It occurred to me today to look up the ingredients in my daughter's shampoo. She hates having her hair washed so I figured if I let her pick a shampoo the bath time struggle would come to an end.. but I was wrong... either way I eventually got her to trust me to tilt her head all the way back to let me rinse her hair.
The Shampoo she picked.. a pink strawberry one with a bright cartoon character.. of course people who study years of marketing know how to make a product seem kid friendly while appealing to the kids. And I admit they definitely appealed to my pocket.
I want to list every ingredient and what I found but it is too much to list so I will give you links and a small snippet to the ones I found most disturbing.. There's a thing to this.. my daughter would complain of burning in the eyes.. which I did not believe (she tends to over dramatize certain situations) and I blamed it on her not liking the water to hit her face.. I mean after all the darned thing said it was tear free! (man I feed bad now.. you will see why)
Sodium Laureth Sulfate Both Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and its close relative Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) are commonly used in many soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpastes and other products that we expect to "foam up". Both chemicals are very effective foaming agents, chemically known as surfactants.
Unfortunately, both sodium laureth sulfate and its cousin are also very dangerous, highly irritating chemicals. Far from giving "healthy shining hair" and "beautiful skin", soaps and shampoos containing sodium laureth sulfate can lead to direct damage to the hair follicle, skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity.
So why is a dangerous chemical like sodium laureth sulfate used in our soaps and shampoos?
The answer is simple - it is cheap. The sodium laureth sulfate found in our soaps is exactly the same as you would find in a car wash or even a garage, where it is used to degrease car engines.
In the same way as it dissolves the grease on car engines, SLES also dissolves the oils on your skin, which can cause a drying effect. It is also well documented that it denatures skin proteins, which causes not only irritation, but also allows environmental contaminants easier access to the lower, sensitive layers of the skin.
This denaturing of skin proteins may even be implicated in skin and other cancers.
DMDM Hydantoin For dead humans, they won’t probably mind getting a good dose of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is used in embalming and it is also emitted by imidazolidinyl urea and DMDM hydatoin. These two formaldehyde-emitting chemicals are found in most of our personal care products in the market today. This substance can be in liquid or gas form, colorless and with a very distinctive smell.
Initially, formaldehyde is used for synthetic resins and textiles. Nowadays, it can also be found with your makeup, lipstick, baby shampoos, and moisturizers. For personal care products, they inhibit bacterial growth thus prolonging shelf life. Other uses of formaldehyde are for waterproofing fabrics, enhancing dyes, production of adhesives and binding construction materials.
This substance is known to cause cancer. Aside from that, it can also induce skin blisters, skin inflammation or dermatitis, dryness of skin and severe breathing problems. When absorbed in large doses, it can cause cancer while if inhaled, it can induce serious irritation to the eyes, nose and throat.
I googled more but found nothing as shocking.. though a lot of them were labeled carcinogens..
in my quest I also found this article about the safety of your baby wash..
in the same blog you will find How safe is your shampoo/conditioner.. (L'Oreal kids shampoo score SHOCKING!) and How safe is your toothpaste
The Shampoo.. sure.. $10-14 dollars for a shampoo seems like a lot compared to that $2.94 shampoo.. BUT I keep reading that it ends up lasting 4-6 them most I heard.. 8 months! So it comes out to about the same! EUREKA! Just how I discovered detergent with out all the chemicals and additives worked better for my laundry.. Personal care products work the same way..
I am changing our products.. one at a time.. especially for the sake of my children. Sure we can say carcinogens chemicals are everywhere BUT if we can have one less agent attacking them it can only be good for their health when it comes to the big picture right?
Besides the fact that you would be buying most likely from companies that don't do animal testing and that are environmentally responsible. And made in the U.S!
I later that night stumbled onto this.. Conscious living manifesto I invite you to check it out!
Other places to check out
Conscious community facebook
One Natrion Under Mom
Non-Toxic Kids.net
California Baby on facebook
Got any advice? DO you have favorite chemical free products? Are you an expert in no-poo? Know of more pages like this? Any suggestions? please feel free to share! <3
