RP248 Shampoo-Do We Really Need It

 RP248 Shampoo-Do We Really Need It?

We wash our hands with soap, brush our teeth with toothpaste, and clean our hair with shampoo. That's the way it's always been, right? Well... maybe not.

Shampoo, as we know it, is only about 100 years old. Before that, people washed their hair with soap once or twice a month. Shampoo has been marketed successfully, but many people now think it isn't good for us. They say shampoo is actually bad for your hair and your scalp. A few key ingredients in shampoo may be the culprits.

Shampoos almost always contain alcohol. The alcohol dries out both your hair and your scalp, eroding a natural oil barrier and leaving you potentially more vulnerable to bacteria. The reason we need conditioner after shampoo is to replace the oil that alcohol strips away. Mineral oil is generally used to make shampoos more gentle, but it can clog pores and cause acne and other skin problems. Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS, SLES) are cleansers. They make shampoo form bubbles, or lather. Both strip dirt from hair, but both also cause skin irritation. Many natural health activists say SLS and SLES cause eye damage, skin damage, and hormone changes.

Unwashed hair gets greasy, of course. So how should we clean our hair? First, you need to give your hair a few weeks to adjust to the no-shampoo routine. The drying effect of shampoo causes our scalps to produce more oil, leading to greasy hair. When we stop stripping our scalps of oil, however, they will stop overproducing it, and our hair will achieve a balance. After that, hair can be washed occasionally with gentler soaps like baking soda or apple cider vinegar. They say often all we need is to scrub our scalps with water and brush a powder through dry hair to soak up excess oil.

Many people who have stopped shampooing say their hair is more beautiful and more manageable than ever before. Perhaps shampoo really is a sham.