You are probably looking at this post saying "what the heck is she talking about?" I am crazy at times.. and yes I seem to have another recent obsession. I am quite perplexed at what I am hearing about these two ingredients (the subject of my post) that are found in almost all shampoo, conditioner, soap, bubble bath and the list goes on. These ingredients are chemically known as surfactants and they are chemicals that help things to foam up. For the sake of saving my fingers some typing we will refer to them as SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) and SLES (sodium laureth sulfate). SLS and SLES are estes of sulphuric acid. SLS is known by over 150 different names. SLES is commonly contaminated with dioxane, a known carcinogen. Although SLES is somewhat less irritating than SLS, it cannot be metabolized by the liver and its effects therefore are much longer lasting.
SLS is also absorbed into the body from skin application. Once it has been absorbed, one of the main effects of SLS is to mimic the activity of the hormone Oestrogen. This has many health implications and may be responsible for a variety of health problems from PMS, to menopausal symptoms, dropping male fertility and increasing female cancers such as breast cancer, where Oestrogen levels are known to be involved.
Carcinogenic nitrates can form in the manufacturing of SLS or by its inter-reaction with other nitrogen bearing ingredients within a formulation utilizing this ingredient (many shampoos contain nitrate compounds). A single shampooing can produce more cancer-causing nitrates in the body than eating a pound of bacon! Yikes!
So I read all this, and thought to myself... Do I really want to use commercial shampoo that badly? Why are cancer rates soaring and in children to? I know our body completely absorbs what we soak or wash in. Ever have to go to the bathroom after taking a bath or shower? Of course, cause your body soaked all that water in. It is very important obviously what we put on our scalp, skin.. etc. I have always read up on and been interested in healthy foods for our internal body, but I haven't given much thought to what is used externally. Completely natural shampoos, conditioners, soaps and bubble bath can be purchased but not very frugally. So in order for me to combine my passion for healthy, natural living with my passion (and necessity for living frugally) I had to come up with an alternative. A dear friend of mine uses baking soda mixed with water (to form a paste) to wash her hair and said it works just fine. Of course her hair is much shorter and finer than mine so I decided to add the recommended vinegar rinse. Let me just say that the baking soda worked fine though it left my hair very dry, until I put the vinegar rinse on which solved the dry problem but the odor... yikes! It was then so gently pointed out to me by the same dear friend that I should NOT have used white vinegar but the apple cider vinegar which has a much milder odor. Lesson learned! I rinsed my hair with some water that had lavendar essential oil added to it and that helped the smell alot. Finally I put some coconut oil on the ends of my hair to tame the frizz and help with the dry ends. Honestly, I think my hair turned out just as good as it does with the luscious, wonderful smelling but expensive Pantene shampoo. I am going to experiment some.. but I think I am going to stay with this natural and frugal idea.
By now you all probably think I am nuts :) But for those of you who dont and have ideas to share on recipes for shampoo or even for soaps and deodarents (another topic I will try to write about soon) please comment! I would love some feedback and other ideas!
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