Regarding SLS - no one with color treated hair should use SLS-based shampoos. They are probably OK for those without color treated hair. I will not let it near my hair or body. I do have a facial cleanser with SLS.
SLS is about on par with "Dawn" - consistently proven to cut the toughest grease in a dishwashing sense. You might as well wash your hair with Dawn dish soap if you use SLS-containing products. There are many gentler products now available at major supermarkets. Try one out and see how you do, especially as we approach winter.
Next post for me: moisturizing and exfoliating as I approach age 30. Now is the time to take care of my skin, and I've got a great regimen started.
Regarding SLS - i'm super sensitive to it - if any goes near my scalp, i get crazy dry scalp (different from dandruff). I've been researching products to use, and came across Moogoo (
www.moogoo.com.au). They are inexpensive, don't use SLS and are based on cow udder ointment. My mum uses pure cow udder ointment on her psoriasis (she's used it for years - our old vet told her about it) and so I know how amazing the ointment is. Moogoo has simply adapted this ointment to be non-greasy, and have added other elements. I also use the body wash (for my face as it's that gentle), the face cream, 'udder cream' (skin moisturiser, the MSM soothing cream on my arms (i have keratosis pilaris on the upper arms) and the 'double cream' for when my skin is particularly dry. My skin looks amazing, if i do say so myself. I still get hormonal breakouts but my skin on the whole, is much clearer.
I've just finished a 3 week detox. I started it mainly to try to pinpoint what food was messing with my digestive system. The detox cuts out caffeine, wheat, dairy, sugar (refined, etc), non essential OTC medication, alcohol. In the first week, you can't have any animal protein or eggs. It really knocked me around, but that's because i had a mad sugar addiction. The diet isn't really restrictive though - you can have brown rice, rice milk, quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, and most fruits and veg. You introduce chicken, eggs, certain types of fish, calamari, etc in the second week, and in the third week, you can have lamb, buckwheat, rice puffs, oat milk. My partner and I did it; we didn't feel it was really restrictive at all, we became more creative with meals (we are pretty creative cooks as a rule), and i've never eaten so much or such a wide variety of fresh fruit and veg - ever. I lost about 5 kg, was given a number of compliments about how good my skin was looking (a couple of people commented on my lack of wrinkles :D), and i love that i am really quite full of energy in the morning without coffee.
Since completing the detox, i've blown out a couple of times, but generally i'm sticking to the 3rd week of detox. I've since introduced a few of the 'avoid foods' and found that i got heartburn, general indigestion, bloating, etc...
This post is probably more suited to the healthy living forum, but i wanted to just point out how i've noticed first hand, how much of a difference food makes to how you look (skin, hair, etc). I'm also drinking minimum 2L of water every day, and that has definitely contributed to a change in my skin.
