Methylisothiazolinone is found in many commercial shampoos, such as Herbal Essences and Pantene, and NIH refers to this compound as a neurotoxic biocide, linking it to nerve damage. This is of exceptional concern, because a persons nerve cells are completely formed by the time he or she is born – the human body doesnt ever grow any new ones. This means that if you damage your nerve cells by using products containing neurotoxic compounds, your body cannot ever replace them; they are damaged permanently.

In another NIH study, they addressed the accumulation of parabens, an almost ubiquitously used preservative in various cosmetic products, including shampoos, in the human body, and found high concentrations of them in breast tumors:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14745841

Heres another one about the carcinogenicity of Selenium Sulfide, found in some anti-dandruff shampoos:
http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s160sele.pdf

And finally, one on the toxicity of fragrances products, specifically referring to perfumes/colognes:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9577937

The emissions of these fragrance products caused various combinations of sensory irritation, pulmonary irritation, decreases in expiratory airflow velocity, as well as alterations of the functional observational battery indicative of neurotoxicity.

The cosmetic industry is only very loosely regulated by the FDA, which explains why a cocktail of potentially dangerous compounds can be found in many products. This quote was pulled right from the FDAs website:
Cosmetics are not subject to FDA premarket approval or mandatory establishment registration or ingredient reporting.

There are many, many more for anyone who takes a few minutes to look. As a member of the scientific community (not the profit-motivated cosmetic community), I wouldnt ever dare to put most commercially produced products on my body. Anyone who spent five minutes flipping through research publications might logically conclude the same.

I have fine, curly hair and the curls are slightly loose, but not as loose as a wave. So I use the No-Poo to “wash” my hair each day and the One Condition to condition it. Their idea behind No-Poo is that there are certain lathering agents in most shampoos that cause your scalp to dry out and apparently lots of people are also allergic to these lathering agents. So the No-Poo uses peppermint oil to “cleanse” your hair and scalp. I don’t use the No-Poo everyday in the winter as my hair is rather fine and can get weighted down by the oils in it and the conditioner. They also have a product called Low-Poo that has a mild lather and it’s scented with mango and starfruit. I haven’t used that yet, but I’m planning to get some for the winter months when I don’t need so much moisture in my hair.

They suggest using a specific styling process, which is supposed to help elliminate frizz and allow your curls to be more defined. Basically you part your hair where you normally would while you’re conditioning in the shower and then rinse with cool water to lock the cuticle. Then you scrunch the hair instead of wringing it out. You’re not supposed to tie it up in a towel, but I do when I’m being lazy , instead, you’re supposed to use a small, light-weight towel or paper towels to scrunch out the remaining water. If I really want my curls to stay nicely formed and not all frizzy, I’ll scrunch with a towel and then get the excess with paper towels. Then you add their AnGel while scrunching upside down. At their salons they use a LOT of product, but I prefer mine to be less product-y. So I use about the size of two quarters. You may need more for your hair if it’s thicker. Then they tell you to put pincurl pins in the places at the root where you need volume or you want to tame it to sit in a certain direction. After that, diffuse with a diffuser and finish drying it upside down.

Sometimes if I want more hold I use their Set-Me-Up just at the roots before drying and after applying the gel. And if my hair needs a little more moisture than usual, I use the Set-It-Free and scrunch it in. That one smells sooooo good!

Anyway, sorry for such a long post, but I really do love their products. Check them out at http://www.devachansalon.com