Consumers want soft and shiny hair, but without the harmful chemicals and toxic ingredients found in many shampoo and conditioner products. More beauty companies are heeding these requests and adding organic or natural care products into their shampoos and conditioners. Shampoos and conditioners often are the biggest culprits of adding unsafe ingredients to their shampoos.

To get rid of itchy scalp, dandruff, and have the clean hair you want, there are at least five-ingredients to avoid:

1. Sulfates
Sulfates are chemical detergents. Sulfates are incredibly good at removing dirt and coil, but they are harsh and can strip away natural moisture from your hair. It has also been found that some sulfates contain dioxane, a disturbing hormone agent that is also a carcinogen. Scientists claim that dioxane can disrupt kidney function. Look for sulfate free shampoo.

2. Parabens
Another chemical that is best to avoid in your shampoo and conditions are parabens. Xenoestrogens, which are in parabens, are similar to hormones found in your body, disturb hormones, and may carry a cancer risk.

Some scientists in Britain found parabens in breast cancer tissue samples. Maybe parabens don’t mean they cause cancer but try to avoid parabens to avoid the cancer problem.

3. Fragrance
Any fragrance in your shampoo or condition has an unknown beginning, avoid that shampoo at all costs. Read the label, and if there are natural essential oils in your shampoo or conditioner, it is listed in the ingredients. A bit of disturbing news, there can be more than 3,000 chemicals used by the beauty industry to add fragrance to your shampoos and conditioners.

4. Triclosan
Often shampoo and conditioner companies add triclosan to their ingredients. Triclosan or an antibacterial agent is used as a preservative. Triclosan might cause harm to the endocrine system. Triclosan is in the same category as xenoestrogens and can also cause immune system problems or out of control cellular reproduction and weight loss.

5. Polyethylene glycol
PEG or polyethylene glycol can cause problems to many systems in the body. The Natural Society classified polyethylene glycol as a “developmental toxicant.” Developmental toxicants mean they will interfere with human development. Polyethylene glycol is also known to be contaminated by dioxane, a cancer-causing agent.