Bulldinkie--Sodium Laurel/laureth Sulfate is in practically all grocery store, drug store, discount house shampoos. It's actually more common than not--you have to really LOOK to find shampoos that don't have it. If you buy your shampoo at the grocery store, and if it foams and makes lots of lather when you use it, chances are, you're using SLS. But you can easily check--look on the bottle. Shampoos list ingredients, just as food products do.

I have respect for ONE dermatologist. DH was referred to him by two 'lesser lights' in the field! LOL

This is Dr. Andrew Scheman, Northbrook, IL. He's gone through the aisles of drug stores and checked the ingredients of most every product sold. Nearly all liquids contain some form of *formaldehyde* as a preservative, although the manufacturers use other terms. As we age, our skin can become even more sensitive to products we've used all our lives.

As soon as we threw out all the 'bad' products, DH's skin problems just...stopped.

IMO, and that of Scheman, 'dermatology' is a questionable 'science'.

Chisue, do you still have the doctor's list? I've been allergic to all nail polishes that contain formaldehyde. Fortunately cosmetic companies are offering more and more formaldehyde-free polishes.

But I do wonder about other kinds of products. Especially shampoos and conditioners because I have suffered with scalp problems nearly all my life. I currently use TRESemme Naturals low sulfate shampoo and conditioner and it's helped but would love to hear about other products as well.

Jodi-

I really like the Skin Deep database. It rates cosmetic and personal care products in terms of safety and toxicity, and explains the ingredients and what is dangerous about them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Skin Deep Cosmetics Database

I talked to my pharmacist to-day and she agrees that it may be a problem for me. She is going to find out what shampoo I might try. I checked out the L'oreal ones and many others and they all had sulphates of one kind or another. Also all the hand soaps did as well and the tooth pastes that I checked. I'm really thinking this may be my problem. In a way I hope it is, but on the other hand if I can't find anything that doesn't have it, that is a problem too.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all your help. It cetainly appears that I am not alone in this.

Because of this thread, I headed to the shampoo aisle at work and looked for organic shampoo. First I did a little online research. Several websites recommended "Avalon Organics" Shampoo, so that's what I bought. There are 3 types, I bought the one for moisturizing my hair, as it's quite dry most days. The smell is nothing to write home about...... The Lavendar scented one smells so good, but wrong hair type for me. Turns out, the SLS and other chemicals can cause thinning of the hair! And my hair is super duper thin. This shampoo retails for $8.99, but I get a staff discount.

I'll try it in the morning when I take my shower. I don't think it'll lather up a lot as there is no SLS in it. I used to make bath bombs and bubble bath, so I know how SLS works. :o) We had to wear a face mask when using it because trust me........ it tastes awful and boy does it bubble! LOL

I may continue to use organic shampoo after reading all the stuff I did online yesterday.

Could you send me an email, debby_ab, and tell me what store you found it in, if you feel you shouldn't post that here? I'm in Canada too, but in Ontario so maybe able to find a store here that sells it.
I'm really anxious to give it a try or any brand that might help.

I was told not to use Tide soap for laundry. I'll have to check and see if the laundry soaps are free of this substance. maybe it will be an incentative to make my own but proably some of those ingredients would be a no no, too.

I'm so appreciative of all the info.

If you switch to a simple REAL soap (and not a detergent based soap, shampoo, etc.) the sensitivity problems will be solved. I use Green Mountain soap, which we discovered on an internet search out of desperation for me with my chemical sensitivity and for my husband with sudden allergic reactions to additives in grocery store soaps (fragrance) Very coincidentally, it's made right in our own home city so we can go in person and stock up by the box-full.

We use the liquid soap most of the time, and for a shampoo, as well. But we always keep some of their bar soap on hand. If you are looking for perfumey additives, this is not the product for you.

There are plenty of manufacturers of real soap products around (like Dr. Bonner's, for example). Just be sure to read the label to make sure that they haven't tampered with the ingredients by adding the a bunch of preservatives, fragrances, and other products.

Here is a link that might be useful: Just for your information

Ivamae, I sent you an email through the link on your page. Let me know if it works.

I suppose I should update my profile, huh?

ivamae, I forgot to mention that I buy my SLS free toothpaste online as it's not available in stores. It's called Squigle. As for shampoo's, hair/beauty stores carry several brands of SLS free.

jodi -- DH had to have skin tests (150 patches!) to determine what he was sensitive to. The doctor's list is coded. For instance, DH is to avoid products that are coded: BP, D, DM, I, IBC, P, Q

These codes represent products with Urea, Parabens, etc. All are preservatives.

www.scheman.com Go to the allergen short charts.

He did OK Walgreen's "Clear and Natural" products.

Don't be fooled because a product says it is "organic" , "nautral", or "botanical" -- meaningless.

Oh dear!
I went to a search engine and typed SLS.....it is a swingers website!

From now on I'll type out the whole word...

I was able to pick up what debbie-al suggested, to-day. I went over the ingredients very carefully and it should be all right. I haven't heard back from the pharmacist yet.

I'll let you know my opinion after I have tried this for a short ime.

I do appreciae everyones sugestions. Hope it also helps some of you.
ivamae

It's worth a try for me, I am sick to death of the itching on my head. If it was that though I think I would itch everywhere. I use tide for my laundry.

There is a lot of interesting information on the net about this subject, even one that says it causes cancer which is nonsense. There were to many links to post. The one that interested me the most said that if you want clean hair without these ingredients you are not going to get it. It is a form of garage cleaners, but it is so weak it can not hurt you and it is being diluted with water when used and it is not on your head all the time. I found nothing about causing an allergic reaction. The most common sense advice I found was "it does causes a chemical reaction that can cause dyed hair to fade. The advice was to wash your hair once a week if you have straight hair and once every 2 or 3 weeks if you have curly hair and use a condition with the curly hair. It's in everything including candy. There was one article that was about the ones in drugs. The question was "I am allergic to sulpher will this medicine hurt me?" The answer was no, they are not the same".

This is truly astonishing....the things one can learn from our family forum members. I have showered and shampooed and so far no itching. I checked shampoo...second ingredient....body wash (that I thought was moisturising my skin....second ingredient. Next, the laundry room! BTW...even in the health-food section of our store; only ONE shampoo did not include sulphates. On the front of some it said "no lauryal sulphate" only to list on ingredients sodium sulphate. What's with that??? Nanny

valla, I'm not sure I understand your statement. Did the site you looked at say that someone was allergic to sulphur and they are not the same thing? I'm allergic to sulpha, not sulphur, and that is why I was wondering about the sulphate.

From what I read, I think there are many different sulphates and one is this, Sodium Laurel/laureth Sulfate. It appears it is in everyhing under the sun.

I know a lot of the info is confusing but still worth reading, I think.

You can certainly get clean hair without these additives. Some of the most beautiful hair I've ever seen are from people who don't shampoo their hair at all. When you shampoo daily with harsh cleansers, you strip the protective oil that is needed for healthy, glossy hair. Your scalp then overcompensates with oil and you get that unattractive greasy look, making you shampoo again. And so on.

When you use gentle, natural shampoos, or even skip it altogether, with time your scalp adjusts and you don't get greasy. The oils do what they are designed to do, which is to protect and condition the hair. And you get to avoid that endless cycle of cleansing then conditioning back everything you just stripped off. :P

But most people aren't patient enough to let the body work as it should.

I avoid chemicals in everything I can, because I do believe they can lead to cancer. We're seeing absurdly high cancer rates in all demographics and I blame it partly on chemical exposure in everything we touch these days, from shampoo to cleaning products to even our food. It's scary.

I looked at a lot of sites and two were about these products in drugs. that is where I read it's not the same thing. I also remember asking a doctor about one of those in my meds and she said it's not the same thing. I am sorry I can't remember the names, but my memory is not so good anymore. What I researched was the terms in the subject line.

I will continue to use what I have always used. My experience as a "user" of shampoos, is that I like Prell. It removes the oils leaving my hair shiny and bouncy or it bounced when I had long hair. It is the only product I have used that lives up to the commercials. Your hair is dead it does not need oils and cannot be healthy, it can only be dirty or clean. Healthy is hype to get you to buy all of their wonderful products. Thinning hair runs in my family. I do use one special shampoo now for Psoriasis.

The shampoo I am wondering about is Nizeral. Is that the one that you ar using for the Psoriais? I was told to use it evey other day and T/Gel the alernaive days. That went on for a long time and then was told to use it every other day and the same wih the T/Gel. The last time I saw him he told me to add Dove shampoo and alternate the 3 of them. I have done that, and it has continually got more itchy but there is this one ingredient in both the Nizeral and the Dove, so could explain that, if 2 out of every 3 shampoos, I am getting something that is agravating. Of course, this may not be the case at all but certainly worth a try, in my opinion. I don't feel that the T/Gel aggravates, but of course I can be mistaken.

Try washing your hair with baking soda. Finish with an apple cider vinegar rinse. Clean, soft, shiny hair and inexpensive too.

Linda

DH was using T-gel. Stopped. Now uses only his body wash to shampoo his hair. No more flakes.

My late MIL was an RN and hospital administrator. She always said dermatology was a great field to be in because your patients don't die and they are never cured. You have them forever!

I could be missing it in the ingredients list but don't think that Nature's Gate shampoos have sodium laurel sulfate. You could Google for more information. It is what I use, doesn't get foamy or make suds, and I buy it from Amazon. Works very well, too. Wishing you success in finding less harmful products.
Linda B.

chisue, you are absolutely right. I nor any of my friends with similar problems have ever had a test to confirm our diagnosis. One of my friends is starving herself because she was diagnosed with fungus cause by food allergies. He just looked at it and said fungus.

vala55 -- I have absolutely no connection with the dermatologist I recommended, but he is the only one I know who has scientific grounds for his findings. You could email him and see if he could recommend someone in your area: www.scheman.com (He is in Northbrook, IL.)

Don't be put off by the 'cosmetic' angle to the site. They do have that in the office, but the doctor is the real McCoy. Most allergists give you about 30 skin test scratches. DH was given over a hundred by Dr. Scheman, and it was based on those reactions that he was told what ingredients to avoid. (I was skeptical, but...it WORKED.)

singingsky_z5, is this the shampoo you're talking about? SLS is one of the first ingredients.

Here is a link that might be useful: natures gate

I was tested by an allergist many years ago for a female problem. The allergist expected me to be allergic to yeast, but to his surprise I was allergic to my own body's bacteria. I was taking the shots until I had a hysterectomy. After that my problem went away. Allergist might come up with what is causing my problem, but I am to old for shots to do any good. The problem is not serious enough to give up something like wheat. No cereals, no bread, not going there.

This is the one I buy on Amazon and have not seen Nature's Gate in a white container. Someone may have wrongly told me that it doesn't contain said ingredient, though.

Going to try to make a clickable link. If the link doesn't work and anyone would like to check the ingredients, go to Amazon and search for Nature's Gate. I only suggest this because of also having looked for such a shampoo and was told this was a good one. Hope they were right. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Nature's Gate Organic Shampoo

The link worked for me, but didn't see any ingredients listed.

It does have sulfate in it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Green bottle

Natures Gate biotin shampoo.First two ingredients....Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate.

Or you could make your own shampoo and not worry at all about the added ingredients!LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade Shampoo

I wanted to add to this discussion in case any of you have the same problem as mine. All along I have thought it was a food allergy that made my scalp itch and guess what....it was the stomach meds I was taking. I stopped for 3 days and the itching almost went away. My scalp is no longer red and no bumps. It was the generic Nexium, omeprazole. I knew I couldn't take the PPIs that came out a few years ago, but did not know omeprazole was Nexium. What a relief. Now I will probably get stomach ulcers. LOL

Omeprazole is the generic of Prilosec not Nexium.

Thanks for bringing this back again so I can report back too.I have eliminated SLS from shampoo and body wash since this thread began, and I am nearly "itch free". I still am a tiny bit itchy, but nothing like before and I have not re-washed clothing or checked the laundry soap. I also take Nexium and I think next year I will be forced to use generic if available. But, on the other hand, I am slowly using less and less of the Nexium because I have heard that it contributes to more fragile bones. Oh, the things we do to our bodies to allegedly bring relief or cures. It is a "conundrum" maybe? Nanny

On this page people talk about which shampoos Do Not contain SLS. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shampoo without SLS

I've been using the Avalon brand of shampoo and conditioner for two weeks now and LOVE it! My hair just feels better. I found a mouse by Giovanni that is also organic, made with water and plant extracts. On Mon, Wed and Fri, I shampoo and condition. Tues and Thur, I condition and use mousse. If I don't go anywhere on the weekend, I let my hair do it's natural thing.

I noticed a lot of organic skin care products too, because of this thread. I'm going to try out some of the cleansers and body creams.

So glad I started this thread. I think many are going to benefit and some great sites have been suggested. Like debby-ab, I was able to find what she sugested and have been trying it. I have to use T GEL because of the dermatologist and am alternating them. There certainly is an improvement. I'm anxious to check out the suggestion about Bed and Bath as we have some of those stores.

I had switched to Jergens hand soap many yeaars ago because I was having problems with perfumes. I haven't been able to find it for many years but my daughter was in Port Huron a week or two ago and picked some up for me. Now I'm wondering if it was the perfumes in the soaps that was bothering me before or if it was this ingredient. Anyway I'm glad to learn so many things

My SIL showed me her prescription and it said Nexium and Omeprazole, that is why I thought that. I cannot take any of the PPIs because I am allergic to them. I really had a senior moment when I didn't make the connection.

Ivamae, have you tried a good unscented goats milk soap? I don't mean a 'store bought' soap, but an all natural one? My sister owns her own soap making company and makes all her soap from scratch. Her goats milk soap is one of the best out there, and I don't say that because she's my sister (haven't talked to her in almost 2 years), but because it really is good. If you like, email me and I'll let you know her URL for her company. Not sure if I can post the link here even though a million business links are posted here. LOL

Might the frequency have anything to do with the problems ... or exacerbate them, at least?

What might result, do you think, were some of you to cut back the shampooing to two or three times per week?

I think that I shampoo about once a week ... and my hair hasn't complained - so far, at least.

Have something of a shortage of hair, though ... but I doubt that that's related to the stuff that I use on it.

ole joyful

When I was in school, I think I shampooed 2 or 3 times a week. I had great hair. When I left home and got into the workforce, I found I needed to shower more often because I was a waitress and smelled like food. With showering more often, came shampooing more often.

When I had my 3rd baby and became a stay at home mom, I didn't wash my hair as often. Who has time to shower and shampoo daily? Then back to the workforce I went. I went back to washing daily whether it needed it or not. I've always known it was hard on the hair.

My hair did thin quite a bit after the birth of my daughter (baby #3), but it was still very managable. But the older I get the less managable it is. It dries easier, frizzes, is fly-away..... I think dying my hair doesn't help. Harsh chemicals, even though I only colour my hair 2 or 3 times a year. The grey roots get really long before I colour again. Right now, they're probably 1 1/2" long.

Because of this thread, I'm trying two things: organic shampoo and conditioner along with the mouse to put less chemicals on my hair. And shampoo less often to get the natural oils to do their job, rather than continue to strip my hair of what mother nature intended for it to have.

I may also switch to the organic moisturizers and face cleansers. Back to basics. It can't hurt to try. Can it?

Well I just found that the T/Gel therapeutic shampoo that I was advised to use by the dermatologist along with the Nizerol and Dove, also has this sodium laurel sulfate. If this is my problem, no wonder it isn't completely improved but is better with the shampoo that debby_ ab sugested . Maybe I'm going to quit the T/Gel as well and see what happens.

I'm so tempted to try my dogs shampoo that contains oatmeal and aloevera, etc.

Yes, Ole Joyful we never used to wash our hair so frequently and I do think it can be damaging. When I was growing up my mother would not allow me to wash my hair more than once every 2 weeks. I remember the few times we went to a hairdresser, that she insisted it would do no harm to wash it every week. How things have changed.

I think I'm going to ask for allery testing. I haven't had any since the late 80's. A Dr. I had many, many years ago said that for every emotional upset you have you may lose 1 allergy but get another. Especially the last 6 years have been very stressful with family illnesses.

Actually this scalp irritation and the excema on my spine started about the same time I was put on meds for polymyalgia rheumatica and atrial firbrilation. I can't help but wonder if they are all connected.

I am allergic to sulfa and for years I have struggled with sores in my scalp. I figured out that it had to do with certain shampoos. Just in the last 6 months I started using this shampoo and conditioner that I really liked and then discovered that it was sulphate free. My scalp cleared up and stayed clear. At this point I did not connect it to the sulphate free. I then used a couple of times Loreal and my scalp almost immediately started breaking out. Went back to my sulphate free stuff and it is clearing up. I think there is a connection between sulfa and sulphate.

Any other skin issues like on the rest of your body??

I'm asking because sulfates are in laundry detergent but ALL recently has a new sulfate free one on the market

Not that I've noticed except my face breaks out as well, using the sulohate shampoo and conditioner is like night and day difference in my scalp.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but I am allergic to sulfa drugs and I have a devil of a time finding shapes that don't make my scalp itch and get a powdery type of dandruff. Sulphate free shampoos used to be hard to come by- I used Kiehl's for a long time and that worked well. I use OGX now and I love it. I don't have as much trouble with body soap- I can use Dove.

I've noticed a few new sulfate free shampoos on the market lately. Sulfates are used to make soaps/detergents foam or suds up more. I also think sulfates in shampoo causes dry hair because it supposedly sucks the natural oils out of hair and off the scalp. I read this in a mag somewhere.