# Can someone recommend a good, natural, tear-free baby shampoo?



## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

I originally used Aveeno which worked fine and was tear-free. But I wanted something more natural so I tried Healthy TImes Pansy shampoo. It smelled good, but it makes DS scream bc it hurts his eyes, and he has now associated that with getting his hair washed, which is awful. He used to let me do it without too much trouble.

I checked at our local mercantile and they carry a number of "natural" brands, but only a few say they are tear-free. The clerk was telling me that the shampoos that are tear-free sometimes actually have a chemical in them that just masks the burning sensation, which I am not sure about, but it doesn't sound good.

Any suggestions?
thanks!


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

I like burts bees. It comes in a bar so you only get a very little bit at a time. I am not sure if it tear free but I don't go to great efforts to keep it out of thier eyes and she has never complained. You might want to try that.


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

California Baby! Try the Super Sensitive , it's extremely mild. We use it as both shampoo and body wash.


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## natmother (Feb 5, 2003)

You should take a look at california baby http://www.californiababy.com.

The baby wash is very tear free and very natural and non toxic. Their products are also wonderful for sensitive skin and excema.


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## tessamami (Mar 11, 2002)

California Baby.

I have at times used Dr. Bronner's, too. Can't attest to the tear-free aspect, though.


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

I don't look for 'no tears' varieties, because the only reason that it actually IS no tears is because it contains an eye-numbing agent. That makes me uncomfortable.

We use Dr. Bronner's baby mild on Kenny (with a touch of Lavender Essential Oil in the mix) and the Peppermint in the a.m. on the girls when they can't quite get moving!


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## ali1331 (Dec 30, 2002)

I've heard great things about California Baby. I want to add that many tear free shampoos have lots of ingredients that are far from natural. However, Tami of Tami's soaps has stated (as well as others) that tear free shampoos do not contain numbing agents. She is a soap maker that I respect but obviously everyone can do her/his own research.


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

Thanks for that Ali. The lady who clued me in to this was Kristin Bell of Aromaleigh . . . so, I'm going to ask her exactly 'WHAT' they were and see if we can't get to the 'bottom' of this!









INFORMATION HIGHWAY . . . HERE I COME!


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

Oh, yeah! I am glad you are interested in researching this, Heather, bc I don't have time right now! ! We are about to move into our first home and I am applying for jobs for the fall, it is crazy around here!


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

I never have time, but things like this grate on my nerves when I feel like I have false information, y'know. I'll get back with y'all on it.


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## ali1331 (Dec 30, 2002)

Thanks for doing research. I had tried the other day without much luck. There are LOTS of places that claim that tear-free shampoo contains numbing agents but none actually say what they are. Today I found that some say that tear-free impedes the eyes ability to form tears. Possible. Johnson&Johnson on their website say that such information is false. There is nothing I can find on Snopes so I am just as caught up in the tangle as the rest of you. I suppose if I really had the time I could google all the ingredients on my Aveeno shampoo bottle. I will say that in Tami's post on AW (it was a long time ago and a lot of messages has sinced been purged from the Amity board) she actually went through identifying each of the ingredients on a tear-free shampoo and did not find any numbing agents. Like I said I respect Tami and hope I am not doing her a disservice by quoting an old post that no longer exists. Obviously shampoos may have been changed. Don't you just wish sometimes that things were a bit more simple? Anyway I suppose an easy way to avoid this problem is to buy a product where you actually understand what the ingredients are. Sorry for rambling.


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## Deirdre (Dec 1, 2001)

I have used California Baby since dd was an infant and we've never had a tear problem!

I do use the Burt's Bees Shampoo Bar when we travel. I don't think it is tear-free if it gets directly rubbed into eye by a 2 year old who loves to play with soap!!!! (can you tell this happened to us?







)

~Deirdre


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## grumo (Dec 12, 2001)

yet another vote for California Baby. It is expensive so we dilute it quite a bit.

Initially, we used Dr Brommer's baby soap, and then one day I washed my face with it and left it on my face for several seconds (imagine that, a mother getting intterupted in the middle of washing her face!), and it began to sting my face! I haven't used dr brommer's on her body since. We still use the peppermint for hand soap.


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## laura163 (Sep 13, 2002)

I really like the Arbonne hair and body wash. It rinses very well and has a very light scent. They also sell a baby lotion that doesn't cause Jack to get a rash.

They make an herbal diaper rash cream that is expensive but really good.

Laura


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## natmother (Feb 5, 2003)

I use the BB shampoo bar but it did irritate my daughters eyes once so I only use it carefully.


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## bellamama (Aug 8, 2002)

I also like california baby shampoo but LOVE tom's of maine Honeysuckle baby shampoo. It is the sweetest smell ever. It rinses out pretty easily also.


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## natmother (Feb 5, 2003)

oh yah I like that toms of maine honeysuckle shampoo too. It leaves my dd's hair real soft. That has irritated her eyes before though.


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

Ouch, the California Baby shampoo costs an arm and a leg. One thing I noticed when perusing the "natural" shampoos is that some of them said that they were pH balanced so as not to cause eye irritation. I thought that that might be a clue in figuring out this tear-free shampoo ingredient...


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## SerenityScott (Oct 3, 2002)

A hairdresser from my MOPS groups told me that it is a novacaine derivative that makes most shampoos tear-free. She said she did a paper on it in cosmatology school. Perhaps a clue for your search?







Happy hunting.


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

with the cb, it isn't cheap, but a little goes a long way - we're only on our second bottle in 8 months.


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## Serena (Nov 24, 2001)

Well, dd has hardly any hair, so... no advice on the shampoo, but we looove the Calfornia Baby body soap. Smells delicious. And we're on our second bottle in EIGHTEEN months!! A little really does go a long way. Oh, we also had some Baby Oh Baby brand, which smelled absolutely as good. The brands cost more, but they're worth it--numbing agents or no numbing agents, J&J and other brands are full of chemicals--sodium laureth sulfate and other petrolatum derivatives and false fragrances--yuck.


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## fishy (Dec 8, 2001)

Quote:

_Originally posted by hlsanders_
*I don't look for 'no tears' varieties, because the only reason that it actually IS no tears is because it contains an eye-numbing agent. That makes me uncomfortable.
*
are you kidding me? i did not know that and now im mad!


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

The lady that used to have a very informative article up at her site is no longer selling baby products and so, the article was pulled down. I contacted her, but have not received word back.

The ingredient to watch for is *Polysorbate 20* which causes a numbing sensation to the eyes. Polysorbate 20 is a derivative of Novacain (dentists use as numbing agent). This prevents your baby from feeling the sting of the stronger detergent additives in shampoos. So, basically the irritating ingredients are still THERE, they just can't be felt.

Source: Penn State Cosmetology School

This is what I was able to find online, but I am still looking for my book, *Healthy Baby, Toxic World* - I remember reading about it there as well.

Applesforhealth.com explains the eye-numbing ingredient as a way to reduce the irritation that otherwise would be caused by ingredients such as sodium lauryl suflate

Quote:

_Some baby product brands incorporate anti-irritant ingredients into their formulations to reduce the irritation sensitivity potential of sodium lauryl sulfate, but not the other side effects._


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

ksmeadowlark . . . I accidentally edited your reply somehow when I tried to post mine below.

Can you re-post please - my apologies! Those 'super moderator powers' of mine accidentally were utilized without my realization.


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

Quote:

Hmmm...I don't buy that about polysorbate 20 being a numbing agent. I did some checking around and it is a common emulsifying agent used in soaps, shampoos, candles, even photographic chemicals. From what I found, it is a "very mild emulsifier based on polymerised oleate (palm oil) and sorbitol ester (abundant in nature or derived from glucose)." (www.trinature.com)
So, back to researching, eh?







This has me thinking - If it IS a derivative of novacaine, it makes sense that it would be a numbing agent. BUT IF IT ISN'T . . . well, NOW I need to KNOW!

:LOL The things I decide that I MUST know! I'm a strange bird!


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

eek! The boards are acting strangely. I wrote out this long message above, but when Heather replied to it, it inserted her message into mine, and most of my info is gone. I PMd her, maybe she can fix it.

Anyway, I wanted to add that I don't think that Polysorbate 20 can be a derivative of Novocain bc as I posted before, Polysorbate 20 is derived from natural compounds, based on polymerised oleate (palm oil) and sorbitol ester (abundant in nature or derived from glucose), whereas Novocain is a synthetic, manufactured substitute for cocaine (4-aminobenzoic acid, 2-(diethylaminoethyl) ester).


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

OK, let me add a little of what I had typed before...

I don't think that polysorbate 20 is anything other than an emuslfiying agent, which means it helps with the textures of substances. It is used in candles, soaps, lotions, air sprays, even photographic developing chemicals. (see www.trinature.com)

The only place I found info about it being a "numbing" agent was in several natural health websites, and all the text exactly the same, like people have been copying and pasting the info around. It reeks strongly of internet legend, from what I can tell.

I will admit that I am only basing this on internet research, just like others have done. And we all know that we have to read virtually everything from the internet with a grain of salt, right? But I keep coming back to info that leads me to believe what I posted above.

I noticed that even Johnson & Johnson has a fact page disputing this bit about their baby shampoos having a numbing agent in them.


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

Lisa,
I really think you might be 'on' to something. As much as I strive to be as 'natural' as possible I absolutely despise it when someone tries to pass off 'myth' for 'truth.'

And yes, we have to consider everything we find on the web for its source - and those sources are a bit difficult to come by.

So just WHAT do they use to make it tear free though, because there are ingredients in there that would burn the eyes, y'know?


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

I have to run off for the evening here in a sec, but I was thinking that the formulas that don't burn (like Ca Baby) may be more pH balanced, and also just have milder cleansers than the ones that burn. I dunno...will check on that later.


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

Hey Lisa, we have our 'own' thread! :LOL :LOL
Think people got tired of our correspondences??


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

LOL, maybe we are just too nerdy for everyone else






























Meanwhile, my DS needs to have his hair washed!!!! Gotta find a new shampoo!







:


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

I was just pulling out the Dr. Bronner's because I didn't want to deal with reading through the ingredients.

I am 'researched' out lately . . . and I need to get working on a new article for May! Uggh!

I'll tackle this when my brain is intact . . . right now I think it is in hiding, because I can't seem to draw it forth! HA!


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## ksmeadowlark (Jun 17, 2002)

Yeah, I could see that you are researched out, you with your 5446 posts!!!! Whoa! How did your number get THAT high?

I guess we will make do with the Healthy Times Pansy shampoo and try harder to avoid eyes. DH never liked the idea of using "pansy" shampoo on DS though! LOL I may have to spring for some CA Baby when the next paycheck rolls in, just bc I don't wanna deal with this anymore right now either.


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## emma_goldman (May 18, 2005)

what about Burt's Bees new Shampoo&Wash, Tear Free, 8 oz, available at Frontier's for 3.15? Off to look at the ingredients list....


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## soapkitten (Jul 29, 2015)

*tear-free somewhat*

As a soap maker I've researched what is "tear-free." First I'd like to say that a numbing agent is not added to any tear-free products. If this were the case, it would numb any areas of the body the product comes into contact with. That being said, "tear-free" soaps use a different type of surfactant that while it can still irritate eyes, the amount of cleaning agents (that remove dirt and oils) are greatly reduced. So, they actually clean less effectively but are fine for babies and small children. The fact is, any substance that comes in contact with the eyes must be the same PH level as the eye which is between 6.5 to 7.6, with 7 being the average. that includes the water. So there is no guarantee for tearless shampooing. I hope this helps. I understand wanting to use natural products for your family.


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