I had heard a myth about dangerous hair-dye, but I never took it seriously. I mean, what could be dangerous about it?

I looked around and saw the many colors of hair dyes at the local drug store and asked myself, "Which one shall I choose?" Brown sugar, strawberry-blonde, maybe even chestnut brown?

"Well, how about strawberry-blonde," I said to myself.

I made my decision, and walked up to the cash register. The woman looked at the dye, and then at my hair, and chuckled to herself. I was a little uneasy about my decision, but all I could think of was the attention I would get as a pretty strawberry-blonde. I walked all the way back to my house, and thought of my hair the entire way. I decided maybe I would invite a friend over to ask help with coloring my hair the next day.

Upon arriving home, I tossed my hair-dye on the counter and forgot about it. I sat on the couch and turned on the TV. I passed through many stations, but couldn't unearth a decent show. 'Why don't I just go and dye my hair right now?' I thought. There didn't seem to be anything good on TV....

As I reached for the remote to turn my television off, I heard the words, "Hair-dye" and "Dangerous".

What? How could coloring your hair be dangerous?? I looked to the TV and saw I was watching the popular news show, 20/20. Boooring! I'd always seen my mom watching it, so I knew that it wouldn't interest me... but maybe I could get advice on what not to do while coloring my hair.

The news reporter went on and on, rambling with words I couldn't understand. Finally, though, I got something out of the show that could protect my health.

The reporter began to talk about how changing the color of your hair could be hazardous to your health, and could potentially cause cancer.
I didn't really believe it, but I still continued to watch. There was a poll taken from over 500 women, and statistics were that 70 percent of women who had died their hair have been diagnosed with cancer (but doctors weren't completely positive that hair-dye caused the cancer).

I hung on to every word the women said. After turning off my TV, I couldn't believe what I had heard. I got my strawberry-blonde dye and threw it into the trash. I didn't care if I had tinted blonde hair, I may have potentially prevented cancer, and that was more important than any gorgeous color.

So next time, girls (and guys), think before you reach for that amazingly wonderful dye... you could be killing yourself.

NOT dying to dye,
xXOscarXx
 

Editor's Note: Intriguing report, xXOscarXx! It would be fascinating to see some folks do more research on this -- post weblinks in the BBS and write articles in to the Times, everybody!