Le Monde article now available in Spanish, Esperanto, Farsi, and Bulgarian

In addition to the French and English versions of my article on the gaslighting of Eastern Europe, there are now new translations in Spanish, Esperanto, Farsi, Bulgarian and one forthcoming in Dutch. I love publishing with Le Monde Diplomatique because of its international reach. This is also my first article in Esperanto (that I know of).

Public service post: Madison Reed color and hair loss

This is an odd topic for me to be posting about here as an author and a professor because I must publicly admit that I dye my hair (gasp!) to hide my gray. I’m a committed natural girl in every other way, but I was born a dark brunette and my gray really shows up in contrast. I don’t like it and I want to hide it. After years of drug store, semi-permanent, box color, I decided to start going to Madison Reed to have my roots done with permanent color by a professional. They promise that their permanent color is of a higher quality and that it includes “no harsh chemicals.”

I immediately noticed that after my root sessions, I would go to dry my hair at the drying station and lose a lot of hair. At one point, my colorist even told me that I was losing a lot of hair when she washed the color out and again when she conditioned my hair, which she said was unusual. We started talking about women’s hair loss, and she told me that a lot of women lose a lot of hair in the salon. She put this down to American women’s refusal to use hormone replacement therapy (she was not American and in her country, HRT was a standard thing for women over 45).

After six months, and because I was going to spend two months abroad, I cancelled my membership to the Madison Reed color club in June 2024. I bought two tubes of the same dye so that I could do my roots myself when I was out of the country. But the first time I did this on my own, I was positively horrified by the amount of hair I lost. Massive clumps came off my head. Had this been happening all along?

I immediately Googled “Madison Reed” and “hair loss.” I learned that there is a class action suit in New York against the company for exactly this problem. I also found a post on Madison Reed’s site saying that any hair dye weakens the hair and can cause hair loss. I convinced myself that perhaps it was just time for me to accept my gray and let it grow out naturally. I was actually tired of the chemicals, the time, and the hassle.

But after a month of growth, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I hated that “skunk stripe.” Although I still had one more tube of Madison Reed color, I was afraid to use it. Because I am in Italy, I went to a local beauty supply store (Caddy’s) and bought the closest color I could fine to my natural color from a professional L’Oréal line called “Majirel.” I swore to myself that if I still lost the same amount of hair, I would stop dyeing it altogether from thence forth.

But it didn’t happen. I got great color, fantastic gray coverage, and minimal hair loss. It’s now been five days since I colored my hair, and the hair loss continues to be nothing out of the ordinary. I can only conclude that there is something in the Madison Reed color that I am particularly sensitive to that doesn’t exist either in the box color I used to use or the L’Oréal Majirel that I found here in Italy. I realize that there are many women who use Madison Reed without a problem, but if you are one of the unlucky ones who have a negative reaction to their products, you are not alone. It is not because you aren’t taking HRT, and it is not because all permanent hair color weakens hair.

My advice is to switch to a different product and see if it has the same effects. If it is indeed your hormones, you will lose hair no matter what. If it is just a sensitivity to hair dye, you will lose hair no matter what. But if a different product that does the same thing means less hair loss, then it’s probably safe to say that the problem is with your reaction to the Madison Reed color formulation. It’s not your imagination.

Sample of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism audio book in Russian

I only recently became aware of the audiobook version of my 2018 book in the Russian language. Apparently, it was recorded during the pandemic, but I have only just heard it for the first time. I’m posting a sample here for Russian speaks throughout Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and in the diaspora who want to have a listen.