The Goat Woman

As I sit here in my warm, cozy home heated by the wood that my family so carefully gathered this summer and fall, I feel we need to discuss additives. Specifically Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate with a little DEA and Propylene Glycol thrown in for good measure.

I have so much competition at craft fairs and yes, the grocery store, health food stores and the specialty soap shops in the mall. I’m not worried – but you should be if you’re not reading labels! Go past the pretty pictures of herbs on beautiful bottles of shampoo that cost many times more than the grocery store brands. Go past the extremely cheap price on warehouse type stores and really READ what’s in your shampoo, toothpaste, body & bath products. “Natural”, “herbal extracts”, etc. do not mean anything!

I will make up a product based on a customer’s wants as long as it does not conflict with my beliefs and limited knowledge of additives. This time it’s bath fizzys/bombs and shampoos. They all seem to list the most dangerous chemical ingredient used (in my opinion) in shampoos, bath and body gels, bubble baths, etc. This chemical Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is used in engine degreasers and garage floor cleaners. It cleans by corrosion. Is used as a skin irritant so they can test healing agents on  irritated skin.  (Just what I want on my head and body – how ’bout you?).

This chemical detergent has a warning label on it in children’s bubble baths . . . it’s on you a little longer than the wash off product called shampoo. Terrible irritant and can cause lots of problems. It’s so dangerous bubblebath is regulated by the FDA!

The dangers of DEA were noted by Doctor Samuel Epstein, M.D. of the University of Illinois and one of the world’s most foremost toxicologists on CBS This Morning. DEA is “a potential carcinogen” and that even in small doses, repeated use of DEA increases the risk of cancer. (The European government has taken action to phase out its use since the 1980′s).

Propylene Glycol, also known as the main TOXIC ingredient in industrial antifreeze – commonly used in shampoo to give it “glide” and in order to prevent the drying of the product. Known to be an irritant even in low levels of concentration.

My shampoo that I make – Simply Shampoo – may not be thick and gel-like, but it cleans the hair and doesn’t have any of these terrible ingredients in it. My bath fizzys have recognizable, simple ingredients – most of them in your spice pantry. By law I do not need to disclose any ingredients on my soaps unless I make a claim. But we put every single ingredient on each and every bar of soap. Look at the soaps/detergent bars that you are buying . . . do you KNOW what’s in it?

Whether you buy Weber Farms handmade products or not, PLEASE READ YOUR LABELS! It could mean life or death – either from the chemicals that give products “something extra” or from allergens not listed.

Please look “google” Diethanolamine (DEA) – Propylene Glycol – SLS or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and SLES or Sodium Laureth Sulfate and walk in wisdom, she’s a great teacher!

Let’s all get a little healthier together by reading labels and enjoying simpler things . . . like lighting that little 100% beeswax candle and letting the aroma fill the living area while we watch Christmas and Thanksgiving (the turkeys) come down and forage by the oak trees. (You could too – just come visit!).

with your health in mind, The Goat Woman