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ARTICLES ON AUBREY

Shampoo Savvy

By L. Stephen. Coles, M.D., Ph.D., from Healthy Living

Almost every shampoo sold in drug or department stores contains undisclosed contaminants or carcinogen precursors. The safest brands today are in health food stores. Aubrey Organics® provides a diverse line of safe and healthy shampoos.

There is no getting around it: Humans are plagued and blessed-and everything in between-by their hair," says natural beauty author Margaret Dinsdale in her book Skin Deep (Camden House, 1994). "Our society places great emphasis on hair, as an evening's worth of television commercials will quickly reveal. Is it the right style? Is it the right colour? Is it shiny enough? Is it clean enough? Is it wavy enough? Is it straight enough? It sometimes seems as though our success in the world may rise or fall on how we manage our hair and scalps."

No matter how enticingly packaged or hyped with advertising, if your shampoo uses unsafe ingredients, the product is likely to be hazardous to your health, especially over the long run.

Unsafe ingredients in shampoos make people with sensitive skin, including babies and children, vulnerable to allergies and irritation. More ominously, many drug store brands contain carcinogens not disclosed on labels which present a cumulative or long-term cancer risk to consumers.

When you shampoo, your scalp is exposed to warm water and detergent, making the skin a permeable pathway for absorption of toxins. To compound the problem, the powerful detergents in most shampoos emulsify oil, removing this protective layer from the hair and scalp. This toxicity hazard is especially acute for babies and children whose immune systems are not fully mature.

There is a safe and healthy alternative, however, in a line of shampoos from Aubrey Organics. These shampoos combine herbs and nutrients with mild cleansers that leave your hair looking great-without exposing you or your loved ones to carcinogens or carcinogen precursors.

HEALTH RISKS OF CONVENTIONAL SHAMPOOS

Some shampoo-related health problems are immediate such as allergies and irritation, while others are delayed. Let's look a little more closely at each of these types of health hazards. Armed with good information, we should be able to avoid the worst allergens and irritants, as well as carcinogens.

Allergies and Irritation

Conventional shampoos contain synthetic fragrances and a wide range of preservatives. Both have been shown to be the leading causes of cosmetic-related allergies and irritation today.

Synthetic fragrances are often made from more than 600 separate chemicals, many classified as extremely hazardous, but not required to be listed individually on the label or provided separately to consumers who request such information. Fragrances are the number one cause of allergies and irritation in cosmetics and personal care products. Natural fragrance or none at all is a safe and healthy choice if you find that your shampoo is bothering your eyes, skin or scalp.

Another class of allergens and irritants in shampoos are those preservatives that contain, release, or break down into formaldehyde, including:

Diazolidinyl urea
Imidazolidinyl urea
2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (Bronopol)
Quaternium-15

Two other common ingredients, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and DMDM hydantoin, also degrade (in products during storage) into formaldehyde. Polyethylene glycol may be shown on the label attached to other ingredients or with a number, as in PEG-150 distearate.

Among other miscellaneous ingredients likely to be eye, skin, or mucous membrane irritants are:

EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid)
D&C Green 5
Selenium sulfide (used in anti-dandruff shampoos)

Carcinogens

Many popular shampoo brands contain carcinogen precursors. The two main culprits are diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA), often shown on labels attached to other compounds as in cocamide-DEA or TEA-sodium lauryl sulfate. These ingredients are not carcinogenic themselves but combine with nitrites (added to raw materials or present as contaminants) to form cancer-causing nitrosamines. We recommend avoiding products with DEA or TEA.

The preservative 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol can also cause nitrosamine formation. Vitamins A,C, or E will slow formation of nitrosamines to an extent, but it is better to seek products without carcinogen precursors at all.

Artificial colors are disclosed on product labels. Almost all have some evidence of carcinogenicity or are contaminated with cancer-causing impurities such as arsenic and lead. Eliminate these from your shampoo if you want a safe and natural product.

Some shampoos may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which is carcinogenic. This contaminant is not disclosed on product labels. The best way to protect yourself from this carcinogen is to recognize those ingredients most likely to be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane. These include ingredients with "PEG," "polyethylene," "polyethylene glycol," "polyoxyethylene," "eth" (as in sodium laureth sulfate), or "oxynol" in their names. Both polysorbate 60 and polysorbate 80 may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane.

Safer Alternatives

For people who are seeking truly safe and natural healing pathways, their choice of shampoo and other cosmetic products is extremely important. Virtually all of the best cosmetic brands, however, can be found only at health food stores.

One such line is Aubrey Organics. We've known about the Aubrey Organics line of shampoos for about seven years-although the company is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the natural products business. Aubrey Organics provides one of the most diverse lines of safe and healthy shampoos today.

Their line is created without any synthetic chemicals-no synthetic fragrance, formaldehyde donors, or nitrosamine precursors. No animal testing or animal products are used, either. Their products fulfill all of the criteria for a safe and healthy line, and they work extremely well.

They use only vegetarian soaps and proteins including coconut oil, corn oil, olive oil castile, wheat and soya protein.

They use only filtered and deionized water.

Their preservatives include antioxidant vitamins A, C, E and citrus seed extract-all of which also help fight premature skin aging.

They use only natural fragrances such as geranium, lavender, orange blossom and jasmine oils.

They use wild-crafted or organically grown plants for their conditioning properties. None of their herbal extracts contain propylene glycol, a potent allergen commonly used as a carrying agent in place of vegetable glycerine (which is more expensive).

They make their products fresh daily so they don't sit on the shelf (although they will last more than a year). Plus, they don't use distributors or warehouses. The products are delivered directly to stores, which guarantees their freshness.

We recommend the Aubrey Organics line of shampoos, because their products are extremely safe and because of their overall commitment to safe and healthy values.

L. Stephen Coles, M.D., Ph.D., is an expert in health and longevity.

A sampling of Aubrey Organics shampoos

Egyptian Henna Shampoo helps to remove oil deposits and prevents dandruff with continued use.

Camomile Luxurious Herbal Shampoo blends coconut and olive oil castile with wheat protein for thicker hair and richer lathering. Camomile brings out the lighter shades of your hair, while rosemary warms and stimulates the scalp, effectively treating dandruff.

Green Tea Shampoo provides matcha green tea and conditioning agents such as rosemary, aloe vera, sage, nettle, coltsfoot and horsetail for a great cleansing and conditioning formula. Green tea is an excellent scalp and skin herb, known for helping to prevent sun-related skin and hair damage. Coltsfoot and horsetail are rich sources of organic nutrients such as silica and cysteine.

White Camellia & Jasmine Conditioning Shampoo contains white camellia oil, high in essential fatty acids for moisturizing hair. It's Rosa Mosqueta® rose hip seed oil helps to revitalize dry and damaged hair, while its macadamia nut oil moisturizes without being greasy.

Aubrey's Men's Stock Ginseng Shampoo contains ginseng, which enhances circulation in the capillaries of the skin and increases the supply of nutrients to the hair. This helps to prevent or retard premature hair loss. Ginseng also protects damaged hair and gives it better manageability and less brittleness.

Aubrey's Natural Baby Shampoo is perhaps the safest brand for babies today and works extremely well without the use of irritating chemicals.

Source:
Article by: L. Stephen. Coles, M.D., Ph.D.,
Shampoo Savvy for Healthy Living
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