Green my Beauty Care! Part 1
- Body Wash
- Hair Care
- Lotions and Perfumes
This might be one of the hardest and most time consuming projects. Everyone's body chemistry is a little different, and what works for one person doesn't always work for another. SO, using other people's trial and error to scream to better Earth Friendly conclusions will be taken with a grain of salt. Also, trying products takes money which I am reluctant to part with! Most of all, time. The stated "adjustment" period for a body going natural seems to be about a week or so. I'm terrified about not using conventional shampoo on my hair for a week, so I'm more likely to opt for a more "Earth Friendly" shampoo and go from there.
There's also the debate on whether Shampoo's detergents and surfactants are actually bad for your hair at all. Some Beauty Blog scientists claim there's been no studies to prove they harm hair, and the Green-Agenda people claim it does damage by making you incapable of living without it by throwing off the natural oil balance in the hair. While they both might be right, and if they are, I'm more interested in how the planet reacts to the shampoo when it's no longer in my hair. For example: EVERYTHING goes down the drain. This ends up in my septic tank, and in the septic field, back into the water supply for the planet and ultimately the wildlife. The Earth is a great filter for stuff we put in it, but some man-made stuff just doesn't break up so well (hence our interest in recycling). Some chemicals are no exception. They tell you not to use exfoliants made with plastic or non-dissolving beads as these go down and remain beads forever. Light-Microscopic litter, eh? Let's say the shampoo breaks down just fine in the water table, is there a way to get less processed (and thus greener) products that still do the job? Are there at least products that come from companies that don't use animal testing (medical testing is ok, vanity testing is silly)? Are there companies that work to offset their production wastes (CO2, plastic and chemical waste processing etc etc)?
Boy, I haven't even gone through products yet and it's already confusing. Let's make some goals for my products:
- I want minimal processing: as few chemicals as possible while still being effective. The more natural the better (but I still prefer being a Clean Hippy to a Dirty one!) Renewable sources are also a go.
- I want a product that doesn't get tested on animals! No really, I'll GIVE you my cat if you think the shot cures cancer, but to make sure it doesn't make her skin burn and hair fall out? ...
Products I use, how often, and Eco-pinions on them.
Body Wash Etc:
Antibacterial Study: Kill bugs better or making them worse? - "Currently, no evidence suggests that use of antibacterial soap containing 0.2% triclosan provides a benefit over plain soap in reducing bacterial counts and rate of infectious symptoms in generally healthy persons in the household setting"
I have no real preference with body wash either. I hate to feel soap scummy. I hate bar soap (bacteria just LOVE wet warm bars of soap!) I don't really care about scent since I wear lotion (usually) to moisturize. I try not to use exfoliating kinds since I worry about the beads. I just... want something less processed that still does the job. OOH OOH. After about an hour of random digging brought on by the search for a Lavender Jasmine blend of god knows what, I have stumbled across, and made my decision to switch to, Castile Soap. Dr Bronner's Lavender version in fact. Though, apparently, Dr Bronner is crazy. What's neat is I keep cross referencing products on this "Skin Deep" website CosmeticDatabase.com and Castile Soap has a 0 hazard score. I think that's the first thing I've looked up on it that did. I'm grain of salting that webbie as it talks a lot about its "Data Gaps". As a bonus it says the stuff can be used as fairly good shampoo, cleansing, and not needing conditioner thanks to the plant oils already in it. Hmmm... Maybe I'll try that too. With short hair as I have now, it couldn't hurt!PS: I used to use an awesome cacti scrubbie but it got moldy so fast :( I now use a synthetic wee scrubbie glove. Exfoliation heaven.
Hair Care
I'm not vain about a lot of things, but my hair is one of them. I had 35" hair until two weeks ago. Long, healthy, never ironed or curled or blow dried. Some split ends (which I trimmed) but the time and care required to avoid split ends on hair that long is generally unrealistic. I've cut it down to a more manageable 12" from brow to ends, but it still requires care. I might be able to throw on a little perfume or extra hit of deodorant if I miss a shower, but you cannot hide a day's dirt on my hair.
Aussie 3-Minute Miracle Conditioner: Once a week I used this on my loooong hair to super-moisturize, hopefully to avoid some breakage. ... Aussie conducts tests on Animals? But.. but.. They're AUSSIE! Aussie is P&G?! NOOOOOOOOOO!
About Shampoo:
Shampoo should be applied only to the scalp, and not to the ends of the hair. Conventional shampoo is made with detergents and surfactants that literally strip the hair and scalp of natural oils and the dirt that caddies along on it. Adding shampoo to the lengths of hair will cause it to dry, which is very bad as the lengths of hair are not receiving natural scalp oils that would normally hydrate and protect the hair shaft. Rinsing shampoo from the scalp is sufficient in cleaning hair lengths as it rinses over it. According to most sources I've found surfactants and detergents in hair shampoos are the REASON why you NEED conditioners. It strips ALL of the natural oil off your hair to give you that squeaky clean. A lot of Long-Hair enthusiasts spend a lot of time learning about the best ways to take care of their multi-year investment in hair. Invariably someone mentions a soft-boar-hair brush to brush the natural oil from the root to the tip of the hair. Oil is natural conditioner after all. This brushing also reduces the oil buildup on the scalp, meaning a "cleaner" scalp. Plenty of people have gone to baking soda and vinegar rinses and do just fine, others actually go straight water if they wash their hair at all. I've seen their pictures, and their hair looks just fine. No one really has hair like the shampoo commercials anyway, unless you just came from the hairdresser.
About Conditioner:
Conditioner should never be added to the scalp hair! The scalp's natural oil combined with conditioner will over-moisturize the hair resulting in heavy, oily, hair. To protect the hair lengths after the surfactant and detergent were rinsed down it, moisture must be re-added. However, conventional conditioners that promise to add proteins etc to your hair don't work the way you think: the hair shaft cannot absorb these large proteins so they get added.. and then promptly rinsed down the drain.
UPDATE 07/20/2010: So... I tried the Dr Bronner's on my hair. It felt, heavy, like it didn't get it all the way clean. I'm sure it did, but left a bit of itself behind perhaps? It does recommend rinsing with apple-cider vinegar. Seems like a lot of vinegar to use every day. Hmm. I'll look into it. Til then, still on the Beautiful Lengths til it's gone.
Lotions and Perfumes
I don't wear much perfume; I think I still have an old bottle of Lady Stetson stuck away somewhere from high school. Body Sprays are really the new "Perfume" it seems anyway, leaving traditional Eu de Toilet in the back of the cabinet for special occasions.
Everything you own has a perfume in it though. If Fragrance is an ingredient and you wear it, it's a "perfume". Think about it: You use Cucumber Melon in the shower, god knows what in the shampoo, Cherry Almond lotion, Clean Rain deodorant, and then spritz Vanilla on your clothes as you walk out the door? O_o That's a lot of conflicting smells: no wonder my husband hates perfume. (Judgmental whiners. Men's products are just as bad!) Seems harder to find "Free and Clear" bathroom products than it is to find Free and Clear laundry detergent... Why is that, when I'm putting the perfume and dyes on my skin anyway? Oh well. I'm going to just chuck the perfume bottle since I NEVER wear it, and I like other scents so much more! At least the bottle is recyclable. And if I ever finish using the vanilla body spray I have, I'll nix ever buying more of that. It's just one more layer of perfume. Phew just cleaned two items off the shelf. I like this game.
Lotions:
I'm terrible about them. I still have an old bottle of Cherry Almond scented Jergens from 2001, way back when it was still the rectangular bottle. Then people have given me lotions: a Jasmine one I like very much, a Raspberry one I do too, a "bronzing" one I'm afraid to use due possible awkward staining, a fragrance free oatmeal one I use over shaved areas, an aloe one for sunburns, oi.. so many lotions.
It's funny, when I searched "Why wear body lotion" expecting to see tons of articles on skin health etc, I couldn't find a single one (not about sunscreen) not related to the face. Searching "history of.." had must better results. There do seem to be tons of reasons to wear them in popular "knowledge". Soften skin, moisturize dry skin, reduce the look of aging, and of course, as a perfume.
There are tons of "Natural" lotions that are fantastic, and I'd love to try them. Lord knows the price isn't much of an issue, since a bottle of lotion lasts me forever. For that reason it will be a long time before I need new lotion as I have to get through the couple bottles I own. What would I like though? Hmm. Hard to decide between Lavender and Jasmine. Both are supposedly soothing; this website lists Lavender as a slight stimulant and Jasmine as a relaxant, though I thought I read that it was vice versa. ...Can I blend them? O_O
It's hard to say how much I save since I don't really know how much I use in any time frame O_o We'll be super generous and say 18oz of Dial Every 2 months. That's 108oz a year. $3.50 @ Walmart, 6 times a year, $21.00.
-Nixing the Aussie 3-Minute Miracle costs $6.66 (go figure) at Walmart and is 8oz. That I only use once a week, so it would probably last three months. Without it I save 32oz and 26.64. (~0.689 lbs)
Totals:
Money: $47.64. (-$13)
Recyclable Garbage: 0.7 lbs.
Chemicals NOT Dumped: 1.1 gal.
Links:
Fantastic site from ChemistryExplained.com on Detergents. Specifically their effect on skin & hair keratin.
Interesting facts on Soap from KitchenDoctor.com
ChemistryQuestion.com states Shampoo was developed as using soap on hair caused it to be rough and damaged.
SCA- Jasmine was introduced from Persia to Europe in the 16thC
Why are all the products I like Purple?
Just lucky I guess ^_^
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