IS YOUR TOXIC SHAMPOO REALLY WORTH IT?

By Christine Oster, Director of Marketing Advanced Coloration USA and active advocate for the education of consumers about “DEADLY BEAUTY” of Toxic Beauty Products.

A more in depth look at a COMMON Chemicals in Shampoo’s known as  (SLS) aka Sodium Laurel Sulfate or (SLES) Sodium Laureth Sulfate.

Before I start explaining in detail about this common but toxic chemical in your Shampoo let me state the following:

Did YOU know?  Public Health Laws in the US allow:

Almost any chemical to be used in a personal care product

Misleading or Incomplete Labeling of Ingredients

Unsubstantiated Claims about Product Attributes or Benefits

Little or No Testing is done on products be it animal or human

That is pretty hard to believe huh? Well the truth is…

Organic, Natural, even the words “Good For you” are used in many Hair Care Products that are available for purchase and being marketed to the US Consumer every single day.  So you are like “SO WHAT! I like what I use it works great and makes me feel beautiful.” The facts are you are  looking for a solution to your beauty issues , or those you think you have and are willing to just go on what a Company’s  product Advertising tells you about how awesome their product can make you feel or look. The “BAD NEWS” is many of these claims are just that…marketing claims with no true research, testing or regard for Consumer’s Long Term Health.

In a free society it seems that is common place to produce products and sell them deceptively to Businesses and Consumers with little or no regard to actual safety. If you think the US regulation agencies protect you think again…that is another blog topic for sure. Back to the issue at hand:  To these Companies it is all about stabilization or shelf life of the products, how they smell (Fragrances) and will it make you think it is good for your hair and skin, make you think you are getting Clean ( SLS is the Foaming AGENT)… I often call this “DEADLY BEAUTY” as these toxic chemicals effects are accumulative over time and numerous studies show they can cause disease like cancer and other deadly “UGLY” diseases all in the name of being Beautiful. Oh yeah and they make lots of lots of money doing this too.

Interesting enough most of these products did not even come to the beauty care market until the 1960’s and to further bring home the point Cancer rates have steadily increased since that time…draw your own conclusion. Cancer occurrence rates use to be 1 in 10 people we are rapidly approaching 8 in 10. I don’t know about you but I want to avoid being that statistic if possible.

So you are thinking where do I find products that don’t contain this “Toxic Soup” of Chemicals and will they really work for my hair?  Well I can only share my personal experience and those of our customers that yes you can and you can do it with Advanced Hair Care Products.

So is Advanced Coloration’s Products any different…really? YES REALLY! Great care and concern was taken to develop products that not only were high performance but more importantly did not contain NASTY TOXIC CHEMICALS. It is not about how much of this we can sell or how much money we can make. It is about providing a better, safer , less toxic alternative to the US Consumer on every day Beauty products like Hair Color, Shampoo , Conditioner and Hair Styling Products!  The GOOD NEWS is we don’t contain the NASTY TOXIC CHEMICALS and the Products OUT PERFORM their Toxic Counter Parts and give you the GREAT HAIR you so desperately want.

My personal experience is that the Color Lock and Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner are actual improving my hair! My hair color stays beautiful for 6 weeks or longer …I only need to have those dang Grey’s covered back up. My hair is soft, shiny and manageable and I have Curly hair that I can now easily style with no frizzy issues. I also noticed significant reduction in hair loss which has been a problem for me since I hit my mid 40’s. My experience is also being repeated to us daily by individuals using these products. I can’t imagine why I would use anything else even from strictly a Performance Based preference, let alone it is actually healthy!

Okay back to educating you on the first toxic chemical in our series of discovery.

 So I am going to share with you more in-depth information about SLS or SLES. Over the next few blogs I will breakdown other toxic chemical compounds as well. Today we focus on the most common of the Toxic Chemicals SLS OR SLES.

By the way just so you don’t think we are making this stuff up to market our product just Google the topic…you will find 1,000’s of links confirming research and truth in this matter. Here is one I like that explains SLS and SLES in more detail.

Taken from the source: natural-health-information-centre.com

Both Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and its close relative Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) are commonly used in many soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpastes and other products that we expect to “foam up”. Both chemicals are very effective foaming agents, chemically known as surfactants.

Unfortunately, both sodium laureth sulfate and its cousin are also very dangerous, highly irritating chemicals. Far from giving “healthy shining hair” and “beautiful skin”, soaps and shampoos containing sodium laureth sulfate can lead to direct damage to the hair follicle, skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity.

Although sodium laureth sulfate is somewhat less irritating than SLS, it cannot be metabolized by the liver and its effects are therefore much longer-lasting. This not only means it stays in the body tissues for longer, but much more precious energy is used getting rid of it.

A report published in the Journal of The American College of Toxicology in 1983 showed that concentrations of SLS as low as 0.5% could cause irritation and concentrations of 10-30% caused skin corrosion and severe irritation. National Institutes of Health “Household Products Directory” of chemical ingredients lists over 80 products that contain SLS and SLES. Some soaps have concentrations of up to 30%, which the ACT report called “highly irritating and dangerous“.

Shampoos are among the most frequently reported products to the FDA. Reports include eye irritation, scalp irritation, tangled hair, swelling of the hands, face and arms and split and fuzzy hair. This is highly characteristic of sodium laureth sulfate and almost definitely directly related to its use.

So why is a dangerous chemical like sodium laureth sulfate used in our soaps and shampoos?

The answer is simple – it is cheap. The sodium laureth sulfate found in our soaps is exactly the same as you would find in a car wash or even a garage, where it is used to degrease car engines.

In the same way as it dissolves the grease on car engines, SLES also dissolves the oils on your skin, which can cause a drying effect. It is also well documented that it denatures skin proteins, which causes not only irritation, but also allows environmental contaminants easier access to the lower, sensitive layers of the skin.

This denaturing of skin proteins may even be implicated in skin and other cancers.

Perhaps most worryingly, sodium laureth sulfate is also absorbed into the body from skin application. Once it has been absorbed, one of the main effects of SLS is to mimic the activity of the hormone Estrogen. This has many health implications and may be responsible for a variety of health problems from PMS and Menopausal symptoms to dropping male fertility and increasing female cancers such as breast cancer, where estrogen levels are known to be involved.

Products commonly found to contains SLS or Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Soaps
Shampoos
Bubble-baths
Tooth paste
Washing-up liquid / dish soap
Laundry detergent
Children’s soaps / shampoos
Stain Remover
Carpet Cleaner
Fabric glue
Body wash
Shave cream
Mascara
Mouthwash
Skin cleanser
Moisture lotion / Moisturizer
Sun Cream

Over the next few weeks I will take you thru a more in depth look at the following:

Resorcinol: Common ingredient in hair color and bleaching products; skin irritant, toxic to the immune system and frequent cause of hair dye allergy. In animal studies, resorcinol can disrupt normal thyroid function. The federal government regulates exposures to resorcinol in the workplace, but its use is not restricted in personal care products.

Formaldehyde: A potent preservative considered a known human carcinogen by the International Agency on Research on Cancer. Formaldehyde, also an asthmagen, neurotoxicant and developmental toxicant, was once mixed into too many personal care products as antiseptic. This use has declined. But some hair straighteners are based on formaldehyde’s hair-stiffening action and release substantial amounts of the chemical. Many common preservatives also release formaldehyde into products (like DMDM hydantoin, quaternium, and urea compounds).

DMDM hydantoin & bronopol (2-Bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol): Cosmetics preservatives that decompose and release formaldehyde, which the International Agency on Research on Cancer lists as a known human carcinogen. The preservatives and their decomposition products, including formaldehyde, can trigger allergic reactions. About one-fifth of U.S. cosmetics and personal care products contain a chemical that releases formaldehyde. Not surprisingly, more Americans develop contact allergies to these ingredients than Europeans.

Coal tar hair dyes and other coal tar ingredients (including Aminophenol, Diaminobenzene, Phenylenediamine): Coal tar, a byproduct of coal processing, is a known human carcinogen, according to the National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Hair stylists and other professionals are exposed to these chemicals in hair dye almost daily. While FDA sanctions coal tar in specialty products such as dandruff and psoriasis shampoos, the long-term safety of these products has not been demonstrated.

BHA: The National Toxicology Program classifies butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” It can cause skin depigmentation. In animal studies, BHA produces liver damage and causes stomach cancers such as papillomas and carcinomas and interferes with normal reproductive system development and thyroid hormone levels. The European Union considers it unsafe in fragrance. It is found in food, food packaging, and personal care products sold in the U.S.

If you would like to know more about Advanced Coloration or Advanced Hair Care products and the movement to stop the use of these toxic chemicals we would love to hear from you. You can reply right here on our blog, email us or even “old fashioned” pick up the phone and talk to us if you have further questions or comments or to purchase go to our website www.advancedcoloration.com

We are not the only company out here producing these truly “NON TOXIC” Hair Care Products, we are however very serious about educating Hair Stylists, Salon Owners and yes the Consumers of the United States that there is indeed a need to understand what you are putting on your Hair and eventually your skin could be doing you more harm than good. The best part is you can easily obtain these products and do so at a reasonable cost.  Check out the blog next week for information on PARABENS…oh yeah they are in lots of stuff and have about 10 plus different technical names.

Ciao Bella… (Italian for Bye Beautiful) from the ADVANCED COLORATION TEAM USA.