Hair Care – Why You Should Think Twice The Next Time You Grab A Shampoo

Ingredients in Hair Care Products can clean your hair and leave it looking like you just stepped out of a salon. But have you given any thought to what ingredients you have just subjected your health to? Do you know if your body has just received a does of some potentially dangerous chemical? Chances are, you have not given it any thought at all – But you should…

What Do You Put on Your Hair?

We are all aware that we should not use artificial or potentially toxic ingredients in our food. Indeed many of us have made the conscious decision to go one step further by choosing natural skin care products instead products containing synthetic and possibly harmful chemicals.

But when it comes to personal care products such as shampoos, conditioners and liquid/solid soaps, etc., we tend to disregard the concept of remaining with natural products. There’s a simple explanation for this.

We, the consumers, are basically under the impression that washing our hair and body is not likely to poison us. After all, the soap stays on the hair/skin for only a short period of time and gets washed off when we’re finished. How could the chemicals in a shampoo or a conditioner possibly affect us adversely?

Fair question. However, if you think that they don’t, you would be quite wrong.

The skin can absorb chemicals very quickly and easily if the molecules are not too large for it to do so. In addition, the skin is never in perfect condition. That is, there are tiny little tears, cuts and abrasions on our skin almost all the time.

Scratching the skin to relieve an itch, for example, can easily damage the skin. You can’t necessarily see it with the naked eye, but it is nevertheless damaged. Insect bits, clothes rubbing repeatedly against the skin, etc., can all cause microscopic damage to the skin and jeopardise its integrity.

Where the skin is damaged the larger molecules, which would normally not be absorbed, can enter the deeper layers of the skin and may enter the bloodstream access to anywhere in the body.

The problem is that when you use a product that does contain questionable ingredients, which have the potential to cause harm, you inad
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vertently allow these ingredients to be absorbed by the body, without intention or knowing about it.

Shampoos are a classic example of potentially toxic cocktails we seem to be oblivious to. Below is an example of ingredients used by a well-known manufacturer of personal care products who distributes their products worldwide. It is a typical example of the type of ingredients you would find by looking at the ingredients of shampoos on sale in your local shopping centre or at your hairdresser.

The ingredients below are from a 2 in 1 Shampoo & Conditioner. Where possible I provided some comment after the ingredient that provides some insight into the safety of the particular ingredient for human use.

It must be said, however, that the toxicity of some of the ingredients is related to the consumption of the ingredient and while a shampoo is not consumed as such, chemicals can nevertheless be absorbed through the skin and enter the blood stream, essentially being the same as if you had eaten them.

Example of ingredients found in a 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner

Preservatives
* Diethanolamine – Suspected: Carcinogen (causes cancer), Cardiovascular or Blood toxin, Gastrointestinal or Liver toxin, Kidney toxin, Neurotoxin (toxic to your nervous system), Respiratory toxin, Skin or Sense Organ toxin.

Surfactants
* Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate – no scientific evidence of toxic effects on humans.

* Ammonium Xylenesulfonate – no evidence of toxic effects on humans. Some minor irritation in rabbits to skin and eyes have been reported.

Emulsifiers
* Cetyl Alcohol – this one is find and dandy,

* Cocamide MEA – derived in part from coconut oil, potentially toxic (International Journal of Toxicology; 18 (Suppl. 2). 1999. 9-16).

Conditioning Agents
* Cetyl Alcohol – not a problem (J Am Coll Toxicol Vol:7, 3 (1988) pp 359-413.)

* Dimethicone – please see: DMDM Hydantoin below,

* Glycol Distearate – no scientific evidence of toxic effects on humans,

* Trimethyl Tricaprylate/Tricaprate – Recognized Carcinogen, Suspected: Neuro- and Reproductive toxin,

* Panthenol – Dexpanthenol is the alcohol corresponding to pantothenic acid (the water-soluble vitamin B5)

* Panthenyl Ethyl Ether – May cause contact dermatitis.

Buffering Agent:
* DMDM Hydantoin – contains Formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen (causes cancer). Causes allergic, irritant and contact dermatitis; headaches and chronic fatigue. The vapour is extremely irritating to the eyes, nose and throat (mucous membranes).

* Methylchloroisothiazolinone – causes cosmetic allergies and potential dangerous neuro-toxic effects.

* Methylisothiazolinone – causes cosmetic allergies and potential dangerous neuro-toxic effects.

* Sodium Benzoate – Suspected: Cardio-vascular or Blood toxin, Gastrointestinal or Liver toxin, Kidney toxin, Neurotoxin, Skin or Sense Organ toxin.

Chelator:
* EDTA – known carcinogen (causes cancer).

I think you get the idea.

Chemicals such as these are not what you would want to put on your body, hair or in fact anywhere near you, I’m sure. Problem is that no one warns us of the potential dangers posed by some of these ingredients and so we use them thinking that regulations and government controls would not permit potentially toxic chemicals to be put into products we use everyday…

In addition to the above ingredients, which basically make a shampoo with conditioning properties, you may also find other ingredients in your shampoo such as vitamin B5. Mostly, this is of a synthetic origin (as in the example above), not natural. This is because a synthetic version of vitamin B5 is much cheaper than using a natural source of vitamin B5.

The same goes for vitamin E and others. If you bought vit E from a wholesale supplier in Sydney, 25ml o
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f vitamin E (synthetic) would cost AUD $11.00 whereas it’s natural counterpart will cost you AUD$18.00 – quite a difference, and remember this is the wholesale price.

Fragrances
Most personal care products such as shampoos have a pleasing smell. This smell comes from either a synthetic or natural ingredient. Most ‘natural scent’ fragrances are however synthetic. Not in every case, but imagine a shampoo that supposedly contains Jasmine. Jasmine oil (the essential oil of Jasmine) cost more than its weight in gold! Do you really think a shampoo that costs a few dollars will contain pure essential oil of Jasmine? I don’t think so. The same goes for Rose and several other popular fragrances.

So chances are, even if the manufacturer does not use Jasmine, that the fragrance is also synthetic. This is simply because synthetic fragrances are cheaper than the real thing.

Considering that most shampoos and conditioners contain many potentially toxic and synthetic ingredients, isn’t it about time we seriously considered what we are putting on our hair?

© Wildcrafted Herbal Products 2007

By: Dr. Dan

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and together with his wife Susan, a medical herbalist and Aromatherapist, they have created Natural Skin Care Products by Wildcrafted Herbal Products to share their 40 years of combined expertise with you.

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What Perfume Lovers On Cruise Ships Must Know To Get The Best Deals In Fragrance

Vacation is a great time for a cruise and a cruise is a great time to sample new perfumes. That may seem like a leap to non-cruisers, but those who board cruise lines know that most ships have onboard boutiques with luxury and specialty items. It is not unusual for a cruise ship store to stock dozens of great perfumes. And what better time to sample new scents than on a cruise vacation? But there are other reasons to buy perfume on a cruise ship.

The cruise lines must think so, too, because most cruise ships feature perfume pretty prominently in their onboard shops. One perk I find in cruising is that you can sample a lot of different perfumes in these shops to really get the feel (and wear) of fragrances you might not normally try.

Cruise lines feature duty-free shopping but the astute woman of fragrance nosing around the cruise shop perfume counter may notice that prices on the perfumes onboard ship are not much different than prices back home at the local department store or online shop. So what’s the big deal about duty-free anyway?

Perfume is one of those things, like diamond rings and the room rate at a Tahitian resort, that just doesn’t go on sale. Most experienced women of fragrance can tell you that perfume prices are stable as the Rock of Gibraltar. The best deal you’ll get from most perfume companies is some sort of packaged set at the holidays or for Mother’s Day.

Do not be disappointed if the boittle of perfume you priced at $60 at the local department store or the $100 gift set that you have seen online at the Sephora website (great place to buy fragrance) are not marked down just because you are onboard a ship. (You may be pleasantly surprised, but you should not expect to see anything like a major discount.)

The benefit duty-free shopping is that you don’t pay tax (city, state, or federal) on your purchase. For instance, buy that $60 bottle of perfume at your hometown department store, and you can expect to pay about another $5 in sales tax. (That’s based on an approximate sales tax rate in the U.S. of 8%. If you live in Canada, it’s closer to 12% and in Europe, it’s higher than that!)

Most Europeans instantly “get” the concept of duty-fr
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ee shopping because it is customary in Europe to add the tax to the purchase price that appears on the label. Thus, seeing the price without the tax added in shows the discount quite plainly.

In the U.S., sales tax is a lot more sneaky. It does not appear until you’re standing at the checkout when it is just tacked on to the purchase price.

Buying duty-free eliminates the tax. Of course, in the U.S. you could also go online and buy perfume from an out-of-state vendor and in that way avoid paying sales tax. However, you’ll get dinged with shipping and handling charges.

When you buy something duty free, you are paying only what the merchandise cost. Even if you don’t get a penny off the retail price of your next bottle of Chanel or Michael Kors or DKNY Be Delicious, you’ll still leave the store paying less than you would have using more traditional outlets.

Another great reason to buy perfume on a cruise ship is that you can really try it before you buy it. You can pop into the cruise shop, get a spritz on the scent you’re considering, and then wear it for the day. Women of fragrance can tell you that sniffing at a perfume in the bottle or spritzing it on a paper strip are useful, but there is no truer test to whether or not you’ll love a new scent than actually wearing it for a few hours.

I had that experience with Cinema by Yves St. Laurent. I liked the scent well enough when I used the paper tester strip but there were many other perfumes that seemed more intriguing and interesting. Yet when I did a “test” of wearing Cinema for an afternoon, I found that I loved the scent.

The range of perfumes your cruise ship will carry will depend on the cruise line. Most cruise ships manage to stock a pretty decent range of products. Look for some big names (Givenchy, Chanel, Lancome, and so on) and some newer names (DKNY, Michael Kors, Vera Wang).

You won’t find everything. For instance, on my last cruise, I found the shop had Chanel No. 5, Chance, and Allure from Chanel, but no No. 19. There were many Estee Lauder cosmetics in stock, but no fragrances. Dolce & Gabbana’s Blue was available, but no other scents. You may find some delightful and relatively rare scents (I saw Delices by Cartier and Incanto Charms by Ferragamo) but you cannot expect the cruise line to be a fully stocked perfume shop.

When purchasing perfume onboard, the duty-free purchase counts toward the allowance of merchandise you are allowed to bring back into the country. American citizens are allowed to return from their international cruises with $800 in purchases (per person). Should you exceed that sum, you must declare it to customs and it is possible that you may be asked to pay duty upon your return to the U.S.

What about buying perfume at your ports of call? That depends on whether or not the port charges sales tax and if there are good perfume stores available.

A big surprise for cruising perfume lovers is Cozumel, Mexico. Not only does this sunny Mexican Riveria destination not charge sales tax, there is an outstanding (and very large) perfume boutique in the shopping district immediately near the port. (Just get off the cruise ship and head to the left to the stores …. it’s just a few blocks down.)

European ports charge hefty taxes but may offer perfumes that are not so easy to find in the U.S.

But if perfume lovers go cruising, they can purchase their old and new favorite scents onboard their cruise ship with confidence.

By: Joanna McLaughlin

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Get a free Perfume Profile to figure out your signature scent at www.ThePerfume-Reporter.com . This article was written by Joanna McLaughlin, a regular contributor at The Perfume-Reporter. Her favorite scent today is Princess by Vera Wang.

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When Nothing Else Will Help – Love Will Lift You Up

Amor Amor by the design house of Cacharel was introduced in 2003. This refreshing oriental scent is filled with fruits, florals, fragrant woods and vanilla which make it perfect for the daytime.

Jean Bousquet, who created the Cacharel brand in 1962, founded the company of the same name in 1964.

Femininity, lightness, sensitive delicate tones, noble fine materials, refinement down to the slightest detail, youth and authenticity define the harmonious alchemy seamless fusion of traditional and modern influences that have contribute contributed to the brand’s success.

The presentation in Paris of the first blouse collection charmed with its cheerful colours and the elimination of the famous “pointed darts”. It represented a vision of a woman who is natural, feminine, elegant and active.

Afterwards, things started happening quickly. The invention of the seersucker blouse, which became a reference for a generation of women, followed by the front cover of ELLE magazine in 1963, launched Cacharel onto the international stage.

Amor Amor Perfume by Cacharel continuously remains on the best seller list of designer brand fragrances. Your designer outfit is not complete without your favorite designer perfume. We all love to leave fond memories behind when we have left our meeting place. Amor Amor is what you need to make this happen.

Every fragrance is not for everybody. If you haven’t found your favorite scent, I suggest you give Amor Amor by Cacharel a try. I think you will love it.

By: Delores Darden

By: Delores Darden

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Delores Darden is the owner of DiscountFragranceCenter.com where you will find the top selling designer fragrances for men discount designer fragrance and women perfume shop.

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Why Buying Cheap Perfume Can Be A Rash Decision

Some of you may already have spotted the pun in the title of this article, and for that I apologise. The reality however is that sometimes, buying cheap perfume, be it online or elsewhere, can have some unexpected and even painful results, and not just financially. While astute shoppers can find great deals online, the old adage applies “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is”, and that can apply to buying perfume as well.

Do yourself a favour and search online for phrases like ‘fake perfume’ or ‘fake fragrances’ and you’ll be amazed at what you find. And if you think fake perfume is rare, think again. In fact last year (October 2008), the Birmingham (UK) Trading Standards seized over 40 000 bottles of suspected fake perfume from top designer brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Versace. Not only did they find the perfumes themselves, they also found all the paraphernalia needed to produce counterfeit branded perfume on an industrial scale, including bottle labelling and wrapping equipment.

Some of this perfume gets sold in flea markets or car boot sales and some of it ends up online, including eBay. Don’t get me wrong, eBay is a great place to buy almost anything but it’s always buyer beware – and make sure you check the seller’s feedback before buying. That said, eBay has cracked down on the sale of fake goods recently, but then they’ve had to following a string of successful court cases against them (by brands including Givenchy, Christian Dior and Hugo Boss) for allowing the sale of fake goods.

And don’t think that seeing a picture of the perfume in its packaging is a safe way to spot fakes online. These days, fake fragrances are so hard to spot that even experts can find it hard to tell the difference. That is of course until you actually apply the perfume but by then it’s usually too late. And it’s more than just money you risk losing. There have been some horror stories of fake perfumes containing all kinds of nasty ingredients – even urine in one reported case. The fact is that legitimate perfume manufacturers spend a huge amount of time testing their products to ensure that they contain quality ingredients and are safe for the average person to use. Fake fragrances aren’t tested and, as some unsuspecting shoppers have discovered, using them could result in a terrible
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rash or allergic reaction.

It’s certainly easy to buy perfume online these days, and there are no shortage of online fragrance stores, some of them offering to save you as much as 80% off normal retail prices. But you’ve got to wonder where they get their product from if they can afford such huge discounts. Now I’m not saying that all discount perfume stores are selling fake perfumes. I’m just saying be aware and do some checking before you part with your hard-earned cash. Does the shop offer a guarantee that the perfumes on sale are genuine? Can you return your purchase for a full refund? Does the website provide clear contact details including registered company name and physical address? If not, you could be taking a chance purchasing from that store. The fact is that sometimes it’s worth paying that little bit extra for piece of mind. Happy perfume shopping.

By: FastSubmitArticles.com

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

DM Fragrances is an online perfume shop selling a wide range of designer fragrances and aftershaves.

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