Five of the best eco friendly shampoos

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All are surfactant, pollutant and paraben free but which eco shampoo is best? Ruth Styles put them to the test Much has been said and written about surfactants in shower gels and dodgy colorings in lipstick, but one beauty product that is commonly overlooked is shampoo. But shampoo and other haircare products are one of the beauty industry’s biggest earners, with some to be found in every bathroom in the country. Not surprisingly, annual sales figures are impressive, with haircare worth around £712 million a year, 41 per cent of which comes from shampoo.

All are surfactant, pollutant and paraben free but which eco shampoo is best? Ruth Styles put them to the test Much has been said and written about surfactants in shower gels and dodgy colorings in lipstick, but one beauty product that is commonly overlooked is shampoo. But shampoo and other haircare products are one of the beauty industry’s biggest earners, with some to be found in every bathroom in the country. Not surprisingly, annual sales figures are impressive, with haircare worth around £712 million a year, 41 per cent of which comes from shampoo.

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But despite being a daily essential, shampoos are also among the worst offenders when it comes to toxins and synthetics. Most high street brands contain sodium laurel sulphate - a chemical considered by the industry to be a gentle cleanser for skin and hair. And it is gentle in small doses but in high concentrations can inflame the skin, produce allergic reactions and dry out the scalp. Worse, it is also a persistent pollutant that has been previously used as a pesticide that when released into waterways can be extremely toxic to marine life. What’s more, many of the cheaper brands are packed with preservative parabens and industrial detergents containing surfactants. Luckily, there are healthier, greener products on the market, with numerous organic brands producing eco-friendly shampoos and conditioners. But do they really work? Our intrepid reviewers put them to the test.

For further information and photo: http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/health_and_beauty/1108970/five_of_the_besteco_friendly_shampoos.html