Create Your Best Life

Leslie Menich, Salon Coordinator and Wellness Educator with Baddhare Clean Mission knows firsthand the benefits of eliminating toxins from her diet and environment and shares her story below.

In high school, I was diagnosed with IBS and was on a variety of medications for years. In 2013, my husband, Jeremy, and I were introduced to an organic diet. We started gradually and now we eat about 90-95% organic food. I also added a lot of water to my diet. This took my severe IBS from one or two attacks a week to, at most, maybe one or two attacks a year. Giving up red meat and trying a mostly plant-based and fish diet have also helped tremendously. I have removed the toxins from my environment as well, even down to my cookware.

I have one daughter, Charlotte, who just turned four, and, of course, from birth I’ve paid close attention to everything she eats and is exposed to in her environment. I breastfed Charlotte and after she was weaned, I developed horrible hormonal cystic acne. It was so bad I didn’t want to leave the house. I discovered that many of my personal care products contained hormone disrupting ingredients. I also learned there have been no federal laws passed to regulate personal care products in our country since 1938! A great place to check the safety of ingredients is the EWG (Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org). I was introduced to Beautycounter products and became a Safer Products Advocate for the company and wanted to dig deeper.

Environmental toxins have affected my family as well. I’m originally from Kanawha County, West Virginia, where my mother still lives. Kanawha County is known as the chemical valley of the state because of the chemical industry there. In November of 2013, my mother smelled something strange in the water, a licorice smell. She reported it and was told it was nothing. But, by January of 2014, the county was in a water crisis and residents couldn’t drink or use the water because of a chemical spill. It was on the national news and Erin Brockovich even visited our town. By February, my mother was diagnosed with gastroparesis, a rare disease causing an inability to empty the stomach and you always feel full. My 5’10” mother dropped to 120 pounds. This always made us question if my mother’s illness was attributed to this water crisis. After a year of tests and being in and out of the hospital, she gradually improved. We switched her diet to all organic and cleaned her environment of toxins, which has allowed her to come off of some of her medications. She is now able to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

About three years ago, my close friend and hair stylist, Rhysa Anderson, opened Baddhare Salon. This summer, Rhysa approached me with the idea of opening a second salon focusing on clean products and wellness education. I am a wedding planner and have my own business, but also wanted to educate others about clean living. Rhysa opened Baddhare Clean Mission in September. As the Salon Coordinator and Wellness Educator, I can share my passion of helping others learn how to improve their lives through eliminating environmental and dietary toxins.

Our two pillars at Baddhare Clean Mission are transparency and education. We want our clients to make the best decisions for them and their hair goals. We use color from two different companies that have among the lowest percentages of chemicals known to be toxic. Before choosing these lines, we did extensive research and even hired a clean living consultant from New Jersey who had the research, backed with scientific evidence, ranking the color lines for safety and effectiveness. And, while it’s impossible to color your hair without the chemicals that open the hair cuticle to accept the color, our lines use less than 1% of these chemicals and achieve wonderful results. Our products are gluten free, soy free and cruelty free, another aspect of beauty products that is very important to both of us. Baddhare Clean Mission also carries the Beautycounter line, DoTerra Essential Oils, and hair care products, Innersense and AG Natural, both cleaner and safer options.

Baddhare Clean Mission is so much more than a hair salon – we provide a safe haven for our staff and community through the education, support, and use of safer products. We can get you started with a Clean Living Package that includes a 90 minute discovery session, a 60 minute follow up and help you develop steps to a healthier you. This year, we plan to add clean grocery shopping lists, recipes and more. And we understand everyone has different budgets, so our services are customizable. Please stop by for a glass of organic wine or coffee and learn more!

Contact Leslie or Rhysa at Baddhare Clean Mission by calling 843-712-2070, find them on Facebook and Instagram or stop by the shop at 3001 N Kings Hwy Suite F, in Myrtle Beach.