Malleable Reality

SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) is a chemical found in the majority of our store-bought personal care products today (unless, of course, you a buying a truly all natural product).  SLS is added toothpaste, facial cleansers, body wash, soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent as a inexpensive foaming agent.  Basically, without this toxic chemical, your personal care products would not have those lathery bubbles that make you think your teeth, hair, skin, and clothes are getting an extreme clean.

In reality, tooth, hair, skin, and laundry cleansing products CAN be made (and actually DO exist) without the toxic chemical that forms the bubbles and lather that we’ve grown to relate to “clean”.  And although SLS-Free products may not lather as much (or at all) when they are used, they absolutely still clean the same (probably BETTER) than the chemical laden products we are used to.

SLS was a chemical that was originally used for industrial cleansing purposes and was never meant to be used in such close contact with our delicate skin.

SLS is a major skin-irritant and actually strips your skins natural moisture, drying out skin in the long run, and destroys the skins natural barrier to outside elements (it also dries out hair follicles and will eventually make your hair lose it’s natural shine).  Without the skin’s protective barrier, toxins from outside the body can easily enter the body.  The toxic chemical SLS itself can also penetrate the skin (and scalp), and enter the bloodstream, accumulating it’s toxic properties internally, as well.

Because of it’s ability to penetrate the skin and enter the body, SLS is often used as a way to allow the “vitamins”, “minerals” and “moisturizers” of the product to enter be absorbed into the deepest layers of the skin.  The problem is that SLS itself is a toxic chemical that is being absorbed into the skin and the body, and it is also allowing all of those chemical laden ingredients of the product that you use into your skin and body as well (and believe me, the ingredients list is FILLED with chemicals…check it out for yourself!).

SLS accumulates in your body over time and is often found in the brain, heart, liver, and other organs.  So even if every product you use has SLS in it as a LAST ingredient (which means it is used in the product the least…although there are no measurements/specifics listed on labels), just think of how many products you use on a daily basis (some multiple times a day) that have even the smallest amount of SLS in it.  — SIDENOTE: SLS is often a first or middle ingredient! — Not to mention all of the other chemicals and preservatives that product is filled with in addition to the SLS (which helps those other toxins be absorbed into your body!)

Avoid these chemical laden products WHENEVER POSSIBLE  (especially if you see SLS on the list!!) and stick with your truly ALL NATURAL products (or make your own cleansing products when possible…recipes for homemade laundry detergent, toothpaste, and others, coming soon as future Back to Basic posts!). 

PS:  For clean hair, don’t forget that going “no ‘poo” is always a healthy and inexpensive alternative to expensive all natural shampoos, and chemical-filled conventional shampoos.  Click here to read my post about why you should go no ‘poo and how to do it, and here to see the pictures that go with it.