I spent many years buying regular shampoos from the drugstore, and many years guiding my purchases more by the scent of the shampoo and by the attractive packaging than by the ingredients that it contained.
I’m sure that is the case with most women out there. Although this is not necessarily bad for your hair, as there are many shampoos that do their job just fine, it’s also not necessarily good for your hair.
I made the change from normal shampoo to organic shampoo when I became more conscious of the foods that I was eating and of the way that I was treating my body in general.
I realized that changing my lifestyle to a more healthy and balanced one involved not only being aware of what I was feeding my body, but also of the products that I was using.
I began switching to organic makeup and organic shampoo (as well as eating all my veggies) and noticed quite a big difference in the way my hair looked. It became noticeably thicker, a lot shinier, and just generally more bouncy and healthy looking.
I’m so amazed by how much better organic shampoo makes my hair look that I want to share what has worked for me.
Let’s begin by defining organic shampoo;
The difference between organic shampoo and regular shampoo is actually very simple.
Organic shampoos are made from all-natural ingredients that have not been processed in any way.
All of the ingredients in organic shampoos are left in their natural forms and there are no added processed ingredients, such as petroleum, that can be extremely irritating to your skin and can damage your hair in the process of cleaning it.
If a product contains any kind of unnatural ingredients, by law it cannot call itself a completely organic, or certified organic, product.
There are three different categories of ‘organic’ when referring to organic shampoo.
- The first category is organic shampoos that are labelled ‘100% organic.’ These do not contain any percentage of any ingredient that is not completely natural. These organic shampoos are grown without hormones, fertilizers, pesticides, or any other synthetic materials.
- Products can be labeled ‘organic shampoo’ without being 100% organic. Any shampoo that is made up of 95% or more organic materials and ingredients can still label themselves as an organic shampoo, they just cannot label themselves as being completely organic.
- The third category of organic shampoos is the category of shampoos that contain 70% – 94% organic ingredients. These products can legally label themselves as “being made with organic ingredients,” but they are not actually ‘organic’.
So why should you choose organic shampoo over regular shampoo?
Again, the answer is simple: because you don’t want sodium lauryl sulfate on your scalp and hair.
This chemical is what makes regular shampoos sud up. Sure, we’re used to the sudding up process being tantamount to cleaning your hair, but this same process could actually be harming you. Sodium lauryl sulfate can, among other things, lead to skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity.
The news is not much better for another regular ingredient in non-organic shampoos called sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), which cannot be metabolized by the liver.
And it doesn’t end there, there may be many toxic chemicals in regular shampoos that are bad for your scalp and hair and can be harmful to your health. Not only that, but they can actually be causing dandruff, dry or oily hair, thinning hair, and breakage!
Here is a list of very common chemicals, used in many popular shampoos, that could be making you sick:
• SODIUM LAURYL or LAURETH SULFATES: Cheap and harsh synthetic detergents that cause dry skin and skin irritations. It can also causes hair loss, and may be linked to cancer.
• METHYLPARABEN and/or PROPYLPARABENS: Increases rate of breast cancer in women and decreases fertility rates in men. Some experts believe that parabens, along with many other chemicals can promote endometriosis in women.
• COPOLYMER(Polyvinyl Pyrrolodene=PVP): Derived from petroleum. May be linked to cancer.
• PROPYLENE GLYCOL: Found in anti-freeze. May cause brain, liver and kidney problems.
• IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA: A form of formaldehyde. Linked to cancers, skin irritations, dermatitis and also to nerve damage.
• LAURAMIDE DEA: Chemical used as a foaming agent. Shown to cause cancer. Also dries out your skin and hair.
• POLYQUATERNIUM: A serious skin irritant. In extreme cases may cause anaphylactic shock.
* HYDROXYPROPYTRIMONIUM: Chemically modified thickening agent.
• METHYLISOTHIAZOLINE: This chemical causes neurological damage. It stops the neurons in your brain from communicating. Also, pregnant mothers should never use a product with this chemical in it because it can cause abnormal brain development in the fetus.
* COCAMIDIDOPROPYL BETAINE: A detergent used as a base that can cause eyelid dermatitis and other allergic reactions.
• ARTIFICIAL COLORING: Another unnecessary chemical in your shampoo. Studies have shown that almost all artificial colors are carcinogenic.
• ARTIFICIAL OR SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES: Again, may cause skin irritations and also shown to cause respiratory problems in some people. Natural haircare products smell great using only herbs, natural oils, fruits and other safer alternatives to these dangerous chemicals.
As you can see, there is more to shampoos than meets the eye, and this is why I’m so happy to have become more aware of this and to have switched to organic shampoos that don’t contain all of these harmful chemicals!
My last tip here is to remind you to always make sure you read the label on your shampoo container, and to know what you are buying, before making your final choice.
