I was in the shower doing a co-wash and randomly I thought to look at the ingredients in my body wash. Okay maybe it wasn't so random since I've been looking at ingredients in my Shampoos, conditioners and hair dressings. And to my horrified-ness (yes, I tend to make up words), there were two sulfates as the second and third ingredient. What the H - E - double hockey sticks! Then when I got out of the shower, it dawned on me, "what am I putting on my face and body?" So I checked my face wash, and low and behold, SULFATE! Number two ingredient. Ugh! Why?! Lotions, Mineral oil, Baby oil, Mineral oil. I call myself "sealing in the moisture" while still wet with baby oil for years now and this year I got so fed up with how dry my skin gets in the winter. Even after "sealing in the moisture" and then putting on a thick lotion afterward. So a few days ago (the day before I decided to go natural with my hair), I figured I'd use my Vaseline Lotion and a Baby oil gel together. That has to fix my dryness. Nope. Now that I am on information overload, researching about transitioning to natural hair, I learned about mineral oil and sulfates and how they dry your hair. Well if they dry my hair then that is probably most likely why my skin has been so dry in this cold weather. Luckily and surprisingly my Vaseline brand lotion was mineral free and water and glycerine were number one and two ingredients. So tonight I tried it alone and will see how that works on my body without the added drying effect of the mineral oil I'd been slathering my body with.
So I went online in search of products that are sulfate and mineral oil free. Geez, it is just ridiculous how many products are out there with this crap in it. After going to many a products websites, in hope they list their ingredients (some did, most didn't), I finally found a few at Ulta that I will be going to get in the morning. I will be taking the body wash and baby oil, I bought at Target the other day, back. I am not about to waist my money.
Luckily my face moisturizer and Vaseline Lotion was mineral free, and my face scrub was sulfate free. I now need a new daily facial cleanser, and body wash. When my Vaseline lotion is all gone I will try to find a more natural one to use, but for now it'll work.
If anyone has any suggestions on sulfate and mineral oil free face and body products, I would love to hear them. I prefer on the cheaper end (unemployed teacher).
Heey I am SO glad I found this post, you see I was like you, natural hair led to natural living and I was obsessed with products and ingredient lists. It came down to it were I had stopped using deodorant (subbed with talc) to lighten my under arm skin, acv and baking soda to wash my hair, no conditioners, and natural oils to moisturise my skin and hair.
ReplyDeleteI tell you this in confidence because I was there thinking I'd never go back to "products" again. Well my results after around six months? My underarms have never been healthier, I moisturise them daily (one drop of oil) and talc works for me so maybe it's true that aluminium is the cause for skin darkening?
Anyway, on the hair from, acv and baking soda worked well 50% of the time. For the rest my scalp was never really that clean, or extra shiny or moisturised but I kept going because it was natural. I recently started researching more about sulfates and I have to say there are good and bad kinds. From what I've learnt products that actually clean do need sulfate (though I hear great things about castile soap). Without sulfate these products won't lather and strip away the unwanted particles. I also know that the downside of "harsher" sulfates is stripoing everything and so we go on a natural hunt looking for sulfate free items. But this is where a good conditioner comes in to protect the hair with it's smoothing agents until the scalp reproduces it's own natural oils. I don't want to get wordy by I read that ammonium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate are harsher detergents than sodium laureth sulfate. Also a even gentler one is cocamidoprpyl betaine. The worst offender is if your product contains multiple "sulfates" which you discovered recently. I researched several shampoos and finally went with Creme of Nature's new Ultra moisturing shamppo (kiwi&citrus). It's trial and error but after reading about gentler sulfates and using this I can say this IS a mosituring shampoo. I'm introducts slowly so I'm on the look out for a alcohol free conditioner and found success with Olive Oil moisture pack (left on for 1 hour max). It's worked on mine(natural) and my sisters (relaxed damaged hair) and has similar extracts to the Creme of Nature. I bought a sample size so far though.
For skin moisture that's easy, almond oil. put on while your skin is damp (I keep a water bottle to spray my skin if I've dried off too much). I hope you try this because I've since discarded my once loved cocoa butter cream because this simply works. I'm also acne prone and have no fears about using it on my face (2 drops max). I absorbs immediately when rubbed on damp skin and I NEVER break out because of almond oil. It's also cheap, though buy a reliable brand of course.
Hope to hear from you :)
Oh and mineral oil, well, I steer clear of it because I have locs. Apparently used sparingly on hair that is already moisturised it can act as a sealer but on dry hair it's no good or so I imagine. Three things I believe my hair needs: Cleansing shampoo, moisturing shampoo, conditioner. I'm with you on this journey to find what works.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I did create a body cream/butter using raw shea and other oils. So far so good. I have been trying the oil cleansing method for my face and a lemon sugar scrub. So far that has been working well. I still use a benzo product on my face because I can't do the oil cleansing method twice a day. I do still use deoderant but I will give the talc a try.
DeleteI've heard good things about lemon juice to improve the complexion though I think it's unlikely citric acid will take away my acne scars so I've never tried it. I keep meaning to exfoliate once a fortnight with sea salt which works really well. I still use a benzo product when my face feels too oily because I know oil can build up every few days and I usual only use water to wash with. Be sure to rub the talc in really well (the oil helps).
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