How to Pick a Healthy Shampoo
How to pick a healthy shampoo?
Shampoos and conditioners are something we use lots of. They smell nice, lather-up and down the drain they go never to be seen again… but are you picking a healthy shampoo? Do you care about the ingredients? If yes, continue reading…
Unfortunately the bubbles, perfumes, and harsh chemicals mixed into these products definitely have a lasting impact on our ecosystem and health.
The reason your shampoo bubbles-up in the first place is NOT because bubbles clean, it’s because our minds have been programmed to associate bubbles with cleanliness. The chemical used by manufacturers to make soap lather-up is most commonly called: SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) or Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES).
AVOID SLS!
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is one nasty ingredient and I would recommend avoiding it at all costs- it’s so bad I don’t even know where to start. A lot of people ask the question, is sulfate bad for your hair? In my brutal opinion, yes! SLS is a proven skin irritant, it pollutes our waterways, it emits toxic fumes when exposed to heat, it’s corrosive, oh yeah- it’s also a freaking pesticide, what’s scary is that I can keep going…
Thankfully! Manufacturers and consumers are slowly catching on. You can now easily locate shampoos and health products with labels that clearly read “sodium lauryl sulfate free”, “SLS free”, or “sulfate free”.
Check your labels for SLS when picking a healthy shampoo
But don’t expect to find the big box leading brands on this healthy bandwagon; they’ll keep using sodium lauryl sulfate till the cows come home. It’s cheap, its convincing and they have no government health standards to adhere to, so why stop?
Well, lets keep giving them reasons: it’s a skin irritant, eye irritant, respiratory tract irritant, and it’s downright toxic to poor defenseless aquatic marine life. Every time this SLS gook runs down the drain, its polluting the water we drink.
Health Canada has recently flagged SLS for future assessment under a new government action-plan called “Chemicals Management Plan” because it’s that gnarly. The American College of Toxicology reported this junk stays in your body for up to 5 days. It easily penetrates skin and gets into our blood stream and major organs.
Sadly SLS is everywhere and hard to avoid. Essentially, if it foams-up, its got SLS in it (i.e: body wash, face wash, soap, shaving cream- it’s even sometimes added in toothpaste and sour cream!)
When looking for a good shampoo/conditioner it’s an item you won’t find in a grocery store aisle priced under $5. You will have to splurge a few extra dollars to buy higher-end ingredients, making it VERY worth your while.
I go to the organic section of major retailers, small organic mom and pop shops, also Winners/ Marshalls have amazing selections and at reasonable prices. Take just a few extra seconds to scan the ingredients label (because you have to, to know what you’re buying.)
It’s safe to conclude you can’t avoid all bad ingredients in major retailer products but you can certainly make note of the worse and avoid those.
Fragrances are also notably bad and should be avoided but unless you make your own homemade shampoos (I recommend doing so with Black African Soap– youtube it, you’ll be amazed by this product) it’s a real challenge when picking out your hair products.
If you want a good recipe to make your own email me. I’ll be happy to help out- hope this will helps on how to pick a healthy shampoo for all!
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