I'm not one to raise alarm about little things - but it is a fact that the personal care industry is not regulated by any agency. What that means is that manufacturers can put anything they want into shampoo and other products and there is no one to check if what they are using is potentially harmful.

When I heard that, I decided to do some investigating to learn what was in my shampoo. The results caused me to make the switch to natural hair shampoo exclusively.

First, I found that regular shampoo has ingredients like sodium laurel sulfate and Lauramide - both are know human carcinogens. Many traditional shampoos also contain parabens - which have been linked to the development of breast cancer. Another ingredient, Proplene Glycol, is also used in brake fluid and antifreeze. It's used to keep hair silky - it's also been shown to cause liver and kidney damage in animals.

After learning all of this, I decided to make the switch to natural hair shampoo. I don't know if the small amount of these ingredients is enough to cause any health issues, but it's just not a risk that I'm willing to take. Plus, it didn't sound much to me like many of these ingredients were that good for the environment either.

The problem was finding out whether the natural hair shampoo that I was buying was really "natural." Remember, no one is regulating the personal care industry, which means that no one is checking these products to see if they are what they claim to be. I buy all of my natural hair shampoo at a company called Herb Trader, because the are well known for only providing products that are really what they claim to be.

There is also a great website, called Skin Deep, that rates hair care products on their eco friendliness. This is a great place to check if the products you are currently using are bad for you and the environment.