by Emma Restall Orr
Useful Links
When I was a child, my father worked in advertising, and at one point his
sole focus was a vast multinational company that produced shampoo. As a result,
I grew up knowing about shampoo.
For a new shampoo is not developed in the thoughtful labs
of some toiletries company, but in the creative mess of an ad agency: a couple
of young lads throwing ideas around an office, bouncing a ball off the wall,
music playing in the background to ease the stress of such trivia: hey guys,
why don’t we make the stuff blue, or can we make it smell of fresh rain,
or add some notion of an obscure cloudforest herb associated with native indians,
or a magic ‘new’ chemical that makes your hair feel like silk?
The design of the bottle, the words on its plastic, the ad campaign that goes
along with it, are all created before what goes inside: the shampoo itself.
The ad agency takes the concept to the company who put together the product,
confident that the ad boys have said it will sell. I grew up with a profound
scepticism about the whole notion of shampoo.
When I was old enough to understand further, my scepticism
evolved into horror. I began to realize that the point of a shampoo was to
strip my hair of all its natural oils in order to clean off the dust and dirt
that sticks to those oils. The softer and silkier my hair felt, the more natural
oils had been removed, and after a while my hair became pretty dull, lifeless,
static. The obvious answer, listening to the Voice on the TV, was to add conditioner,
which replaced those natural oils the shampoo had so effectively removed,
with artificial oils - just enough to make it shine and smell of perfume.
Eight years ago I had enough of being duped. I stopped using
shampoo. Don’t you wash your hair?! I wash my hair whenever I like,
every day, every few days ... for the glorious feeling of warm water flooding
over my head and face, for the delight of having my hair drenched and heavy
with water ... and to wash off the dust and dirt that stick to the natural
oils in my hair. No shampoo.
They say it can take a few months for your hair to regain
its natural oils and find its own cycle once again. If you eat a clean diet,
low in animal fat and chemicals, if your body is healthy, it takes only a
few weeks for most people. Once through the rebalancing, you have the opportunity
to get to know your own hair as it naturally is.
I am aware that the oils in my hair rise and fall with the
tides of my hormones. For most of the month my hair looks fine, thick and
strong and shining with its own oils; for five days or so, it is hopeless,
looking lank and oily. On these days, I use a hair moose from some ethical
company, or a cup of very dilute cider vinegar in the shower (others use lemon
juice), or I wear a hat, or tie it into plaits. It isn’t long before
it’s fine again. The tides of our bodies, expressed so clearly in our
hair, are for me simply another way of living with nature - in a culture that
is ever trying to control it.
Of course, there are many other reasons why it is sound not
to buy most of the shampoos and other hair products on the market. Companies
such as Unilever (Dove, Sunsilk, Organics, Timotei), Procter & Gamble
(Clairol, Head&Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Vidal Sassoon, Wella,
Wash&Go) and L’Oreal (Fructis, Garnier, Elvive and 26% owned by
monster company Nestle) have track records for environmental pollution and
animal testing, all three of which are under boycott calls for their unethical
behaviour. Packaging of shampoos is almost always in plastic bottle which,
although some can be recycled, most cannot or end up in landfill anyway.
In shampoos, which we happily put onto our heads and rub
in with warm water, are chemicals that most people would be horrified to discover.
In fact, shampoo manufacturers are free to put almost any chemical they wish
into shampoos, even if it is known to be toxic and hazardous to health.
The chemicals include colours, scents and preservatives that
you wouldn’t want to eat, yet which are readily absorbed through the
skin. They also include synthetic chemicals that are horribly tested on animals,
as well as animal products hidden in the ingredients and the ‘parfum’.
Many of these chemicals do not break down in the body: they
are passed from parent to child through breast milk and in pregnancy; they
remain in our urine and consumed through drinking recycled water. Needless
to say, it is not only human bodies that are polluted: these chemicals are
causing damage to the environment and all the other creatures who depend upon
it.
Here are a few, with the problems some research has indicated.
(Sources for problems are from the Women’s Environmental Network and
other sites across the internet; put the product into your search engine and
judge the site and its information for yourself.)
alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO) : hormone disruptors,
carcinogenic
methylisothiazoline (MIT) : neurological damage
parabens (alkyl parahydroxil) : an oestrogen mimic, traces found in breast
milk, decreased male fertility
phthalates : reproductive and developmental defects, allergies, asthma
propylene glycol (propan 1.2 diol, PG) : dermatitis, skin problems, depression,
nerve and heart disorders
sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) : skin, eye, respiratory, liver, lung, immune
system damage, hair loss, and reproductive problems. This is not to be confused
with the mild detergent found in many shampoos : sodium laureth sulfate
(SLES), which some believe to be acceptable in shampoos.
LINKS
This is an interesting page, brought to my attention by Julia
Jackdaw. It talks about the chemicals in shampoos, but also gives advice about
how to 'transition' from being a shampoo junkie to letting go of the habit
...
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/1-nb/53-no-shampoo.htm
Shampoos that we would recommend, if you choose to use them,
are from the following companies :
Green People
This is an excellent company that use gentle, natural organic ingredients
throughout. Based in England, they are 100% vegetarian (the majority is vegan,
using only bees’ wax or propolis in some products), registered with
the Soil Association and, of course, use nothing tested on animals. What’s
more, 10% of their profit is donated to charity.
For example, their scent-free shampoo is made of aloe vera,
gentle foaming and cleansing agents from corn and coconut, glycerin and green
tea extract.
http://www.greenpeople-organic-health.co.uk
Lush
Their solid shampoos are great. They use some chemicals but no packaging at
all.
http://www.lush.co.uk
Neal’s Yard Remedies
Their powdered shampoos are great, and have no plastic packaging.
http://www.nealsyardremedies.com/
Weleda
A wonderful company all round, using anthroposophic vision in all their products.
http://www.weleda.co.uk/
