…cause I’m about to ruin the image and the style that you’re used to.
A little Digital Underground for you, but seriously. I need you to check all your hair care products RIGHT NOW. Right now.
You are looking for this ingredient: DMDM Hydantoin
This ingredient releases FORMALDEHYDE. So while formaldehyde itself is illegal to put in products, putting ingredients that break down INTO formaldehyde apparently isn’t.
I’m not down with slowly embalming myself. Nope. And I didn’t just take her word for it (video link)- I looked it up myself.
Also- you may want to check the rest of your beauty products. It may be in some of them as well.
Want to see what products I own that have these ingredients?
I knew you did. I literally went through the house and looked at ANYTHING I put on my body (or anything my Hubby puts on his) from deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash, facial scrub, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and even dish washing liquid.
The following products in my house contain DMDM Hydantoin:
- most Suave products (all the shampoos, conditioners, and lotions I own… but NOT the body wash)
- Manic Panic hair dye (but not SPLAT!)
- Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream (yes, that’s right- my old faithful standby is in fact TRYING TO KILL ME)
- Kroger Clarify Foaming Cleanser (you may want to check if you have a foaming cleanser, as this is an imitation of the major brands)
- BioTera Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner (BOTH have it, and I haven’t even had the chance to try them yet)
- Olay Fresh Effects Deluxe Make-up Removal Wet Cloths
- most Maui Moisture products (but mostly the hair masks, conditioners, and hair butters)
- Infusium Conditioner (not the shampoo, though)
- Dial Professional Hair & Body Wash (and I just bought FOUR gallons of this stuff. Yes, that’s right- FOUR GALLONS)
- TGIN Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer (the regular shampoo conditioner, and hair mask are fine)
I still have multiple weeks of Wash Days to write about (I’m currently on Week 10, and I believe I just wrote about Week 3 or 4. So there’s a bunch of these products littered throughout my previous wash days. Like I don’t care about parabens and silicones, and sulfates being in my products; but I DO care about this. All of these products are going straight in the trash.
But do you see how you can quickly get to a toxic level of one ingredient? It’s not just the shampoo. It’s in a LOT of things that you use multiple times a day! I’m soo glad I don’t wear makeup. I’d want to check the ingredients on that stuff, too.
Duck And Cover 
You got my attention, and piqued my curiosity. It sounds like you probably won’t be able to avoid formaldehyde releasers, this info page https://www.psico.com/sensitive-skin-care/articles/formaldehyde-releasers/ gives six other common ones. If you’re not allergic or sensitive to formaldehyde, you’ll need to weigh the longterm effects against having products that might go bad with bacteria growing in it – esp if you are buying in bulk because of overseas supply issues. Good luck! (I saw the DMDM Hydrantoin only in my suave shampoo, of all the products I currently have, but didn’t check for the whole list I linked to above.)
It can be done, you just have to be careful. I have checked the TGIN products and the shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask are safe. I need to check my other products. I threw a bunch away, so it’s time to see if the rest can make the cut.
Here’s an interesting one- the Aussie Mega Moist that I convinced my Hubby to start using doesn’t have any of the seven. I thought surely it would, since it is soo inexpensive.