Read that article yesterday
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article321838.ece
:o
Any recipes for home-made shampoos etc?
D
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
Probably not completely safe, but try products from Lush....expensive, yes, but lovely and avoids lots of the nasties.. :)
My son is starting part time work at Lush, on Thursday ...
Derekthefox :D
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! :)
But we ARE more educated (ha ha bad english there), so are able to make more informed decisions ...
Derekthefox :D
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
Quote from: Derekthefox on October 25, 2005, 08:59:07
My son is starting part time work at Lush, on Thursday ...
Derekthefox :D
Bet he comes home smeling nice ;D
Indeed Diana, he is also intrigued by the idea of working with so many females ;)
Derekthefox :D
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.
Not tried them myself but.............
http://www.faithinnature.com/indexpackage.asp
I don't use hair shampoo either RC, or suffer with head lice ;D
Derekthefox :D
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.
TM, What is SLS? ??? busy_lizzie
QuoteTM, What is SLS?  busy_lizzieÂ
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
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.
Quote from: Derekthefox on October 25, 2005, 17:08:52
I don't use hair shampoo either RC, or suffer with head lice ;D
Derekthefox :D
(http://forums.mg-rover.org/images/smilies/xxrotflmao.gif)
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.
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
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...
Have kept meaning to come back to this thread, but been too busy. I was wondering whether those people who ordered toothpaste or shampoo from Green people liked them? Hope so! - I was only meaning to vouch for the Toms toothpaste - can't use most of the other chemical-free ones as they tend to contain citrus & I'm allergic to that too ::).
Have recently been trailing round the shops looking for a new shampoo for R - it's got so that I can't bear him to be using a chemical one. He didn't like the smells of the Faith in Nature ones & doesn't like Simple soap so he wouldn't try their shampoo! - finally we found him one made by Duchy originals. It's lime & bergamot - sounds nice, & even though it has lime in it, it was the only one in any of the supermarkets I could go anywhere near. Cost a small fortune though - maybe we should start growing our own food too!!
Robert, sorry to hear about your wife's reaction to the make-up - that must have been an awful thing to happen at your wedding. Does she have MCS? It does effect some people's skin, though I think for most people it's the chemical smell which is a problem. The website http://www.chemicalfree.co.uk/ is quite interesting, & has some useful links.
And let's not get started on washing powder.....
I did buy a book on making soap. Also a number of herb books have recipes for shampoos (well hair rinses). Think vinegar was mentioned by someone for hair washing.
Triclosan, the stuff in colgate's total, isn't nice stuff either, I believe. Think genes play a part in how good your teeth are (even if they are kept meticulously clean, etc, they can still be "bad").
My grandmother used to talk about adding vinegar to the last rinse, makes hair shiny apparently.
Did you ever make the soap, Multiveg? Is it relatively easy... or fiddly?
D
Quote from: Dominique on November 28, 2005, 17:15:50
My grandmother used to talk about adding vinegar to the last rinse, makes hair shiny apparently.
Did you ever make the soap, Multiveg? Is it relatively easy... or fiddly?
D
Aceeeeeeed closes the follicles thus making your hair appear shinier. Vinegar stinks though so I would have thought lemon juice would be better - also bleaches in the sun.
Haven't made soap yet.
I can't use some hair products coz the smells make me go dizzy like just before I am going to have a seizure. (never tested them far enough to see if I do though) I don't have aerosols in the house either as the propellant does the same.
Quote from: Dominique on November 28, 2005, 13:39:35
Yes, I do. I can recommend both. I've also bought from them a soap that can be used as shampoo and it's great. All of it was expensive but it seems to last for ages.
Instead of washing powder I have the 'washing balls' from Lakeland, you can also get something similar from Ecozone but I never tried it - ran out of money! ;D
D
Thanks, Dominique - I'll have a look at the shampoo on their site - still looking for one I can use.
Be careful where you get your washing balls from though - some of them are chemical-free but others have little pellets full of chemical powder in them, which are not so good for you.
I've just re-read this thread & realised I never said where I get most of my chemical-free products from: http://www.naturalcollection.com. They sell cleaning products/toiletries from Clear Spring/Faith in Nature, Bio-D, Jason, etc - also things like clothes made with organic cotton & hemp & lots of other eco-friendly bits & pieces.
After reading that article and following the link to the ecologist magazine I got a bit worried. Have chucked out my colgate and bought some toothpaste from Neal's Yard remedies. Also got some lovely soap and some shower gel from there. Once finished with current facial cleanser and moisturiser I will be replacing with Neal's yard stuff too :)
Bought Ecover washing up liquid and washing liquid too. The washing liquid certainly smells nicer than my old stuff!