No-poo/no-soap/natural cosmetic call to action

OK, peeps, I need your help.

I've decided to embark on a research project that will no doubt end up long, involved, time-consuming & messy. I'd like to put together a Web page with easy-to-understand information about commercial-cosmetic ingredients, what they really do, and the alternatives. I intend to cover shampoos & conditioners, facial cleansers & "skin care" products, "beauty bars" & their ilk, even the kinds that are marketed as natural & crunchy. My goal is to make it not so scary (and not so much of a hit & miss thing) for people to get out of the product-dependency cycle.

But I don't want to reinvent the wheel. So while I Google compulsively & stride down the aisles of Walgreens & Kmart with a notepad, I'd appreciate it if yall could point me toward any resources (online is best) that would help answer these questions:

a breakdown of common ingredients & their purposes?
which are petrochemicals?
which are suspected health hazards? info backing this up?
information about dermatology & hair which puts in scientific terms why these products don't do what they claim (along the lines of the book "Blue Eyeshadow Should Be Illegal")?
personal-experience pages like MotownGirl's hair diary?

It needs to all be verifiable info.

I am off to Google but my first stop will be the previous no-poo & no-soap threads.

TIA!