An example of some common ingredients in your everyday shampoos would be the chemical Dimethicone (which makes hair easy to comb and lustrous).  It is in a lot of shampoos but it’s classified by the Canadian government as a possible toxin that warrants further study. Have you heard of SLS (sodium laurel sulfate) and SLES (sodium laureth sulfate)? These are harsh detergents that are responsible for making your shampoo foam up. It strips your hair of essential oils and the proteins it needs to grow healthy and strong. PEG’s or (Polyethylene Glycols) act as a hair thickening agent, but strips your hair of it’s natural moisture. Parabens prolong the shelf life of your shampoo and hair products but are chemicals known for their toxic nature. They irritate the skin and can affect your hormonal balance, which can result in hair loss.  Almost all hair products contain Alcohol, which can dry out your hair. Andour personal favorite, Synthetic Fragrance or Parfum. Many fragrances are a mix of thousands of chemicals. Many of them are irritants and cause aggregate the scalp.

The point of all of this is, is just to raise awareness of all of the chemicals that are in our beauty products. Look at the label of a bottle of your favorite hair care product. Notice all of the chemicals and fragrances in there.

Look for these when you go to buy your next hair care product:

• Shampoos that do not contain ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium laurel sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate (instead opt for those with a milder cleaner such as sodium lauryl sulfoaccetate and sodium lauryl sulfosuccinate. They won’t foam as much but will efficiently clean your hair.
•  Choose a Conditioner that does not contain dimethicone
• Choose a Shampoo or Conditioner with a natural fragrance such as essential oils or plant based products

Our Shampoo and Conditioner of choice is from the Ava Hair line by Ava Anderson Non Toxic. It has no harsh or toxic ingredients in it that would dry out, damage or strip our hair. It is great for everyday use and for the whole family.

DID YOU KNOW?

Annually in the U.S. we pour 350 millions of gallons of shampoo down the drain. Our wastewater treatment plants are designed to remove bacteria, not toxic chemicals. So every day, contaminated water goes back into the water supply (Mt. Sinai Hospital, Children and the Environment)

We hope you learned something new from this! Let’s all help cut down on the amount of chemicals going down the drain!

-Kim and Jamie

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My committment to changing little things in our life is still a priority. Like most of the things I plan I do around the house, the time it takes me to finally get there could be a week, a month or several months before they come to fruition. SO, this week I finally got all the ingredients for my next household project! I decided that one very important change I wanted to make around the house was my laundry detergent. Since there are a lot of added ingredients in laundry detergent (parfums, brighteners, bleaching agents), it makes you realize that all of those chemicals get onto your skin all day. Think of all of the things that come in contact with your skin that you have washed: your sheets, your towels, your clothes…..I found a great DIY recipe for a safer laundry detergent using these ingredients:

1) 1.5 cups Washing Soda

2) 1 cup Baking Soda

3) 1 Bar of non-suds soap (important for HE washers)

4) 1/2 cup Citric Acid (I got this at Whole Foods)

5) 5-10 drops Essential Oil ( not necessary, but I chose one of my favorites: Young Living Jade Lemon for a nice fresh scent)

This is very economical, and all the ingredients are natural, and the Dr. Bronner’s bar soap is even organic, so no scary chemicals on our clothes or in the water supply.

  
Chop or grate the bar soap and then put it into a food processor. Pulse until fine. 

Then add the rest of the ingredients and pulse a few times. Transfer to a container and shake a couple times. 

  
 
Use 1 Tbsp for small loads and 2 Tbsp for a large load.

* I tried my first wash load of towels and it worked! 

The next project I will write about will be a great DIY way to dry your clothes and save energy on your heating/electric bill with wool dryer balls!

-Kim

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