Beauty comes at a price these days, but that doesn’t always just mean the money required to buy hair care products and cosmetics. Your health can be what pays the ultimate price, as some hair care products deliver harmful chemicals right to your bloodstream.

With beauty products exposing you to over 200 chemicals, it’s no wonder people are looking for natural alternatives. Of these chemicals, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, or SLS, is one of the most dangerous.

Even some “natural” and “organic” products contain SLS, which is why it is important for you to know what you are buying and the risks you may be taking in the process. Always buy SLS-free.

Beauty and the Beast

Chemists start with coconut oil or petroleum. After chemical processing, they can extract lauryl alcohol. This is then treated with sulfuric acid to produce an inexpensive chemical perfect for beauty products.

Despite starting out as a harmless compound, the chemical processing removes any natural beauty and replaces it with a hidden beast.

SLS is not only found in shampoos, but also in several industrial cleaning agents. And who wouldn’t want to clean their hair and face with the same materials that can degrease a car engine?

On top of this, SLS is often used as a skin irritant in studies that are testing ways to heal skin conditions.

Dangers of SLS

Now that you are aware of the hidden dangers, it is important to understand why they are so bad for you. There is no current evidence linking SLS to cancer, but, given the results of numerous studies and the effects of SLS, a link to cancer could be in the cards.

Low concentrations of SLS cause skin irritation, and in high concentrations you are likely you experience skin corrosion. The American College of Toxicology recommends that you do not regularly use products containing more than one percent of SLS.

The average concentration percentage in most cleaning products is between 15 and 20 percent. And we wonder why the overall health of the country is declining...

The chief concern with SLS is in the manufacturing process. In some instances, it can become contaminated with dioxane, which is a known and powerful carcinogen. Our liver is not able to metabolize it, so it can stay in your body for quite some time.

Again, the links to cancer are not proven, but with a carcinogen hitchhiking through your body, how far of a stretch is it to tumor development?

Beyond the concern for cancer and the skin irritation SLS creates, it has also been linked to hormonal imbalances. PMS symptoms are tied to hormone levels, and these can be affected by high concentration of SLS.

The recommended one percent is safe, but accumulation of residual SLS can alter your hormones.

SLS is a known pollutant to water and the animals that live there. It can accumulate over time in fish and anyone else who may drink from groundwater sources. If it bothers you that fish and cattle are getting sick from absorbing too much SLS, think how you’ll feel when you find out you might be drinking it too.

That’s right. SLS goes undetected in several water treatment facilities, which means it is headed straight for your tap.

Living the SLS-Free Life

To protect your health and your environment, you can avoid SLS and other sulfates when you buy SLS-free products. Choosing a brand based on being “natural” is not always enough.

Always check labels to make sure what you buy is SLS-free specifically. There are a few good brands out there to choose from or if you are feeling particularly inspired, you can always try making your own shampoo.

Hair La Vie Shampoo, for example, contains no SLS. In fact, it doesn’t have parabens or any other harmful chemicals either.

It will be hard to completely avoid these chemicals because they are part of so many aspects of your daily life. But you can limit your exposure.

Beauty does not have to have a high price when it comes to your health. Just because they are ubiquitous doesn’t mean you have to use them.

You can have beautiful, healthy hair and limit high SLS concentrations at the same time. Be aware, be cautious, be smart, and be beautiful. But most importantly, be healthy. Be SLS-Free!