I use silly specialty hippie shampoo and conditioner. Mostly because if I think about the chemical rug-cleaner stew mass-market shampoos are made of, it makes my skin crawl.
Anywho, at the same time as I use Burt’s Bees Grapefruit and Good Feelings shampoo (or whatever it is), I also like to bleach and/or dye a streak into my hair on occasion (sustainability is all about the small concessions to imperfection). And when you bleach your hair, you get that little tube of “so-you’ve-just-killed-your-hair’s-will-to-live-so-keep-it-from-falling-out-in-despair-by-using-this-thick-goop” conditioner in the box. Which, being me, I can’t bring myself to just throw out. So I use it.
Now, my hair is usually pretty soft. Which is probably a good thing, but basically translated into a childhood of inconsistently wavy and unruly locks (think Hermione before the Ball). It’s fine but thick, and it’s only in my late teens that I learned how to make peace with it. But when you use natural shampoos and conditioners, they basically just clean your hair. Straight-up with no fluourish (maybe a nice smell and no residual grease if you’re lucky). But these conditioners are /insane/. My hair feels like silk.
Though I find that instead of that being something I crave or find delightful, it’s just something that freaks me out. It’s like… you know how dryer sheets make your clothes all soft and fluffy? Only they don’t /really/, because what they /really/ do is leave a layer of (carcinogenic) chemicals on your clothes and that is what you think feels so soft and nice? (Oh, and when you sweat, you can transfer the chemicals onto your skin, ew.)
That’s what it feels like with my hair. It’s like I’ve taken each strand and shelaced it. Un-natural.
And briefly back to the dryer sheets for a closing thought (mah Whole Foods chicken is burning, no time to segue)– the EPA’s list of petrochemicals dryer sheets contain includes such goodies as chloroform. Seriously, W.T.F. We are so going to hell in a nicely scented fluffy towel lined toxic handcart.