Non-Toxic Haircare In Boulder Colorado
What Makes CULT+KING Different?
This one’s our baby, where we at CULT+KING focus our talent, time and treasure. We are determined to produce haircare and styling products with all the performance and none of the toxins.
“What toxins?“ some say. “There are toxins in personal care products? How can that be when there are shelves and shelves and whole stores full of them? Who would let them sell products that are bad for us?”
Well, that’s a big question you should discuss with everyone who will listen like your mother, best friend, carpool, professor, spiritual leader, local activist, Ralph Nader, Oprah, the universe. But the answer is Yes, there are lots of ingredients in so many of the products we buy that are not good for us, and that are making us sick. (Start watching documentaries.)
Here’s a good one: “But isn’t our skin an impenetrable barrier that protects us from any substance we touch?”
Our skin is a bonafide miracle. It’s good, but it’s not that good. All kinds of things get through our skin all the time. There are even drugs that they put a patch on your arm and deliver that way.
Last month we read in the promotional materials of a multi-national health and beauty company that “everything you put on your skin is in your organs in 26 seconds.” We believed it because this company has a huge team of lawyers and scientists backing them up, but then we remembered they are a conglomerate and you can’t believe a word they say. So we are currently scouring scientific journals to confirm this compelling “26 seconds” fact. In the meantime, here are some things we know for sure:
- The skin on your scalp and forehead is MUCH more absorbent than the skin on your forearm, for instance. Some sources say 4x more, some say 10x more.
- Damp or wet skin absorbs up to 10x more of the same substance than dry skin.
- Heat also plays a role in skin absorption. Warm skin and warm substances are more easily absorbed than cold.
- The more often you apply a substance, the more it absorbs over time. So it you put something on your scalp every day for ten days, more of it will absorb on the tenth day than on the first.
- Lastly, the absorption rates of the skin on your private parts is SUPER high versus any other skin on your body.
WHEN YOU ADD UP THE DATA, WHAT YOU PUT ON YOUR WET, WARM SCALP MATTERS. (Let alone what runs all over your body in the shower.)
Ten Reasons People Avoid SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) in Soaps and Shampoos
SLS is essentially a foaming agent. It makes soaps and cleaners of all kinds sudsy, because people like suds. Many people avoid SLS, citing the following reasons:
- SLS is a skin irritant, widely used to irritate skin in order to test products used to heal skin conditions.
- SLS is actually a pesticide and herbicide commonly used to dehydrate and kill insects and plants.
- SLS was denied approval by the FDA for use as a pesticide for organic gardening due to its polluting properties and environmental damage. SLS pollutes groundwater, is toxic to fish and can bioaccumulate in the bodies of fish and other aquatic animals.
- Toxic Sodium Oxides and Sulfur Oxides are released when SLS is heated (like in a hot shower maybe?).
- SLS is corrosive to the fats and proteins that make up skin and muscle, according to the American College of Toxicity.
- SLS has the potential for long-term permeation of cells and tissues of the eyes, brain, heart, and liver.
- It is an eye irritant linked to cataracts in adults, and inhibiting the proper formation of eyes in small children.
- May contain traces of nitrates and toxic solvents used in its manufacturing process.
- The SLS manufacturing process is highly polluting.
- SLS is penetration enhancer that helps other chemicals cross the membranes of your body’s cells.
READ YOUR LABELS.
Multi-Use Product Line
The Balm
The Tonik
The Powders
The WASH
CULT+KING WASH is botanical and small batch. It is cold-pressed, SLS-free, and gender-neutral.
CULT+KING WASH is angst-free (all bar, no plastic bottle), with no artificial fragrance, no animal testing, and it’s even super-fatted, no joke!
How can something this good for your cells and follicles smell this good? It’s what the future smells like. (Unfortunately, not recommended for color-treated hair, but don’t let that stop you from using it everywhere else.)