I have recently gone from platinum blonde to brunette and as a result I have really dry chemically processed hair with moderately oily roots. I have tried the following shampoos and found these results...

Custom base blend - this product really cleaned my hair! I found it to be on the astringent side. For my hair I need more moisture but this product will be what I use next time I do a coconut oil treatment and need a good cleanse afterward.

Lavender blend shampoo - this product smells amazing! It's more moisturizing than the base shampoo and is ideal for use on my roots. My ends need more moisture but if I leave the ends and just do my roots the is terrific. It's a lovely way to end the day and go to bed with soothing relaxing smelling hair.

African black soap shampoo - this one I found to be less astringent than the base. It was not my favourite scent but it was not offensive. This seems to be good one for most hair types I would imagine.

Nettle shampoo - I found this one to be the most moisturizing of them all. It's green in colour which makes sense given the ingredients but still caught me off guard a bit. It's a mild shampoo and works well.

from Dr Mercola

Is Your Shampoo and Conditioner Interfering
With Your Hormones and Making You Fat?

The EPA has found synthetic hormone-disrupting chemicals in shampoo preservatives and many of them can be found in products that claim to be ‘natural’ and ‘organic.’

The most disturbing of these is antimicrobial preservatives called parabens which have proven to disrupt your endocrine system.

So what is an endocrine disruptor and why should it concern you?

It all boils down to this: they mimic, disrupt or block the actions of your hormones and interfere with your body’s hormonal pathways.

And when you consider the fact the endocrine system regulates every function of your body and provides instructions to your body that tell your cells what to do, this can have disastrous consequences.

For instance, one messenger hormone, estrogen, is secreted by ovaries and plays a big part in regulation of fertility, pregnancy, menstruation and fat cell activity.

And too much estrogen can cause big problems including weight gain, fluid retention, and depression.

So what can you do to avoid these parabens?

Check your product labels for these terms:

* Propylparaben
* Parahydroxybenzoic acid
* Parahydroxybenzoate
* Methylparaben
* Ethylparaben
* Butylparaben
* Benzyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
* Methyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
* Ethyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
* Propyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
* Butyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid

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Toxic Ingredient #1: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

Did you know the same ingredient which produces all that foam and lather when you shampoo your hair is also the ingredient used in car washes and garages as a degreasing agent?

It’s true. And not only does it act as a penetration enhancer (allowing other potentially toxic ingredients to slip into your bloodstream), but according to the Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews”, research studies on SLS have shown links to...

* Irritation of skin and eyes
* Organ toxicity
* Development / reproductive toxicity
* Neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, ecotoxicological, and biochemical or cellular changes
* Possible mutations and cancer

If you visit the SLS page on the Environmental Working Group’s (a non-profit public-interest research group known for making connections between chemical exposure and adverse health conditions) website, you will see a very long list of health concerns and associated research studies. In fact, you will also see their mention of nearly 16,000 studies in the PubMed science library (as well as their link to that list) about the toxicity of this chemical.

So look for it in your hair care products. It also goes by a
number of different names including sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, ammonium laurel sulfate, sodium dodecylsulfate, sulfuric acid, sodium salt sulfuric acid, A12-00356, Akyposal SDS, Aquarex ME, and Aquarex methyl.

Toxic Ingredient #2: Dioxane

In the medical journal Cancer’s 2007 review of mammary carcinogens, dioxane was identified as one of the 216 chemicals which was linked to breast cancer in rodents.

Not that this is anything new. Its connection to carcinogens was first reported in 1965 and confirmed in 1978.

In fact, back in 1985, the FDA recognized these dangers, and requested that manufacturers voluntarily limit dioxane levels in cosmetics and personal-care products to 10 parts per million.

But it hasn’t happened.

In fact, Los Angeles Times staff writer, Marla Cone, in February 2007 reported that all eighteen personal care products for both adults and children which she had tested by an independent laboratory were contaminated with high levels of dioxane.

Toxic Ingredient #3: Diethanolamine or DEA

In a recent FDA report, approximately 42% of all cosmetics were contaminated with NDEA, with shampoos having the highest concentrations. DEA also readily reacts with nitrite preservatives and contaminants to create nitrosodiethanolamine (NDEA), a known and potent carcinogen.

This is a big problem because DEA seems to block absorption of the nutrient choline, which is vital to brain development. Pregnant women actually require extra choline so they can pass it onto their fetus.

An associate dean for research at the UNC School of Public Health mentioned that choline is necessary to help provide proper nutrients for a healthy baby; stating that, “At this point it is a caution. But it would probably be prudent to look at labels and try to limit exposure until we know more.”

Toxic Ingredient #4: MSG

You’ve been told to avoid MSG in your food, right? After all, many people experience symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and stomach discomfort after consuming MSG-containing products. And according to the FDA, MSG side effects include: numbness, burning sensations, tingling, facial pressure, headaches, nausea, drowsiness and weakness, among other problems.

But did you know MSG, short for monosodium glutamate, is also more than likely in your shampoo, often secretly hidden and referred to as amino acids, yeast extract, nayad, glutamic acid, or glutamates?

Toxic Ingredient #5: Propylene Glycol

This active ingredient is found in engine coolants and antifreeze, airplane de-icers, tire sealants, rubber cleaners, polyurethane cushions, paints, adhesives, enamels and varnishes, and in many products as a solvent or surfactant.

And guess what? Despite the fact the material safety data sheet warns users to avoid skin contact with propylene glycol as it is a strong skin irritant and can also cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage, it’s more than likely in your shampoo!

Okay, so now that you’ve read about these 5 potentially toxic ingredients, let me ask you two critical questions: If you knew of a food which contained all of these toxins...

* Would you add it to your grocery basket on a week to week basis?
* Would you feed it to your children?

Of course, you wouldn’t.

But it’s safe because your skin is protecting you, right? Wrong. The reality is your skin is often a carrier, not a barrier and...
Toxins in Your Shampoo and Conditioner
May Be More Toxic Than Those in Your Food
toxic-chemical

You might think that because your skin is about one tenth of an inch thick, it protects your body from absorbing the many things you come into contact with.

But the truth is, when you consume toxins in foods, such as pesticides in fruit and vegetables, the enzymes in your saliva and stomach often break them down and flush them out of your body. Food also passes through your liver and kidneys. The toxins which make it through are detoxified to varying degrees by enzymes before they reach the remainder of your body.

However when toxins are absorbed through your skin, they bypass your liver and enter your bloodstream and tissues – with absolutely no protection whatsoever.

Think of it like this: when you put shampoo or conditioner into your hair, the twenty blood vessels, 650 sweat glands, and 1,000 nerve endings soak in the toxins.

And some studies suggest skin can sometimes absorb more than your digestive tract. According to evidence presented at 1978 Congressional hearings, the absorption of the carcinogen nitrosodiethanolamine (NDELA), which is commonly found in shampoo products, was shown to be more than 100 times greater when exposure came through your skin than via your mouth. What’s more...
A Hot Shower Opens Up Pores in Your Skin
and May Make it Easier for Toxins To Enter Your Body

Here’s how it works: When you have a warm shower, your pores automatically open up, which may make it easier for sodium laurel sulfate... DEA... MSG... propylene glycol, and Ethylene Oxide to enter your blood stream.

And while you have been told about the damaging effects of pesticides and additives in food, the ugly truth about the damage shampoo and conditioner may do to your body has been hidden until now.
If You Think You Can Trust the Labels on
Your Hair Care Products THINK AGAIN!

For instance, about half of all the labels on 14,200 products examined by the Environmental Working Group ended up having mislabelled ingredients with some misspelled, and others having different names for the same ingredient depending on the manufacturer.

What’s more, there were 41 online retailers of cosmetics identified by EWG who failed to post any of their ingredients online. And when the FDA was pressured to make these retailers conform, they replied: “There is no requirement that a manufacturer put an ingredient list on a website.”

The reality is your shampoo and conditioner may be just as toxic. In fact, it’s a serious case of “Buyer Beware” because it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to determine whether a product is safe.

In my opinion, it’s an outrage. At least with cigarettes you know they are dangerous to your health. But the manufacturers selling you shampoo and conditioner are taking reckless advantage of the less stringent FDA regulations applicable to cosmetics.

The FDA Regulations (21 CFR Sec. 740.10) state quite clearly that “Each ingredient used in a cosmetic product and each finished cosmetic product shall be adequately substantiated for safety prior to marketing. Any such ingredient or product whose safety is not adequately substantiated prior to marketing is misbranded unless it contains the following conspicuous statement on the principal display panel:
“WARNING. THE SAFETY OF THIS PRODUCT
HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED.”

So who’s in control of the safety?

The manufacturers. It seems that the FDA is allowing them to pass their own judgement about the safety of their product.

What a joke.

The FDA regulations are intended to protect you from dangerous products by insisting products which contain dangerous ingredients include warning statements. But the reality is that the agency does not have adequate resources to enforce this requirement.
Your Hairdresser Knows Best Right? Wrong!

A group which was founded in 1894 called the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (which in 2007 changed its name to the Personal Care Products Council), is comprised of over 600 different distributors and manufacturers of personal care, cosmetic, and fragrance companies that are committed to championing “voluntary regulation and reasonable government requirement.” But here’s the ugly truth...

As Stacy Malkan made quite clear in her 2007 book, Not Just a Pretty Face, the following untruth was on its website as of January, 2007: “The FDA routinely conducts studies and tests to ensure the safety of all cosmetic products... FDA’s legal authority over cosmetics is comparable with its authority over foods, non-prescription drugs, and non-prescription medical devices.”

However, the FDA simply does not have the resources to “routinely” test skin products like shampoo in the way I believe they should.

And as long as the manufacturers’ profits stay high, I do not believe that anything is about to change. Meanwhile, most people are content to put their trust in the FDA and take them at face value believing if the products actually contained threats to their health, the FDA would have the resources to routinely take enforcement action.

In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.

And that’s why several months ago I decided that until Congress gives the Food and Drug Administration the required resources to do its job, I’ll do what I can to expose the truth about the risks that can be associated with hair care products.

Not only did the shampoo, formulated for my specific needs, take care of a moderately severe case of dandruff, it was incredibly stimulating to wash my hair with. The zesty essential oils gave off a rejuvenating and energizing olfactory experience while the shampoo was incredibly sensitive to my scalp. Overall an exhilarating and energizing experience, making me look forward to washing my hair instead of going out on a Saturday night.

Best Regards,
Peter Uniat,
Senior Designer,
Rippled Edge Design
Toronto, ON