I am, however, now in a place where I want to reconsider some of the products I've been using. While I've always avoided synthetic fragrances, I have been using products with essential oils. There is the possibility that essential oils are causing reactions too, and so the next step for me will be to go totally unscented to see if I improve.
There are two ways of handling body care products: you either purchase trustworthy products from companies (convenience/ supporting the economy of natural products,) or you make those products yourself (frugal/ safest.) I personally do a mix of both. I'll explain below:
Hair:
Shampoo:Shampoo products are notorious for containing many toxic ingredients, including ingredients known to kill your brain cells (source.) Shampoos are often meant to be harsh so that they can scrub all the oil, dead skin, and dirt from your hair. What if I told you that your body produces that oil to coat your hair as a way to clean, condition, and strengthen itself? The key to keeping your hair healthy is to be very gentle with it, washing out the dirt without removing the oils.
I'm not a "no-poo" fan, personally (going without shampoo entirely, only washing with water.) The reason for that is because shower water is usually too hard and harsh. It's full of minerals and chemicals, such as fluoride and chlorine, that can build up in your hair. Have you noticed pink stains in your shower? Those are minerals left over from your hard water, and those types of build ups can happen in your hair. It has left my scalp too oily and itchy.
I've tried out washing with only baking soda or only vinegar. If you have short hair, washing with only baking soda may work fairly well for you if you're gentle and don't scrub too hard. I, however, have long hair reaching almost halfway down my back. The baking soda took too much effort and it was hard to remain gentle while shuffling my thick long hair around. Washing with only raw organic apple cider vinegar (I like Bragg's) does work well. It will clean out excess oil and dirt, but won't strip your hair of any oil it needs. It moisturizes and conditions, and is loaded with vitamins that makes hair strong. I really like washing with vinegar! When I have the energy and time. It's not convenient, and the smell is very potent (I personally have no trouble with the smell, but it knocks my husband back away from me.) It's also expensive. A small bottle of Braggs typically costs about $4-5, and if you exclusively wash with vinegar, you can use that bottle up in one or two weeks if you have long hair. If you have short hair, I bet you could get it to last you up to a month. I've found that the best solution for me is to take vinegar baths (2-3 cups of vinegar in the tub with hot water) and wash my hair in the bath. I follow up with a a quick shower to rinse off.
I also experimented with shampoo bars. They are hardened condensed oil bars (typically olive or castor oil) that you rub on your hair and scrub with. In theory, I love them! In reality, no matter how little of the bar I use and how much I rinse, they leave my hair sticky and matted down. I have yet to find one that leaves my hair feeling washed and fresh.
So I have found that I, personally, really do prefer working with shampoo. Shampoo is a product that I will go out and buy and I'll spent the money on the right one. For years I've been using Giovanni's EcoChic line. It's salon-like, lathers (without harsh lathering ingredients,) and leaves my hair very soft and smooth. I've been able to buy huge bottles of it at TJ Maxx for $13, but I've seen it at Whole Foods on sale for great prices too. While the ingredients in it are not perfect (not quite up to my standards in every other product I use,) they don't use any ingredient that I absolutely refuse to ever put on my body. It's low on a toxicity scale. They do not, however, offer an unscented line. I haven't noticed that I react to the "natural fragrances" they use, but I'll know for sure once I go totally unscented for a while and then revisit Giovanni.
I do have a little experience with unscented shampoos. My mother chokes up and can't breath around scents, so I have used unscented products when I'm around her. She uses the Earth Science unscented shampoo, because it has very simple ingredients, is the cheapest unscented brand on the market, and doesn't react with her. It does, however, use sodium lauryl sulphate and wheat. It's much harsher than I'm willing to use, and it is not acceptable for those with celiac disease. I've also tried Burt's Bees Baby Unscented Shampoo and Body Wash. It may be unscented, but it does smell like a mix of honey and other unidentified ingredients. I have not yet determined if that is acceptable or not. The product itself does work decently... for short hair. It does not lather well, and a little does not go a long ways. I understand it's meant for babies, not for scrubbing long hair. It does get my hair clean, leaving it soft and looking fresh.
What unscented shampoo is my favorite, the one I'm coming to rely on? Desert Essence Organics Fragrance Free Shampoo. Hands down, this is the best. It's fantastic! It's better than Giovanni! Why? The ingredients are very safe (unless you're allergic to coconut, which is a staple ingredient in it.) It gently lathers, it's silky smooth and very easy to spread through my hair, it's very moisturizing (I don't think I need conditioner with this,) and a little goes a long ways. It's inexpensive for how little I need each use. Even if you do not need to go unscented I highly recommend this shampoo. It's just that good!
Conditioner:
I'm in love with the idea of conditioners. I really enjoy my long wavy healthy hair, and I don't want to have to hide it because it's not healthy looking. Conditioners are supposed to be the solution to keeping hair healthy, right? I don't think I need to repeat why most conditioners are a bad idea, because the reasons are similar as for shampoo. The difference is that instead of the product being purposefully harsh to strip your hair, conditioners are designed to coat your hair with waxes. This leaves your hair literally covered in toxic chemicals, for the sole purpose of looking shiny and healthy. The appearance of shine and health covers up for how harsh the shampoo was to your hair. Wouldn't you rather that your hair was naturally shiny and actually healthy?
Don't be fooled: many organic conditioners are designed to leave a coat of wax in your hair too. Watch out for ingredients like mineral oil (which sounds safe, but is actually made from petroleum crude oil,) petrolatum, any ingredient ending with -cone (like dimethicone,) and "fragrances"/ "natural fragrances" (which often are not natural at all and are irritants.) I've found that Nature's Gate is the worst offender, bragging about how safe and natural they are, but they slip in as many toxins as possible while still qualifying for the "all natural" or, in some cases, "organic" label.
For conditioners, once again, I've relied on Giovanni EcoChic for a few years. Again, they're not up to my ingredients standards, but they don't use any ingredients that I refuse to ever put on my body. I'll be honest. Their conditioner just plain works. It feels luxurious, it's very moisturizing, it doesn't leave waxes behind, it does add shine without harsh ingredients, and I don't think it's caused me to react. Again, I'm going to experiment with that to make sure.
I have experimented with other conditioning options. Most of the conditioning brands I've tried were not worth the price tag. They usually worked decently enough, but not well enough to justify the price tag. $12 for a 6 oz bottle of shea butter and olive oil? Really? Sure, they would keep my hair from getting frizzy, full of static, or dried out. That's about it. They were not luxurious or very moisturizing. Unless it was the middle of winter or I had washed my hair too often that week, I wouldn't necessarily notice much benefit to using them. I want a conditioner that increases the health of my hair, so that I feel like I actually benefited my hair after each shower. That's what kept me coming back to Giovanni. (Now, if your hair does get frizzy, splits easily, or dries easily, then all the conditioners I tried may help you out a lot. Since these are not typical problems I experience anymore, I couldn't justify the price of the conditions for the lack of benefits they gave me.)
I have yet to find an unscented conditioner I'm in love with (but I have not yet tried Dessert Essence's, as I just discovered their shampoo a few weeks ago.) I've settled, for now, on Jason Fragrence Free Conditioner. It's nothing special, it doesn't even have as good of ingredients as I would prefer, it just is relatively inexpensive and will work for the winter. I don't seem to react to it. Despite all my complaints about the lack of effectiveness of conditioners, I still prefer to use one after I shampoo because it does make grooming and drying my wet hair a little easier.
My favorite conditioning options don't involve a conditioner product at all: Diet, exercise, vitamin and mineral supplements, and cod liver oil. Keeping your body toxin-free, your digestive system functioning well, and staying nourished is, by far, the best way to condition your hair. I will go into more depth on diet and supplements in a future post - it's a huge topic for me. I add to this by occasionally rubbing organic unrefined coconut oil into my hair the night before I intend to wash my hair. Coconut oil is extremely moisturizing and is loaded with vitamins. It softens and strengthens hair while adding shine. It works better than any conditioner. I sleep with it in my hair (I'll put a soft towel over my pillow, but I know other people can get a shower cap to stay on their head all night - that doesn't work for me as my hair is too long.) If you cannot use coconut oil due to allergies, castor oil or olive oil also work very well. They are both harder to wash out, however, and you may need to add a little baking soda to your shampoo to help gently work the oils out of your hair.
Styling Products:
I don't bother. They're not worth it to me. You may need to make that choice for yourself too, especially if you have MCS like me or suffer chronic illness. Do I look better with curl-enhancing products, hair spray, heat protectors, sprays that make my hair shine more, and mousse? Yes - they're a lot of fun and the things I can do with my hair when I use those products can be addicting. They can make me look more professional and well-groomed - like I care about my appearance. I enjoy using the photos of me when hair products in my hair (which only happens after I get a hair cut and let my stylist style it - which probably won't be happening anymore.) But are the products worth it? They have more toxic chemicals than shampoos and conditioners. They work because they're meant to make your hair do something: stick, curl, straighten, shine, etc. That means you're spraying loads of chemicals into your hair just for one desired effect, and then you'll breath in those chemicals throughout the day because they're right next to your nose. They'll absorb into your skin through your scalp and your neck. I'll explain the negative effects of these chemical toxins in a later post - everything from organ damage to an estrogen dominance (many chemicals are xenoestogens that can cause many female problems.)
If, however, you can't give the styling products up, there are options. They're safer than the toxic chemical based products, but it's still safest to go without. Giovanni (can you tell I like their products yet?) has a line of mostly organic styling products that work as well as chemical-based salon products. Their L.A. Style hair spray is fantastic - I personally find it works better than the hair spray in salons, and it's much lighter on the hair. Their mousse is great - it's the one styling product I still use when I need a little extra help with my unruly bangs (I don't need it 95% of the time, but there's always that seemingly random day where I can't fix the cow-lick!) Their products are not free from every ingredient I would prefer to avoid, but they're the safest and most effective hair styling products I've found. I will not be searching for new products.
Conclusion:
There is no reason why any person needs to buy hair care products. They can make life more much more convenient, which is really the only reason I still use very specific organic shampoo and conditioner, but there are simple ways to have great, healthy hair without using any hair care products. I highly recommend baking soda, raw organic apple cider vinegar, and organic unrefined coconut oil as the only 3 ingredients you ever need for hair care if you're showering with hard water or your hair isn't naturally healthy on its own. It's best to care for your hair by caring for your whole body: focus on having great digesting, keep yourself nourished with organic foods that you digest well, avoid all foods that offer no benefit or you can't digest well, get enough exercise to prevent toxin build-up and to keep your body functioning well, and don't be afraid to use supplements.
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