It's put me off!!!!

[Dominique]

Read that article yesterday
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article321838.ece

:o 
Any recipes for home-made shampoos etc?
D

[Dominique]

[Derek]

Dominique

If that put you off...don't, whatever you do, look at the Friends of the Earth website.

You will not be buying and any shampoos, soaps, toothpastes and the like again

Derek

[colleenemp]

Probably not completely safe, but try products from Lush....expensive, yes, but lovely and avoids lots of the nasties.. :)

[Derekthefox]

My son is starting part time work at Lush, on Thursday ...

Derekthefox :D

[Yellow Petals]

Thing is, if we took notice of everything we read about what we use and what we eat - we'd never use or eat anything!  :)

[Derekthefox]

But we ARE more educated (ha ha bad english there), so are able to make more informed decisions ...

Derekthefox :D

[busy_lizzie]

I use Aveda make up and skin care products and shampoo because they don't  use petrochemicals in their products.  We also use Loccitane soap.  I know these are all expensive but they last absolutely ages, so in the long run they are  all very cost effective and at least you know the ingredients are safe.  I have tried using a natural tooth paste but it tastes horrible. Household-wise I  try to use as many Ecover products as I can. It does put you off when you see the mix of chemicals in things but you can't isolate yourself from everything unfortunately. busy_lizzie

[Diana]

My son is starting part time work at Lush, on Thursday ...

Derekthefox :D

Bet he comes home smeling nice ;D

[Derekthefox]

Indeed Diana, he is also intrigued by the idea of working with so many females  ;)

Derekthefox :D

[redimp]

I haven't used shampoo on my hair for about 12 years - just rinse it every morning with clean water and towel dry.  I have fantastic conditioned hair and suprisingly for a primary school teacher, have not had head lice.

[Doris_Pinks]

Not tried them myself but.............

http://www.faithinnature.com/indexpackage.asp

[Derekthefox]

I don't use hair shampoo either RC, or suffer with head lice  ;D

Derekthefox :D

[terrace max]

I discovered the facts about the toxicity of shampoo and toothpastes last year- mainly the sodium laureth sulphate content. Apparently this stuff was invented to de-grease garage floors!

Good alternative products do exist: you could try Green People and/or Jason toiletries available at most health food shops and online. Faith in Nature are excellent too. Aveda is a bit pricey for me, and their products contain SLS.

[busy_lizzie]

TM, What is SLS?   ??? busy_lizzie 

[terrace max]

TM, What is SLS?    busy_lizzie 

The said Sodium Laureth Sulphate... Apologies in advance if Aveda have now removed this ingredient - my comment was based on my own research over a year ago...

BTW there's a good, balanced FAQ re: this chemical here, and its close relative Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLES):

http://www.dailybread.co.uk/north/sls.htm

[Juliet]

Dominique, I can't get the link to work (maybe my web browser) but I can guess what it says.  I suffer from multiple chemical sensitivity - which more or less means I'm allergic to chemicals - virtually all of them.  Can't use any chemical shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, cleaning products - I'm even allergic to the chlorine in our water (thankfully I can wash in water, just not drink it, so I'm not too smelly ::)!).

I use Toms of Maine toothpaste (tastes good, Busy Lizzie - once you get used to it not having any sugar in it! - takes about a week, after which your old toothpaste seems unbearably sweeeeet).  Ecover products DO contain chemicals - they're better for the environment, but absolutely useless to me.  I use cleaning products from Clear Spring (made by Faith in Nature) or Bio-D, which are generally chemical-free; also one or two things I get from Lakeland which contain natural cleaning agents like citrus or tea-tree.  I even have to use Cotton Soft loo roll as normal loo roll is processed using bleach (ouch :o).  Currently using Simple soap & shampoo because I can't find anything else suitable, but they're not ideal ... tempted to try making my own.

I'm not allergic to SLS though - was just about to say that it's not really a very dangerous chemical, contrary to urban myth, when your message appeared, TM.  It's just a basic detergent, so it can be irritant if you have sensitive skin, & it's not a terribly good idea to drink it  :P.

If you can't avoid everything & want to know which are the worst chemicals :-\, have a look at the WWF site - http://www.wwf.org.uk/chemicals/ - the lefthand menu bar has a useful guide to chemicals in the home. 

[redimp]

I don't use hair shampoo either RC, or suffer with head lice  ;D

Derekthefox :D

[Robert_Brenchley]

My wife's extremely sensitive to chemicals, and avoids them all the time. Our wedding was the first time she'd ever worn makeup. She paid out for a makeover, but by the time we got as far as the reception, her face had swollen right up with this dreadful rash. It went down quite quickly, and eventually she found a range of makeup she could use, but I'll never forget it! It's not a nice thing to suffer from at all.

[busy_lizzie]

I have bought some Green People toothpaste this afternoon and will give it a try.  Had a look at the Faith in Nature Web site and the products look really reasonably priced.  Might give some a try too.  :) busy_lizzie

[Dominique]

Oh Robert  how awful!  Glad it cleared up quickly though.  Pretty much the same thing happened to me but for my engagement party.  Bought foundation for the 1st time  (felt all grown-up) and came up in great red spots all over my face.  LOL  But not at the time, was very itchy!
D
Busy Lizzie, hope that toothpaste is OK, bought some as well...