Hair Matters Blog

Ok, so if you haven’t heard by now, Sulfate-Free Shampoos are all the rage. Companies everywhere are switching to Sulfate-Free formulas. Why? BECAUSE SULFATES ARE EVIL!!!….or…are they?

Sulfates are the main active cleaning agent found in your shampoo. They are the reason your shampoo foams/bubbles/lathers, which makes you think and feel that your shampoo is working. First of all, you don’t actually need a super-lathering shampoo in order to get your hair clean. The lather really is just a show your shampoo is putting on for you to reassure you that it’s doing its job. If you’re thinking of switching to sulfate-free shampoo you can say bye-bye to all that soapy lather.

So why does everyone hate Sulfates all of a sudden? What did they do? Well…they also appear in ENGINE DEGREASER. EW!…right? I mean that sounds gross…I don’t want to pour engine degreaser all over me.

Everyone seems to think that sulfates are going to cause us harm, mainly because of the other types of products they are used in. The fact is that no one has proven that sulfates actually hurt us! We’ve been using sulfate-rich shampoo for years and there has never been a correlated link between sulfates in shampoos and illness.  Also, any tests that have been conducted with regards to sulfates and the skin are not particularly accurate. From what I understand, pure sulfates (not the specially formulated shampoo you use) are applied directly to the skin of the test subject (probably a mouse) and left on for hours at a time. This is done multiple times to the test subject. OBVIOUSLY this is not a very accurate representation of the sulfates coming in contact with your skin from your shampoo. So think what you will about these so-called “research studies”.

On the flip side, Shampoos with Sulfates can negatively affect some peoples hair. Certain sulfates are accompained by salts, which can actually dehydrate your hair. The salts can also cause skin & eye irritation, strip your hair of natural oils and make your hair harder to manage. Shampoos containing sulfates may be too strong for some people’s hair, like if you have fine or thin hair, for example.

So I switched to a Sulfate-Free Shampoo, just to see what all the excitement was about.

One of the best changes for me is that my eyes don’t burn any more when I take a shower! Everytime I showered, My eyes would burn so bad that I would eventually just have to keep them closed. I was very careful about not getting water on my face at all while I showered, but that was just about impossible to do. I wondered if it was maybe my macara getting in my eyes. BUT after switching to a sulfate free shampoo, no more burning! It’s fantastic! If you experience any kind of irritation like that when you shower, I would strongly recommened giving a Sulfate-Free Shampoo a try.

Now, there are way less bubbles, that is for sure. At first, I used WAY too much shampoo to try to get the same amount of lather that I was used to getting with my Sulfate-rich Shampoo. I felt like my hair just wasn’t getting as clean if I didn’t use a ton of the new shampoo. BUT after a short while, my hair got used to the lack of sulfates and I started using less and less shampoo, till I was back down to the quarter sized amount I should have been using.

Honestly, my hair has improved since I started using Sulfate-Free shampoo. I’m not sure if it’s due to the lack of sulfates, or because it is also Vegan and therefore lacking a lot of other chemicals, or if it’s because I’ve finally found the right shampoo for my hair…but my hair is a lot happier. I’ll definitely keep using a Sulfate-Free shampoo from now on…if only because of the lack of eye irritation. Look to my next blog to get my full review of the Sulfate-Free Shampoo I tried…

XOXO
The Hair Matters Girl