Over the past few years savvy consumers have been wising up to the toxic dangers contained in personal care products sold in the typical grocery, drug, and department store.
These dangers include a range of harmful chemicals found in the body washes, shampoos, deodorants, hair dyes, cosmetics, and every variety of lotion and potion we’ve been applying to our bodies on a daily basis for years.
While it’s a challenge for the average consumer to know what’s safe to use and what isn’t, fortunately there are some groups you can turn to for help.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of groups working to eliminate harmful chemicals in personal care products in the U.S. One of their founding members is the Environmental Working Group (EWG) which maintains an online safety database called “Skin Deep” that provides extensive information on the safest and least safe personal care products and brands.
You can visit http://www.ewg.org/skindeep to check the safety score of tens of thousands of personal care products. EWG even has a Skin Deep mobile app that you can download on your smartphone for instant access to this important information while you shop!
The Shampoo “Red” List (Don’t Use Shampoo With These Ingredients)
One of the personal products that most of use weekly, if not daily, is shampoo. As it turns out, many shampoos contain chemicals that are harmful to your health. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics includes the following 5 ingredients on their “Red” list for shampoos. These are the worst chemicals found in shampoo products that you need to avoid to protect your health.
- Ethanolamines (cocamide DEA and others)
- Parabens (e.g. butyl paraben)
- UV filters (Octinoxate, Oxybenzone)
- Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin)
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate and other -eth compounds, which can be contaminated with 1-4-dioxane and ethylene oxide
A Safer Alternative to Toxic Shampoos
The very best way to know what’s in your personal care products is to make your own. Here’s an easy essential oil shampoo recipe you can mix up at home in only a couple of minutes. It uses two essential oils that are known to benefit hair health. You can discover more about the best essential oils for hair here.
Recipe used with permission from "Essential Oils: Ancient Medicine For The Modern World" by Jordan Rubin, Dr. Josh Axe, and Ty Bollinger Organixx organic essential oils are made with indigenously sourced plants retrieved from the world’s best sources. Visit https://organixx.com for more essential oil recipes and helpful articles.
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Thank You!
I used the website that was referenced (EWG) to look up a few products. It’s interesting to me that (when I looked up Tom’s toothpaste) SLS itself had a green rating of 1. So the sodium laureth sulfate is somewhat dangerous, it only had a rating of 3, but the sodium lauryl sulfate is safe? I’ve always heard advise to stay away from all SLS. Any thoughts?
Toms was bought out years ago by Crest
Actually, Crest is a P & G product. Tom’s was purchased by Colgate-Palmolive
Are there any special use instructions?
Can you add a little castile soap so it will suds?
I have been making Dr Axe’s other shampoo recipe for over a year now (aloe gel, b soda, and Rosemary&sage oil – i think)
It bothered my husband that it does not suds and I started adding some of Dr Bronners baby castile, unscented; works well!
Hello Dr. Nuzum!
Thanks for the recipe for natural shampoo.
I have a problem now that I’m not using commercial hair color to cover my grays. I now only use Henna…but, the problem with using natural hair color is that the Essential Oils in natural shampoo strip the Henna from hair!
What is a girl to do?
I can’t seem to figure out WHAT to wash my hair with anymore. I find I use natural shampoos but am having to put Henna on my hair every 2 weeks instead of 6 weeks. It’s a bummer!!!
Can you help?????? Thanks!
Let yourself go gray!!!!
let it go gray, it is beautiful and not aging..xx
gray shots old!
That’s what I did! Because I am now even healthier than when I put toxic chemicals regularly into my bloodstream on a monthly basis, I actually look younger, and I feel better, too!
Suggest you count your blessings and let your hair color itself gray to white. Love the distinguished look of mature, compassionate, beautiful aging women and their Wisdom hair natural colors
Go gray, it’s the new trend,been doing it for years, it’s beautiful and empowering ?
Is it possible that the baking soda might have a bleaching effect on my hair?
Thanks, Sandra
No baking soda doesn’t remove color
Does it leave your hair greasy and dull or full and shiny?
That is going to be some stiff dry shampoo. It won’t be coming out of a squeeze bottle.
Baking soda is quite alkaline & really bad for hair & scalp. Baking soda will make your scalp itch & turn hair into straw. I use a no-chemical, shampoo soap bar. Gentle, lasts forever, no plastic waste.
What brand shampoo soap bar do you use and where could I find it?
Where do you purchase this shampoo soap bar?
I get shampoo bars from an all organic farm in eastern Virginia called Quail Cove Farms. They also have conditioner bars.
Won’t the fact that the Baking soda is mixed with oils diminish the drying effect?
Who makes your shampoo soap bar? I would love more information.
Hi Gerry. I’m interested in the shampoo bar you use. Can you share?
Gerri-
Where do you find no-chemical shampoo soap bar if I might ask? Certain brand?
Gerri, do you mind leaving the name of the shampoo soap bar please?
That’s bologna. I use baking soda, dry, only, most of the time and my hair is easy to comb after and while wet, my scalp has never itched. And though most of the time after the bathing I massage my body with coconut or almond oil and with the fine trace amounts left on my hands I massage my scalp and hair. And I love the greys. Looking forward to the All White. But I don’t know if any of that will happen because my hair as it seemed naturally to start turning grey, it is naturally turning back to original Dark Brown. Yeah. But the love grey highlights are really nice looking and very stylish. Thank you Thank you very much.
I use baking soda diluted with water and squirt on hair, massage, rinse, then follow up with diluted apple cider vinegar sprayed on as a rinse. My hair and scalp are handling it well. No issues.
I do that, too !
I use baking soda and acv both on my hair every day, and don’t have straw hair.
My hair was greasy and looked as if it was wet all day after using this recipe. Also my skin felt burnt.
Shouldn’t the baking soda be one that doesn’t contain aluminum?
Baking soda doesn’t have aluminum, you’re thinking about baking powder, but you can even buy that aluminum-free.
half a cup of baking soda seems a lot! I use less in mine and add some unscented castile soap (eye measurement); over the fall and winter I can go for 3 weeks not needing to wash my short hair, it feels soft and is nice and fluffy even without a vinegar rinse; LOVE my home made shampoo!! thanks Dr Axe!!!
Can you please cancel my recurring order for Turmeric3D and Living
Vintage Enzymes, as they keep getting raided by British Customs, which puts them out of my price range. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Hi Dave,
Please contact our customer support team: https://support.organixx.com/submit_ticket
Thank You Ty, hello Johnathan. This recipe’s ingredients are delicious. I can’t even fathom how this would burn somebodies skin, unless they spilled some peppermint oil neat, on them and didn’t realize it. The amounts of ingredients sounds great. Love You All. Thank Ye again!
Greasy! Yuck! Mix equal parts castile soap w water and add essential oils.
When I use a baking soda in water shampoo, I only need to wash my hair every 3-4 days. Is this the case with this shampoo?
don’t you have to be careful and not get peppermint oil in your eyes. It will really burn