is such a fascinating conversation. All about plant-based beauty care. We talk about how different plant-based foods have minerals such as selenium or zinc as well as collagen. Yes, there are plants with collagen that help our hair stay strong and beautiful. She also answers all my questions on how often we should wash our hair and how to use dry shampoo properly. I know you’re going to love this conversation. As a reminder, you can find all the show notes on our sponsored blog, badtothebulll.com/46. Let’s dive in and meet Milena.
Bowl of Life (00:47):
It’s time to adapt to a plant-based palette, minimize waste, and respect our environment. Hello, we are Joe and Sarah Hayes, and we are the hosts of the bowl of life podcast, where we are encouraging you to join the plant forward food movement. It’s time for vegetables to move from the side of your plate, to the center. And we are here each week to help you do that. So increasing your vegetable consumption and limiting your animal proteins sounds like a win-win to you. Go grab a spoon or fork, and let’s dive in to learning more about how you can be plant forward.
Bowl of Life (01:24):
Hello, and welcome back to the bowl of life podcast. I’m excited to introduce you to Milena PrinziI – I forgot to ask you how you pronounce your last name, is that correct?
Milena Prinzi (01:34):
You did it, you did it perfectly.
Bowl of Life (01:37):
Well Milena is an award winning creative bilingual journalist journalist content, editor, and producer, as well as editor in chief at All Things Hair, a Unilever brand where she spearheads all of to have lean levers. I can’t talk today, entire hair brand portfolio, editorial presence. Wow. This is just amazing working directly with the brand teams at like dove and nexus and love and beauty and Shea moisture. And well, that’s just to name a few. That is so cool. And she’s also owner and founder of food versus evil, which is a lifestyle destination where her and her team celebrate the people, beauty and wellness, and they fight against anything that keeps us from feeling and looking our best. And I love that mission and I’ve loved how you’ve, you know, just wrap that into a career as well. So cool. So thank you so much for coming on today. Milena and you’re going to give us some insight about the plant-based vegan movement in regards to our hair, skin and nails, which I’m super excited about because I have some hair questions of my own stuff. First, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live and what got you interested and in the beauty care movement and in your own personal mission at food vs evil
Milena Prinzi (03:05):
Thank you so much for having me, Sarah. I love your podcast bowl of life is everything that I have strive for. And definitely since moving to New York city, which is my home for the past 20 years, I was born and raised in Columbia, South America. And I’ve been living here in New York with my husband, two daughters, you know one is almost 20 years old. The other one is 17 years old. And I think because of them, I realize that that we are what we eat. And a lot of the stuff that we consume, not just, you know, digestion while we eat, but also what we put in our skin, our hair, you know, affects everything in a body. When I have my first child, I really became very curious. She was born with severe allergies, just, she was allergic to everything.
Milena Prinzi (04:02):
I mean, including breast milk, because I didn’t know at the time I had her when I was 20, I didn’t know at the time that everything that I was eating was going directly to her. So that’s when I decided to make the conscious decision to actually watch what I was eating because I, you know, it was, it was so heartbroken to see her, you know, breaking in hives and rashes and having swollen cheeks and cough because she was so allergic to everything. And that’s how food vs evil it started my blog because I really, really wanted to dive deep into everything that it was that we were consuming as a family. Yes. And I was fortunate enough to turn my passion for wellness and beauty into a career. And as you mentioned I I’m the editor-in-chief of allthingshair.com, which is the first editorial property of Unilever Unilever is it’s it’s, you know, they have some multinational group global brand and they have the majority of the hair products that we see on pharmacies and drug stores are mostly Unilever hair products. And they decided to put everything together under one umbrella for a hair companion. And I was fortunate enough to, to start the project and five years later, I’m still here. So it’s been a great, great opportunity for me
Bowl of Life (05:46):
Me. Yeah. What a dream job. Right. That is so cool. Just to say, you know, that to work, you know, to go into that, you know, drugstore and be like, yeah. You know, like I know about all about that.
Milena Prinzi (05:59):
So actually it’s actually, and I had my own head of struggles, you know, I was born with curly hair, but it was not like a straight curly it’s like that mix of like currently at the bottom waving the middle straight on top. So hair is always been something so like, like personal and like like my cross to bear. So when when this opportunity came along and I’m like, oh my God, do I get to try all the different hair products from the many brands that Unilever has, it was like, this is amazing actually to learn, not just how the hair from the outer layers of the hair, but also everything that comes from within. So it’s been really a wonderful learning opportunity for me and for our readers as well.
Bowl of Life (06:53):
Oh yeah, for sure. Right. And you know, and everybody’s, you know, we’re all unique, right? That’s what makes us all so cool as human beings, including our hair. Right. And it’s such a big thing, you know, I think for men and women both, right? Yes. My husband sometimes as more, you know, he’s more concerned about his hair than me sometimes. So yeah. Did you find one that worked then for you?
Milena Prinzi (07:22):
The different products? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. There are different brands. We work with, like you mentioned, Dove Tresemme nexus, which are all like premium generic brands. I mean, for everyone really. And a every hair type then we also have brands that are exclusively for, for one hair type. Like shea moisture is only for curly hair and the curly round because it’s different type of curls for people who are more organic and leading towards plant-based products and vegan, we have a brand called love, beauty and planet, and it’s a complete her line and everything is you know cruelty-free eh, they it’s a green brand. So they also take care of the environment. The packaging is green and, and ethically conscious. So it’s a great, great brand. And then we have, you know, for the style girls out there who love to change their hair colors every day and try different bolt hairstyles. We have TG and with TGS, like different brands like Bed head. So it’s really, the portfolio is really vast for every woman and every hair type and style.
Bowl of Life (08:53):
Yeah, yeah. And finding the right one. You know, that goes not only with your hair type, but also, you know, you mentioned you know, that the love beauty and planet is a vegan. Plant-Based more environmentally friendly. You know, as well, people are concerned about that these days, as well as you know, that all of their products they’re using, you know fit their lifestyle. Exactly.
Milena Prinzi (09:20):
And as we move more for, into the future and people are more conscious about, you know, consumerism and everything that we’re not just using, but also the waste component of it. I believe brands like love beauty and planet will be the, the brands of the future. And I believe it’s going to be in a number of years where, where everything that we are going to have is it’s green and conscious, not just for ourselves and our bodies, but also for the planet.
Bowl of Life (09:57):
Yeah. And that’s, that’s just great to hear that. And it’s great to hear, you know, that to larger brands, you know, you always told her like, oh, like, are they thinking about that? But they are right. And that’s always so cool to kind of hear that from someone who works behind the scenes with them, that that bigger brands are on a mission to, to support that, especially the environmentally friendly and you know, angle and such. So very cool to circle back to about how you mentioned when you were breastfeeding, your daughter and just everything night, you were eating, you know, you didn’t realize that she was eating too, or it wasn’t just as widely known. I don’t think it was widely talked about back then, you know, and the same goes for like products and our skin that’s being absorbed into our skin.
Bowl of Life (10:49):
And yeah, I just had a similar situation with my son who is had bad acid reflux. And I remember yeah, not being able to find much information on how I should change my diet to accommodate his needs and when he was a baby. So it’s so I’m sure probably now it’s more commonly talked about, but back then, I can even remember, I was like tracking, like what dairy I was eating at the time. It wasn’t, plant-based when I had him. And I remember thinking, oh, is that the reason he’s has so much reflux? And, you know, I remember my mother-in-law being kind of like, what, why are you doing that? And I’m like, I don’t know. I feel like there’s something here with this food connection.
Milena Prinzi (11:30):
Yeah. Back then it was 2001 when I have my first child and the push was about the conversation with all about breastfeeding. That was a big thing. I remember literally which was a nonprofit organization who pushed for breastfeeding. It was everywhere that all you can read, the whole verbiage was about breastfeeding, but there a missing component, which is, they’re not telling you that, that you really need to have a great diet, which is very hard because you are taking care of a newborn and you barely have time to eat. So then what are you eating? I remember just having a piece of cheese tons of like cold cuts and salami, just because it was easy. It was around, it was easy. I can just put it in my mouth, eat it and then take care of my child. But there was amazing component of, they are not telling you, you have to have the best diet of your life.
Milena Prinzi (12:27):
You have to make sure that you’re eating all your proteins, your omega threes, your leafy greens, your, you know your grains, because all that is going through your, directly to your baby. So if my kid, of course, was having allergic reactions because I was eating really bad food, you know, very poor quality, something that was fast process because it was easy. And I learned the hard way, you know, while I’m going to the doctors researching at the time. Also, I remember the word only like two choices of formula, because then it was like, clearly it’s something I’m like, it’s something that I’m eating. I’m sure. And I said, okay, he had other two choices, either, you know, whole milk of, you know, base formula or soy milk, but the two milks are highly allergenic too. So it was a disaster. She ended up actually being raised with rice milk. So she’s a very petite child because she didn’t gain the proper nutrients. So she’s a very small person. And, and it was because the only choice was rice milk. If I wanted something you know, plant-based organic that it was in cow’s milk or soy milk.
Bowl of Life (13:51):
Right? Yeah. Yeah. So, so interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like my son, I had him in 2009 and things weren’t, they, weren’t talking too much about that either at that time about the different, the diet that you’re eating that could, you know, potentially effect. But yeah, that’s interesting. I just wanted to touch on your, your story there cause you know, it’s so nice to see. We were talking a bit before we jumped on here and hit record just about how further the plant-based movement vegan movement and the options and awareness and you know, more education, even though there’s always those always room for more. But just how that’s even changed when your, your, the buying options you have. So, yeah, so
Milena Prinzi (14:36):
Absolutely. And and I feel like a lot of people don’t realize that you can get as much, if not more of the daily protein intake and vitamins and minerals, that we need to be healthy from plant based food and grains, you know, like we don’t necessarily need to be eating animal products to gain, you know, to, to reach those limits that we do start it’s that we need to hit every single day to be healthy.
Bowl of Life (15:09):
Oh yes, totally, totally agree with you. Totally, totally on that mission. And that’s kind of the mission behind bowl of life is to, you know, kind of educate that option as well as, you know, not only with our food choices, but also what goes on our skin, because that is impactful as well, as well as what we eat can impact what our hair and our skin and our, our nails all, all as well. Correct. Exactly.
Milena Prinzi (15:44):
It’s all part of the, you know, it’s all about proteins, right? Because the hair is like keratin is protein collagen, and those are all proteins, which are the main components for hair, skin, and nails. And we, you know, we get those amazing sources of nutrients from food, and we need to have a rich diet on protein and minerals and all these ingredients. So we can have a high supply of collagen, elastin, and keratin, so we can have luscious hair, thick hair. We can have strong nails, like, you know we can five anti-aging in a skin which is all normal. It’s all these things over time. Aging is a normal process, but there are things that we can do to delay. We cannot completely stop it because that’s not the way it works, but we can definitely help with our diet to make sure that we are not you know, we had fighting those fine lines and wrinkles and the sagginess in our skin, same with the thinning of the hair or the brittles nails. You know, these are the things that we can fight with a very good diet.
Bowl of Life (17:03):
Yeah. So let’s, let’s talk about that because I feel like a lot of time you mentioned you know, I know right now, like supplementing with collagen is very popular and you know, I think gelatin is for like your nail growth and all of that. So how, what are some things we can do? Like that keeps that plant-based friendly? Are there plant-based options for that? I know for myself, I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. It just seems like just in the last few months, every time I washed my hair, I’m like coming like more and more hair is coming off on my hands. And I’m like, what is, what is going on? I, I have really thick hair, so you can’t really tell, but, but you know, I’m like, this is not going to last for long. If I keep finding here in my drain.
Milena Prinzi (17:48):
Yeah. As you collagen is, is a big one. And the reason collagen is so big is because it helps our body absorb and produce more keratin and keratin is the main component of hair. So if we have a high supply of keratin, obviously the result at the end is going to be stronger shinier, thicker hair, which is what we all want. So yes, if you want to know what to eat, for example, for keratin. So you, we can have a higher supply of keratin. It’s legumes, quinoa mushrooms, dark leafy greens, tempeh, almonds, chia seeds. Those are like great keratin producing foods. So we should really it, those definitely on a daily basis and, and if possible, double the intake, you know another amazing component of hair is biotin or, or vitamin B seven.
Bowl of Life (19:00):
Of that. Actually. My husband does supplement. I think I mentioned to you, my husband, he really likes it.
Milena Prinzi (19:06):
Yeah. Biotin is great for hair, skin and nails. And, you know, people take some vitamin B or Biotene supplement, but you can also get it from eating bananas, cauliflower, legumes, avocados. You know, these are foods that are very, very rich in Biotene. And again, it’s like, we are what we eat. So if we, if this is what we are consuming, this is what we’re giving our body. Our body will return with strong hair, beautiful skin you know, all, everything like the skin is the largest organ that we have in our body. And it reflects, it tells us, it gave us always little clues of what’s working and what’s not working same with nails, nails. Do the same thing. I don’t know if you’ve seen, there are a lot of articles out there that said what the color of your skin of your nails, tell us about your health.
Milena Prinzi (20:05):
Like if you have that, you haven’t, and it’s like it’s like, if you have yellowish, dark, dark nails, you might have something wrong with your liver. Or if you have like pink you might something related with your like cardiovascular system. You know, they tell us I had a skin and I had a hair. Definitely. You know, when we start losing our hair is a sign where to stress, you know, something is off because we shouldn’t be, unless we it’s like the side effect for a medication or if we’re sick, but if we are just, you know, normal, healthy we, we shouldn’t be losing our and such a stream. So it’s like great indicators. And then we have to go and investigate what’s what’s wrong with our bodies. Yeah,
Bowl of Life (20:58):
No, yeah. This is great tips. And it’s great to hear it just about like you know, different foods that we can eat that can help this. I think that’s huge. I would always rather get it from the source rather than take a supplement because then it’s like, okay, well, what, you know, what am I missing from my diet that I’m having to supplement my nails. I’m not, I’m not a big nail Polish person just because I am in the kitchen a lot cooking. So yeah, it might seem pretty normal. I think they’re kind of normal, a whitish with some pink, I guess, would be the, yeah, they are
Milena Prinzi (21:39):
A great indicator, great indicator. And I feel like we talk a lot about in general, you know, we talk a lot about protein and vitamins, but we don’t talk that much about minerals and minerals are very important for skin and hair and nails because they are responsible for cell division and something like zinc is very, very important. It’s one of the, probably the most important mineral for in the beauty realm right. And they help, it’s a great anti-aging mineral because repairs damaged cells. So it also helps the body absorb proteins. And like, for example, like keratin and it’s just great for a hair, hair, nails and skin structure. So we don’t lose that elasticity and you can get sync from nuts beans, oats, mushrooms. So it’s like good to have it, you know, eat a lot of these mushrooms. A lot of, I know a lot of people are turned off about mushrooms. Bowl of Life (23:00):
Right? Yeah. So I will say a little tip there. We actually interviewed a mushroom expert on the podcast and back and his response to, if you don’t like mushrooms, you’re just not cooking them. Right. So I’ll make sure to link that in the show notes for people to go take a, take a listen to Jeff’s podcast – https://badtothebowl.com/38/. And human’s very educational about the, about the mushrooms. I like mushrooms, not raw, but I like them cooked or grilled or such. You know, and that’s interesting on the zinc. I always think of zinc as you know, people tell you to take it like, oh right. When you notice you’re getting a cold or something, but I’ve not heard that about it, helping, you know, with the repairing your damaged cells and such. That’s really interesting. It is.
Milena Prinzi (23:46):
It’s like a lot of the, a lot of new skincare brands really have zinc in it. Like, I feel like every, every year there is like an ingredient that is becomes popular. I feel like in 20, 21 is definitely zinc. I see it everywhere. And it makes sense, you know like a lot of, I know some brands for hair products who, who deal with the medicated ones, for example, for so yeah, psoriasis or like dandruff, or if you have dermatitis, you know, anything that has to do with this call conditions, they will have zinc in it because it’s just helps produce, you know, Upserve proteins and produce keratin. So it’s a, it’s a good it’s a good minerals, a good ingredient. And, and I feel like they say, you know, I think doctor said, oh, everybody’s lacking vitamin D because we get it from the sun and people here, for example, in New York city we are not under the sun that much, you know, the buildings are really tall. So most of the cities on the shade, so we are all lacking, but I’m saying is one of those that we are also lacking.
Bowl of Life (25:09):
That’s such a good point. That’s so interesting to me. I am definitely gonna take a, take a trip down the aisle at the store the next time and see, see what things I can find that I’ve seen in regards to beauty care. That’s
Milena Prinzi (25:24):
Yeah. Yeah. I think selenium is another really good one for hair, skin and nails, especially for people who have very light doll and brittle hair or nails, you know, who that is. Skin is very, very sensitive. Selenium is a good mineral
Bowl of Life (25:44):
Is that only found in the Brazil nut, right?
Milena Prinzi (25:49):
Concentration is the Brazil nuts, but also walnuts have it. In brown rice. Shitaki mushrooms, chia seeds. They have it
Bowl of Life (26:01):
I thought it was just the Brazil next. I’ve heard people say that before, like, oh, I take one Brazil nut a day. Yeah.
Milena Prinzi (26:08):
But a brazil nut is the most concentration. It’s like, you can have just one not a day. And then you have it, that’s it. But, you know, I feel like they are hard to find they’re delicious. They are delicious, but they are hard to find. So, you know, other sources are like walnuts or brown rice and shitaki mushrooms I think, I feel like she has, it’s a great for everything, you know, it’s like a really great, they fit the bill, right? Yeah. They are really great for everything. Yeah.
Bowl of Life (26:39):
Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. That’s awesome. So what are the, so we have zinc.
Milena Prinzi (26:45):
Copper is a great for skin one because he, it does, you know, produces collagen and elastin. So copper is great for skincare. And also, you know, remember we, I’m sure you talk about, I mean, everybody talks about how damaging free radicals are to the, to the body and copper fights them like directly fights free radicals and, and also is a great component for anti-aging because he has like all ultraviolet exposure protection copper that’s that, and you can find it in like beans and whole grains, Cocoa, leafy greens, prunes you know, it’s a great mineral to have in our diet. You said
Bowl of Life (27:36):
Cocoa. So it’s found in actually like the cocoa bean or like, is it not in cocoa powder? Like product, the cocoa bean.
Milena Prinzi (27:44):
Yeah. Cocoa beans. Very cool. Wow. Yeah, because the powder is it tends to go through a process. So, you know, you lose a lot of the the greatnesss of it.
Bowl of Life (27:56):
Right, right. Yeah. So, well, very cool. And a lot of these you’ve mentioned are found and legumes and beans. So any, you know, plant-based diet is very huge on eating the and beans. So definitely we got that covered. So perhaps, you know, at the end of the day, probably my, my hair thing is, you know, probably a little bit of stress, right. Life’s been stressful. It’s no denying that the last year and a half. I realize I’m maybe just aging as, as well. Right.
Milena Prinzi (28:26):
stress. Definitely. I feel like a lot. I actually, I feel that the number one, if I’m not mistaken, like a search keyword is, and hair thin people have seen since last year, and it’s not surprising because, you know, when the body’s under stress and nails break and we lose our hair, it’s just normal, it’s normal reactions of stress. And then as weak come down and things become a little more under control, then we stopped that process of, of losing our hair. For some people can become a permanent thing. And, but then it’s usually related to other bigger issues. But I mean, that happens to me all the time. I know I’m a stressed because I, you know, there is more hair than normal in my, on my brush.
Bowl of Life (29:21):
Yes. Okay. Yeah. I have, you know, I’m trying to think, what have I been stressed about the last couple of months, but I’ve gone through serious in some things got a new job, it is a dream job, but I had to kind of wrap up other things, you know, and stuff like that. So there was just a lot of change going on and wrapping up kind of homeschool thinking about back to school and yeah. All those things kind of add up, you know, for, you know, when family things happen and we’ve got a puppy that’s stressful, it’s always something stressful with bringing an animal. You get, you love them, but hard training and such. I know
Milena Prinzi (29:59):
It’s like a new baby.
Bowl of Life (30:03):
Yes. And he’s only a tiny little thing. He’ll never be that big. So he is like, oh man. So, you know, one thing I’ve always wondered and is, you know, kind of like a synthetic fragrances that are added into, you know, haircare and stuff. Like, I always have an issue with the smell of things. It really kind of clogs up my sinuses. So is that something we should be aware of as well? Like is that kind of doing more harm to our skin when fragrances are added to products and such?
Milena Prinzi (30:37):
Yeah. So the people are concerned about that and we definitely have those kinds of inquiries on all things hair. The truth is that the formulas, they, they are complex. So the quantity of the ingredients, you know, and the, the sense and the fragrances that is putting is not enough to create any form of damage, nothing. A lot of them are actually using, you know, they come from real natural things, but then he might add, I don’t know, some chemical component to enhance it, but a DNA when the formula is all complete. I mean, it needs to be some extremely high concentration of fragrance or, or added at the officials, you know, of I was going to say flavor, but it’s not flavors, definitely scent the scent or fragrance to create any harm. And, and the formulas cannot be off putting because then the product is not gonna work.
Milena Prinzi (31:49):
So you’re supposed to work. So the short version, the short answer is like, no, they are not damaging. They, they don’t have enough concentration to create any, any problem even for people with I remember these for, for my daughter, because I know for example, almond is such a great ingredient for hair. Cause he’d have, you know, as we mentioned is a great source of protein. It helps with keratin. So my daughter has extremely, extremely dry hair. So I knew that she could benefit from almond. But remember I mentioned, she has severe food allergies. Then number one is she’s allergic to all nuts and three nuts. So and he said, deadly allergy. So I was afraid because I so is almonds. So, but the truth is, it’s not, you know, she uses it, her hair lose grade and she never has a reaction from it. Cause I guess it shows the fragrance. No, the actual you know, not, it’s not the concentration is not nearly high enough to create any reaction, you know, for her allergic reaction.
Bowl of Life (33:12):
Oh, okay. That’s great to know then. So yeah. So definitely people that do have the nut allergies something to, to listen up and take some note of that there, for sure. Yeah.
Milena Prinzi (33:24):
Yeah. It’s not like it’s not like an essential oil that they use in these products you know, you say a shampoo, a hairspray or something. It’s not like they are using the essential is not pure, you know? So, so that’s why it’s not enough to create any form of damage because it’s not, you know, it’s a formula, so it’s not it’s not concentrated.
Bowl of Life (33:51):
Yeah. So, so good to know that. And so good to know that, not to be worried about, you know, the fragrances and our products and such a, you know, just go back to kind of what you like to smell or what is pleasing, dear tears smells. You know, and one of the things I wanted to ask you in regards to hair, cause you hear this all across the board and I’m sure on all things, hair.com, you, you get questions like this. Like how often should we wash our hair?
Milena Prinzi (34:18):
Yes, that is the million dollar question. So when you talk to our, in the specialist and people who work with hair who develop, create the products and the formula and they know exactly how everything works they really create these formulas to work with the natural oils that we have in our hair. So the two, you know, the shampoo, the conditioner together, claws the natural oils in that our scalp produces naturally everything needs to come and work together and same with the styling products. So ideally we should wash our hair twice a week, twice a weeks, twice a week. So you can, you allow your scalp to develop those natural oils and then that’s how you have shine. And your hair becomes very hydrated when we wash our hair every day, we, we stripped our hair from that, not those natural oils and our hair becomes very, very dry and brittle. So it depends on
Milena Prinzi (35:42):
No, I don’t think he causes the hair to fall out. I don’t think it does, but it, it shows on the texture of the hair, even for people who have very oily hair and there is like, I absolutely have to wash it every single day. Otherwise it becomes like flat and, you know they don’t really have to, all they have to do is actually probably change the shampoo, the, that they are using. They might be using something that is too, that it has too much protein on it at least to moisturizing. And they might need to choose something with a different kind of ingredient that is not fooding that much moisture into her hair. And then they can use other things like a dry shampoo, for example, for those in between days. And, but yeah, ideally twice a week, it’s the it’s it’s what is recommended. No.
Bowl of Life (36:43):
Do you feel like you can just like go cold Turkey, say no, I don’t know what a plant based word for Turkey or how that phrase would go. But for example, like I feel like when I switched to using a natural deodorant it took, it took the body a few weeks to get used to that. Is that kinda the same with the whole washing of hair? Like, you know, ease into the, to the two day a week washing to kind of get your hair used to that. Does that make sense? Like, are you just kind of build up time where you’re like, okay, I don’t feel like, cause I would love to not wash, use as much shampoo on my hair, but I do feel like I work out in the morning and it’s, you know, I feel like it just kind of smells sweaty. So then I’m like, eh, I’ll wash it.
Milena Prinzi (37:29):
Yeah. And I feel, yeah, you’re a hundred percent, right. It takes time to you to get used to it, but not because of the products and the way it works, but because we are creatures of habit and if we wash our hair every day, that’s what we do, you know, and we feel that something is wrong. That’s something is missing. That is not right. You know, but I feel like as we move, you know, with vegan movement and plant-based, it’s also the green planet movement a lot of people are becoming a little more conscious of how much water they are wasting and they are using lets less styling products. So they don’t have to like wash their hair every day. They are incorporating other products like [inaudible] who a lot of brands, even certainly the brands that we’ve worked with at Unilever, they develop date to type products to use on that second day here.
Milena Prinzi (38:32):
Cause you know, so therefore different, different things. I refreshing your hair, your color and your hair, or, you know, giving more volume or more styling depending of your hair texture and your need. But he’s becoming like the whole idea is like try to wash your hair twice a week, safe water, safe the planet, and also give the opportunity to recycle, to develop those natural oils. And at the end you’re going to have you know, a better hair, but it’s like, it takes time because we need to change our routine and that’s very difficult to do. Ah, but there are, it’s out there to help us with all those issues. Like if you have, you know, there is a doll, for example, has a whole line for gym use. So they have all these series of styling products that you can use right after you’re done with your workout, refresh your hair.
Bowl of Life (39:35):
So good to know that’s so many brands are, you know, being more aware of that and you know, the dry shampoo. Are there any downfalls, do you see dry shampoo or
Milena Prinzi (39:46):
The downfall is like a lot of people don’t know how to use it correctly. A lot of people really just like spray directly into the roots and the truth is that you really need to be like you know, a little further away from your roots. Do you kind of spray like throughout the whole hair, you know? And then you have to shake your roots a little bit to the product absorbs. So it’s not like some people say I hate it because he leaves like a residue. It looks like I have, you know, 30 roots. Like my herd is it’s like, cause you are a spraying right there. You know, it’s like hairspray, you know, we should use it the same way that we use hairspray. Like nobody just spray it right there on the roof. Kind of,
Bowl of Life (40:33):
Unless you’re getting your kids ready for dance or to your competition.
Milena Prinzi (40:37):
Yeah. But we don’t play, put it right there on the roof, a couple, couple millimeters away from the root. So,
Bowl of Life (40:45):
You know, that is such a good tip because I think, yeah, I have a couple things of dry shampoo and that’s been my issue with them. I’ve sprayed it too close. And then I’m like, well, might as well go back to washing my hair every day. That’s an one. Yeah.
Milena Prinzi (41:00):
And they have sheets now. It’s not, you know, you don’t have the aerosol dry shampoo. You have a foam. Some, some people like the foam version, some people like just like dryer sheets make those bloating blotting sheets for your skin. They have it. So, you know, there are probes. I believe that brands are listening to the consumers and are also in this mission to sell safer planet. And there are ways that they do that with the beauty industry by far is like the most wasteful because we consume a lot of these products a lot and most of them are in plastic packaging. And then we, the turnover, I mean, we, we toss them like if somebody like you who washes your hair every day, shampoo probably lasts a couple of weeks. They are not. I mean, unless you’re buying those big ones, you know, they, the wholesale sites, but still you are, you are the turnover of shampoo. It’s a lot. So they, they come up with things like dry shampoo bars you see in those shampoo bars. So, you know, it’s that, that I feel like it gets a little more getting used to it, but brands are listening for sure to what we want, you know we’re, world-leading towards we want a healthier lifestyle. We want a greener lifestyle and, and they are listening to us, which
Bowl of Life (42:42):
Is so cool. And I love to hear that. And you know, it’s now that now that brands are stepping up to the plate, you know, we can stop up and change our routine as well. Right. And learn how to, to adapt ourselves to you know getting used to that as well. Like you said, we’re creatures of habits, but if we, you know, are asking the brands to make a change, then you know, we need to kind of step up to the plate as well. Yeah,
Milena Prinzi (43:11):
We do. We definitely do. I mean, I feel like we are all working towards the same goal. Like we all want to, we all want to be happy. We all want to enjoy things longer. We all want to feel relaxed. We all want to definitely enjoy it, our planet. So we, we all really have to make that commitment together. So they are listening. They are coming out with a product and now we need to just give them a try.
Bowl of Life (43:43):
Well, this has been such an awesome information that you’ve, you know, not only gave our audience, but gave me personally as well. You know, from the minerals and different plant-based foods and how that can help our skin and hair and nails too, you know, talking us through different shampoo brands and what they’re doing for the environment and such. This has been such an awesome conversation. I don’t, I don’t want to take up all your day here, but can you quick tell us where listeners can connect with you, find out more information, you know, shoot you a message. If they have a question specifically about a hair care or now are, you know, any beauty type of question where, where can people connect with you?
Milena Prinzi (44:30):
In all social media platforms and he’s like, ah, it’s mileprinzi. And then definitely if they have any questions about hair and skin and nials and tips, post styling, all thingshair.com they can reach us there. More of a healthier lifestyle. I, my blog food versus evil.com, they can reach me there as well. And it would be my pleasure to answer any questions or to just have a quick conversation.
Bowl of Life (45:09):
Yeah. That’s so cool. So cool. And we have a list, all of this in the show notes, how people can get ahold of you because yeah, you were just a wealth of information. I loved all this. Somebody, my paper is full of notes here, so thank you so much for coming on and yeah, just thank you for sharing this information.
Milena Prinzi (45:29):
Thank you so much for having me, Sarah Love it. And have a wonderful day.
Bowl of Life (45:36):
It’s no
Secret that we need protein for healthy hair, skin and nails. And I loved that. Molina had all the information on the plant-based foods that help aid in keeping our skin beautiful. I loved her knowledge on all the minerals as well that we need zinc copper selenium. I know I’m going to be spending a little more time. The next time I’m picking out shampoo at the store and she brought up a good point as well. We are what we eat or drink probably too. And that reflects in our skin. And just thinking about that, I know I need to hydrate more to keep my skin beautiful, as well as maybe keep some other things in check too, especially stress levels, which also can reflect in our hair, skin and nails. There’s so much to think about and put action towards. And if you heard it, Timmy is in here, my puppy, and I think he wants some action too. So if you want to connect with Milena with any of your own questions regarding hair, skin, and nails, you can find all her information on our sponsored blog, @badtothebowl.com forward slash 46. Once again, that’s bad to thebowl.com/46. Thanks for listening.
