What Are the Best Clean Shampoos + Conditioners?
Welcome back to #ASKLAUREN! I hope you survived Mercury Retrograde? I dropped my phone and cracked the screen! My website crashed! Two of my flights were delayed! MyspacebarisstuckandIcan'tseperatesentences! ! I'm getting audited! It's been a shitshow over here. Good news, though: Mercury officially spinned direct last night. Sweet, sweet relief.
Now, let's jump into this week's question:
"Lauren! I'm starting to get freaked out by all the chemicals in my bathroom products - I keep hearing they're worse for me than I thought? Is that true? I want to start using natural/organic stuff. Can you puhleeeez give me a list of the best natural shampoos + conditioners? I need products that will work, smell GOOD, and won't cost me a small fortune - under 50 bucks!!"
Ahhhh I love this question. THANK YOU NAMELESS BEAUTY!
Why should you switch to natural shampoo + conditioner?
Well, if you're diligently reading the ingredient labels on your packaged foods, avoiding pesticides, and saying no to genetically modified foods, why defeat your efforts by slathering similarly nasty chemicals on your highly absorbent scalp? I know soooo many people who eat organic, spend serious bank on spin + barre classes, meditate, foam roll, dry brush, drink their lemon water or smoothie religiously, but still haven't fully embraced natural beauty products. They don't work! They smell like shit! They're too expensive! And my favourite: I CANNOT PUT OIL ON MY SKIN OR I'LL BREAK OUT!!!! All of these things are *potentially* true; but they're also potentially true of conventional products.
The skin is our largest organ and it absorbs a major percentage of the junk we slather on it. If you wouldn't drink your beauty product, it might be time to rethink buying it. Many of the contents in your favourite shampoo and conditioner are seeping into your porous skin and being shuttled to your blood and lymph system. INGREDIENTS MATTER! All the 50s you dropped on $ shampoo was money you spent quasi-poisoning yourself... this behaviour should be reserved for your enemies, girl, not YOU. But we didn't know any better. No one told us we could be harming ourselves!
For years the personal care + cosmetic industries have been grossly unregulated by major government health organizations. Barely any attention has been paid to the quality or risks associated with the ingredients used in standard beauty products. Although, to be honest, I don't trust these old, white FDA dudes, anyway: they approved genetically modified salmon, after all. YES: SALMON MADE IN A LAB, designed to be an exact weight and length. Frankensalmon for dinner tn?
If you think chemicals or genetically modified foods aren't a big deal, then keep on keeping on with your Pantene and canola. But if you get instinctively freaked out by the idea of discovering lead, tar, harsh detergents, or anti-freeze byproducts in your body lotion, like our dear nameless question-sender, then it's time to change up what you use in your daily regimen. Science is beginning to prove just how toxic some of the ingredients in conventional beauty products are, for women especially: many of them seriously disrupt our hormones contributing to thyroid issues, weight gain, acne, PMS, infertility/reproductive concerns, and female-centric cancers. No bueno.
Here's a list of the worst of the worst ingredients found in most conventional personal care productst:
- Parabens: estrogen-like chemicals that mess with female hormones; associated with an increased risk in breast cancer. Parabens have been found in biopsy tissue samples of breast cancer tumours.
- Phthalates: another endocrine disruptor associated with hormone-related issues, including - you guessed it - an increased risk in breast cancer, as well as reproductive issues and an increased risk of birth defects.
- Triclosan + Triclocarban: anooother endocrine (hormone) disruptor linked to: thyroid issues, reproductive concerns, and skin irritation. Overuse can increase the risk of developing bacterial resistance.
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) / Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES): Skin, lung and eye irritant found in over 90% of personal care products. Carcinogenic. Need I say more?
- Formaldehyde: another skin irritant and carcinogen. also, this stuff is pumped into dead people's bodies, so I don't know about you but, ew.. unnecessary.
- Toluene: a chemical derived from gas + coal tar commonly used to DISSOLVE PAINT THINNER. I couldn't make this shit up if I TRIED. Needless to say, it's been linked to immune system toxicity, messes with the respiratory system, is a skin irritant, and can cause developmental damage to a fetus.
- Propylene Glycol: major skin irritant that can cause dermatitis and hives. It's anti-freeze.
- BHA: another carcinogen! Fun! It can cause skin depigmentation AND, in animal studies (which I DON'T condone, but that's another story altogether), has lead to liver damage, stomach cancers, interference with normal reproductive system developmen and thyroid hormone levels.
- Fragrance or "parfum": they think if they put it on the label in FRANCAIS they can fool us!!! If something smells really strong + fake, it likely has added fragrance. Why is this worrying? Fragrances are a combination of toxic chemicals that usually contain hormone disruptors - and are among the top 5 allergens in the world.
- Oxybenzone: hormone disruptor, linked to allergies and skin irritation, typically found in conventional sunscreens. Exposure to oxybenzone can affect the size and birth weight of newborns. Time to switch your sunscreens - I'll be posting about this soon.
- PEGs/Ceteareth/Polyethylene: this group of chemicals is generally contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, a human carcinogen that easily penetrates the skin. Great!
Feel like taking a shower now?
The good news is you can protect yourself. Knowledge is power and you're in control of what you purchase. Of course there are other harmful ingredients found in beauty products, but we'd be here forever if I listed every single concerning chem. It's safe to say that if you can successfully avoid these 11, you'll be buying top-notch clean products. If you're interested in learning more about these bad bois or want to see how your current favourite products rank on the danger scale, check out the Environmental Working Group's amazing personal care website Skin Deep.
Want another reason - apart from avoiding potentially cancer-causing, hormone-havoc-wreaking toxic chemicals - to avoid conventional products?
NATURAL PRODUCTS WORK BETTER. Especially in the haircare realm.
Harsh detergents and surfectants like SLS strip your scalp of its natural oils - oils that are meant to enhance shine, improve texture and tame frizz. They also destroy your expensive hair colour; if you're dishing out major moola every month on highlights or root touch ups, your colour will last longer and stay more vibrant after you kick the chems out of your shower. Convinced yet?
What shampoos and conditioners actually WORK?
- Rahua Shampoo, $34, The Detox Market
- Rahua Conditioner, $36, The Detox Market
- Josh Rosebrook Nourish Shampoo, $32, The Detox Market
- Josh Rosebrook Nourish Conditioner, $34, The Detox Market
- Lavett + Chin Hair Wash, $38, Goop
- Lavett + Chin Conditioner, $40, Goop
- Captain Blankenship Mermaid Dry Shampoo, $24, Sephora
- Acure Organics Simply Smoothing Conditioner, $9.99, Acure or Whole Foods
- Acure Organics Vivacious Volume Shampoo, $9.99, Acure or Whole Foods
- Living Libations Sea Buckhorn Shampoo, $25, The Detox Market
Many of these brands have formulations designed specifically for colour-protection, volume or moisture. I also threw in a natural dry shampoo for the days when you just can't bear to wash your mop. It's a great thing to keep in your gym bag for touch-ups after workouts, too.
Natural products aren't perfect; they contain a much higher percentage of - you guessed it - natural ingredients. So, if you're allergic to a certain plant, nut or oil, please read the labels before purchasing anything to safeguard yourself from reactions. If you simply can't stand to part with your Kerastase or Shu Umemura yet, try reserving that stuff for special occasions and use clean beauty products the rest of the time. You'll still be reducing your chemical intake and toxic load, protecting yourself against cancer and hormone-related illnesses, and keeping your scalp + hair happier and healthier. Hair flips all around.
Have a question? Email hi@laurenmarotta.com with the subject line #ASKLAUREN. I'll be answering a new question every other Monday.