Health, Nutrition & Naturals

Nutrition & Naturals: What’s in your shampoo?

Did you know that the stuff you put on your skin, things like lotions, shampoo, deodorant, shaving cream are absorbed into your bloodstream faster than ingested food?

Maybe you read the ingredients for the foods you buy. But have you ever read the ingredients list on a bottle of shampoo or conditioner?
Or even your deodorant?

That long paragraph of ingredients in the beauty and hygiene products that you use, is important to read. Most conventional bath & beauty products on the market contain at least a few, if not all of these ingredients:

SYNTHETIC COLORS (cause allergies, cancer, tumors)
PETROCHEMICALS (cause brain, nerve, liver damage)
SULFATES, like SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (liver & kidney damage, cancer)
PARABENS (can cause breast cancer)
EDTA (carcinogenic, breaks down protective barrier of skin)

AND a host of other toxic ingredients.

These go pumping right into your body through your bloodstream and affect your health directly! Sometimes it’s even more dangerous than what you eat. Some people say, oh, but they’re in such small quantities that it can hardly have any effect on me! 

Yes, these toxic ingredients may be in small quantities in your beauty products, but if you use them on a regular basis, it’s like slowly poisoning yourself. The body will accumulate those toxins inside, and your immune system will be weakened by the chemicals, so it is a slow process of breaking down your health!

Read this interesting article: Top 5 Chemicals to Avoid.

So what can you do to avoid that?

Try to buy products that don’t contain toxic ingredients. I know. It’s not that simple. Most things labeled with “natural”, “organic” etc. are really expensive, and often they also contain the same bad ingredients. Go figure. Or the so-called natural stuff just have a bad fragrance to them, or look  yucky.

But there are a few out there that can fill both criteria.

What I prefer to use

Here’s a list of different products that I consider a lot more chemical-free and natural than many others. I can’t say they are completely chemical free, but quite satisfactory. You can even make your own shampoo, lotion and so on. But if you’re a student like me, where life is busy and you hardly have time to eat your breakfast, then making your own stuff is just out of the question. That’s why you can buy them.

For shampoo, I used: Yes to Carrots!  for a while. But I switched because it contains Potassium Benzoate as a preservative, which converts to a cancer causing benzene chemical when exposed to light, heat, and citric acid. Look up the DANGERS OF POTASSIUM BENZOATE. I am now using Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo. It works great, price is good and the ingredient list gets a B+ compared to other shampoos around.

Here’s a list of several more natural shampoos that you can check out Hair 101. I don’t know what ingredients they contain, so you will have to research that to decide how “safe” they really are.

For soap, I like to use Clearly Natural . They have glycerine soaps of many fragrances. I like the Aloe Vera and Cucumbers the best. They smell SO good I could eat them! And they’re the most natural and inexpensive soaps I’ve ever found (trust me, I looked for many).  

Also, the Clearly Natural company has other great products you might like to check out. Liquid soap, toothpaste, lip balm, lotion all of which seem to be natural! Now, I can’t really recommend them because I’ve never tried their toothpaste or lotions, and I haven’t read the ingredients list. But if you’re interested to check, no one’s stopping you!

I found these soaps at my local grocery store where they have a vitamin section. You may need to order them online if they’re not available in your area.

For lotion I like to use Bella Vado Avocado lotion with a jasmine fragrance. It’s one of the best! I finally found the right lotion. Not too oily and does its job good. The price is okay, but I don’t buy it often and it lasted me pretty long. I found it at my local health food store, but it can also be ordered online.

 

For toothpaste I like to use Activated Charcoal, plain and simple. I know it sounds weird, but it does a good cleaning and also whitens your teeth (read here). And you know what? I used to brush with regular toothpaste, but I did my research on what’s inside toothpastes and I can tell you….it can make you shudder. Here are just a few ingredients in toothpaste:

SODIUM FLOURIDE (a by-product of aluminum, found in rat poison and pesticides)

TRICLOSAN (a pesticide)

SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (accumulates in the body, irritant, carcinogen)

DEA (carcinogen)

 

For deodorant I would recommend: Crystal Body Deodorant. Most deodorants are linked to breast cancer. So choose your deodorant wisely. I actually have this deodorant, but one thing that’s really inconvenient about it, is that you always have to moisten the rock (it’s a mineral rock) so that you can roll it on. Really inconvenient when you want to use it on the go. So honestly, I am not currently using this one. Right now I’m using Tom’s of Maine. Do you have recommendations for natural deodorants?

For perfume I like: Shi perfume or Be Delicious by DKNY. Now perfumes all depend on what scents you like. Just be careful how much you use. You can try making your own perfume with essential oils and such.

For shaving cream I use: soap It does the work like any shaving cream would do. And there’s one less thing to buy!

For hairspray I recommend anything. I don’t think hairspray can cause that much harm, because you just put it in your hair. It doesn’t really get to your skin and get absorbed in your system. The only concern would be what you inhale….which makes me wonder if I should switch to a natural product. 😉 Currently I use the hairspray that my mom buys, a generic brand. Yes, I think hairspray does have harmful chemicals too, but at the moment, I have not searched for a hairspray that is natural and good too. Some people make homemade hairspray. But I haven’t tried it yet.

So I hope you found this post useful. I hope it made you think a little about the things that you buy and use on a regular basis.
Before you go, let me know your opinion on this post by voting on the polls below. It’s anonymous, so go ahead and vote!

11 thoughts on “Nutrition & Naturals: What’s in your shampoo?

  1. Okay… Shampoo… up until this last week, I’d have said three words “DON’T DO IT!!!!!”
    I have been “no-poo-ing” my hair (washing with Baking Soda dissolved in H2O and then rinsing with H2O mixed with AppleCiderVinegar) for about-ish two years (although there were times when I got my hair profess. done and they used theirs, I used organic, I HAD to use shampoo in a dire emergency… etc) but No Poo-ing was always the ABSOLUTE BEST FOR ME!!! RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE!!! But I’m a wavy/curly girl, so this last week, I began the Curly Girl routine, which is still a form of no/low-poo anyway 😉 So! DITCH THE SHAMPOO!!!!! 🙂 stick with it until it detoxes from years of chemical washing, and you’ll love the results! it’s wonderful! 🙂 🙂

    Soap: I’ve seen Naturally Clear, but never used it! Tho thanks to this post I shall be more so inclined to try it! One I really like is a Dial bar that’s 97% natural… and I’m using an Avalon organics pump soap I love 🙂

    Lotion: Coconut Oil (this stuff is PHEN-NOM-EN-AL for EVERYTHING!! from cooking to whitening your teeth– I kid you not! I will admit, tho, if you have super dry cracked hands, like me, this stuff isn’t gonna cut it. GREAT facial moisturizer! tho!!!)
    Alba No-petroleum Jelly and Bag-balm and Love and Toast (although, due to things it supports, and the fact it could be more natural anyway, I’ll not be buying again! lol)
    ANY IDEAS FOR INTENSE NATURAL HAND CREAM, PLZ LEMME KNOW!!!! would be appreciated!

    Toothpaste: Baking Soda? Been using it every day since my Nature Gate organic toothpaste ran out… then my little brother told Heidi and I he’d like us to quit using his LOL… B.Soda is great! “Normal” toothpastes tear my (and my mom, teenage brother’s…) mouth apart… must be the flouride or something…
    but Nature’s Gate Annise toothpaste is great also! 🙂 (and doesn’t tear mouth up!)

    DEO: Crystal Stick is the WAY TO GO!!!! I have the same deo you pictured, and while Yes it IS inconvenient, it is THE BEST STUFF EVER! After intense continual usage, I do become sensitive however. So I’ll use coconut oil once in between) But, if you’re short on time, Crystal does have Roll-ons and Spray Deos that work well! and so does another crystal co of deo…

    Hairspray: If you’re a curly girl, I’d say organic or sulfate, paraben, and silicone free products– otherwise NO HAIR PRODUCTS! I”m telling you! let your hair detox, no poo and your hair shall most likely be very nice for you all on its own! 🙂

    My only problem is finding/shopping for organic and healthier body care products that aren’t made by companies that support or believe in new age stuff and mysticism and nature worship. I’d rather not own or support that stuff, ya know? Got any good brands that don’t, I’d LOVE to hear! 🙂

    OO! Also, Cowgirl Dirt is an organic, mineral makeup company I’ve recently learned about that is actually owned by a Christian family! So there’s your organic make up!

    Great post, Becky!!! lol

    1. Hi Katie,

      Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! (really, I love hearing what people think!). I’ve heard about Cowgirl Dirt too! I looked up their website and it sounds pretty good! Have you tried their products yet?

      1. No, actually; HOWEVER! my Uncle bought me a Gift Certificate for Christmas from their site, so I shall be soon!!! 🙂 If you want, I can totally relay my “review” of their products when I order and receive them!!!! 😉

    1. Wow, you had some courage there! So how long did it take for your hair to adjust? I tried it a little at first, but I chickened out after a few days when I thought it would never work for my hair. I guess different hair types take longer or less to adjust to being “shampoo-free”.

  2. Shampoo has been such a hassle for me lately. I started using shampoo bars and that has helped some; but I really need something that isn’t going to leave a lot of buildup like most commercial shampoos.

  3. Hi Rebekah, I really like this post. My Mom tries to buy shampoo and conditioner without all the bad stuff too. We use the Desert Essence shampoo and conditioner, they’re not supposed to have any of the bad things you mentioned. we use goats milk soap. I don’t know how good or bad that is.

    1. Hi Keri,

      I think Desert Essence has some good things too! I especially like their facial cleansing soap and the face cleansing pads! They’re really effective in cleaning and useful for acne too! I’ll take a look at their shampoos and conditioners too! Thanks for letting me know. Goat’s milk shampoo sounds great. I am planning on trying to make my own soap sometime in the future. I experimented with a liquid hand soap but it wasn’t completely from scratch- it was using a natural bar of soap. 🙂 Thanks for the comment! Hope you’ll enjoy the other posts that come up. Let me know if you have a blog so I can drop by too 🙂

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