Does anyone here use any commerical shampoos or soaps that they would recommend? I've seen the following organic and vegan brands in stores...

Aubrey
Avalon
Giovanni
Jason
Nature's Gate

The simpler and more natural the better. I've considered just using organic castille soap but I'm not sure if this would be good on hair. Has anyone tried that?

Hello There,
I can recommend Aubrey as being the most clean shampoo on the market. Just check the ingredients because some of the conditioners aren't vegan, if that bothers you. I personally like the honeysuckle shampoo.
Hope this helps,
C

Get Your Free Raw Food Starter Guide E-Book at:
[www.rawglow.com]

Find Your Inner Glow!

Nope, Aubrey is most definitely not, routinely using ingredients not listed on the labels, listing ingredients not present in the products, and receiving a number of warning letters from the FDA for repeated offenses. In addition, there are many non-standard creative labelling terms used for purely synthetic ingredients to make them sound more natural. You can search on Aubrey at [fda.gov] to verify.

If you want pure organic "natural" stuff you have to make it. If you use water and don't use synthetic preservatives you can start to grow critters within a few days, depending on your ingredients. So keep your batches small, store in the fridge, and remake every 3 days or so. But even organic ingredients can be harmful, such as certain EOs. I would not get too hung up on purity, some synthetics are very safe and mildly beneficial, but the environmental impact is going to be higher for any purchased product as opposed to a "cleanser" of pure cucumber juice or something like that.

We've been using Miessence certified organic shampoo, soap, cosmetics, toothpaste, etc. They are about as pure as it gets and don't contain added fillers like water or alcohol. At first the skin and scalp will detoxify but then it will look better than it ever has. I buy mine wholesale with a membership: www.goodskinforlife.com.

There's a toxic ingredient dictionary on the site that you can compare with whatever you're using or thinking of using.

My favorite is the handsoap and airfreshener. My hands are really soft without cream or lotion now after years of cracking and dryness and the air freshener is amazing...like walking through a tropical but fresh and floral forest.

Sharon

One word: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps.

[en.wikipedia.org]
[www.drbronner.com]

---
MySpace



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2007 09:32PM by James Smith.

One could argue that soap isn't really "natural" because a synthesis step is required.

Bronner's liquid soap has a pH of around 8. Most bar soaps are around 10 or higher, which can be irritating to the skin as it is highly disruptive of the skin's protective acid mantle. A very dilute acid rinse (tsp of vinegar in a glass of water or somthing similar) with pH 4-5 or so to follow after a true soap wash might be helpful in some cases to help speed up acid mantle recovery.

We recover our skin acid mantle after disruption more quickly when we are young and/or have oily skins. The elderly might take a very long time for recovery, though.

That's one reason why synthetic liquid detergent cleansers can be helpful, they tend to be formulated at a pH of 5.5 and they can be much gentler than soaps, especially when they have some added fats.

James,

Have you tried any Dr. Bronner's products on your hair?

For hair or soap try these two companies who offer Organic Vegan products:



Max Green Alchemy : [www.maxgreenalchemy.com]

Pangea Organics : [www.pangeaorganics.com]



They've been great for me and my friends thus far.




-Brian

I just found the following web site which rates the safety of health and beauty products and thought others might be interested...

[www.ewg.org]

detoxqueen,

what do you mean the skin & scalp will detoxify? This is very interesting to me & makes me want to try those products. Could you explain more?

Thanks!
sunshine

I have tried all vegan and my hair breaks apart. sigh. My hair is chemically treated..





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2007 11:58PM by coconutcream.

coconutcream Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have tried all vegan and my hair breaks apart.
> sigh. My hair is chemically treated..

Those "all vegan" shampoos have synthetic detergents, just like regular shampoos. But they will often use creative labelling to hide or disguise the fact that syndets are present. They are counting on it that people will be gullible.

They don't always use the best conditioners. (hair conditioner= mostly oils in suspension with traces of other ingredients). One of the very best conditioners for damaged hair is amodimethicone. The amino silicone polymers are great for color treated hair, they make it feel silky. No plain vanilla vegetable oil can match them. But Dow Corning and GE are the corporations that make most silicone oils so when you buy a silicone oil product you are most likely supporting them. And who knows the source of the amino fraction? It is probably cow hooves or something like that.

coconutcream,

my hair is chemically treated too & I have the same breakage/dryness problem. I've recently found the following 2 solutions:

1. From my hairstylist friend, she told me the secret product that professionals use to deep condition processed hair. It's called metalex by clairol & you find it in beauty supply stores.

2. My sister advocates the little-known hair washing technique using conditioner only. I've always thought she was nuts but I have to admit her hair looks amazing lately so I finally tried it. I'm still perfecting the technique, it takes some practice. Basically you get a cheap, non-silicone conditioner like suave milk& honey (or vegan olive oil conditioner), use LOTS more than normal, and thoroughly massage into scalp, then leave on for several minutes before rinsing. She always tells me not to shampoo because shampoo strips the hair & that's why my hair always looks dry. I'm not an expert with this method yet but I am getting good enough results to finally be convinced she's right.

Good luck!

xo
sunshine

sunshine79 - So glad you posted about this! I have heard of that method but I've always been a bit nervous to try it as I haven't ever met anyone personally who does this regularly! Definitely going to give it a go since you and your sister have had good results.

Just outta curiosity is your hair curly or straight?

Lisa



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

If you are serious about your scalp and hair care then I suggest to check out the 'Morrocco Method' shampoo and soap products [morroccomethod.com]. All natural and simply incredible, your body will thank you.

Coconut Chronicles,

My hair is fine & straight- really dry from all the color & highlighting (except the scalp, which looks greasy w/o daily attention). The other thing my sister does is that she uses dry shampoos (aerosol) on the roots on days she doesn't conditioner wash her hair. I just shampooed my hair after 2 weeks of doing just conditioner washes & dry shampoo.

I also use Frederic Fekkai Glossing Crème (olive oil-based) on the ends before/ after blow-drying, and have gotten equally stellar conditiong results using just plain olive oil itself applied before blow drying while hair is still wet (the Light kind is better for this). Adds a nice shine.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2007 12:53AM by sunshine79.

I'm surprised that Aubrey is mentioned as not a good brand, the ingredients look so pure compared to other brands. I guess it is relative and much better than the generic stuff!!! It is definately better than most.

I guess the best is to make your own but it's not always convenient. You can use honey and lemon juice or soak some flax seeds and blend them up for a homemade shampoo.

I personally don't use conditioner I just wash my hair and then put in some coconut oil. My hair is naturally dry and this really works. The trick is not to put too much coconut oil in your hair so that it doesn't get greasy.

C

Get Your Free Raw Food Starter Guide E-Book at:
[www.rawglow.com]

Find Your Inner Glow!

Even if a product says all natural ingredients, you can't be sure, as the rules for labeling makes it difficult to know exactly what is in a cosmetic product.

I make my own soaps, with all the good oils, coconut, olive, sweet almond, etc..and use only real essential oils, and my new batches don't have any added color, unless it's from something like paprika, or orange zest powder.

I also color my hair, a two process blonding..one day when I'm solid on raw foods, I want to shave it off, and let it grow in all natural and soft..I should have a timeline to do that. 2008 sounds good to me.

My room-mate bought a candle that says it only has essential oils and vegetable oil..but on the website, it says it cuts it with fragrances too..that's chemicals..man-made crap..leaves a terrible after burning smell..really toxic I feel.

I'll be learning to make my own liquid soaps too..and I'm going to see what makes a natural candle..using only essential oils.

I love to use coconut oil..just smear it on my hair, all over my body, and especially my feet...has made my heels so much softer.

Love,
Prism

If you shave your head you should chronicle it on the boards! How fun

Best Wishes,
Cecilia

Get Your Free Raw Food Starter Guide E-Book at:
[www.rawglow.com]

Find Your Inner Glow!

Hi Sunshine,

I mean you might get pimples. I had quite some bumps on my scalp but they went away fairly quickly too. Apparently when you stop using toxins, all that junk that's been soaking into your scalp starts coming out. The products are very lightweight and let the natural shine of the hair come through. For those with dandruff or greasy hair there's an inbetween step of a rinse. It made a big difference in my daughter's hair. I just use the shampoo because my hair is short, hers is long and thick and she uses a straight iron on it so she puts some conditioner on the ends too.

The formulator has a recording that you can listen to: go to www.goodskinforlife.com and log in as a rep by doing this: click on login, then as a rep, then this: User name: visitor, password: test, Birthdate Jan 1, 1975.

Under the training section there are several recordings that can be quite interesting if you have the time to listen. She talks about everything from the corruption in the industry to how the products are formulated. I really like this stuff and have been using it for over a year now.

Feel free to email if you have more questions.

Sharon

I'll certainly do that..that would be a cool youtube video..I might do that! Someone had a post recently about just using conditioner on their hair for washing..and I've tried that..been almost 2 weeks probably and I really like it. My hair is not so fried and awful when I wake up in the morning..it's softer and more conditioned. My scalp feels clean, my hair looks clean..so I'm going to keep doing that..until I'm ready to shave it all off!

Love,
Prism

Thank you Detoxquenn, neat information!