Why Are Sulfates Bad for Hair? When to Use Sulfate Free Shampoo 2023

Table Of Content

• Our favorite sulfate-free shampoos
• Which ingredients are bad for hair?
• Verb Hydrating Shampoo
• Is it ever okay to use hair care products with sulfates and silicones?
• At-Home Laser Hair Removal: How to Get Smooth Skin for $100s Less Than Salon Treatments
• Which ingredients are good to use on hair?
• Who should use sulfate-free shampoo?

They belong to a class of cleansers called anionic surfactants, which clean away substances. If you look at the ingredients on the shampoo bottle, you will notice that the primary shampoo ingredient is sodium lauryl sulfate. There is also a recent research that claims the use of sulfates is not only detrimental to the hair and overall health of an individual, but also harms the environment. Almost 95 percent of personal hygiene products, including shampoos have sulfates in them. This is a harsh chemical which can damage hair and also lead to several other hair problems...

Our favorite sulfate-free shampoos

This clarifying shampoo helps deeply cleanse your scalp by removing excess oil and product buildup along with residue from hard water. It also contains OLAPLEX’s signature bond-building ingredient, bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate, which helps strengthen dry, damaged hair by repairing broken disulfide bonds in each strand of your hair. If your hair is not color-treated, whether to go sulfate-free or not is really up to you. “If your favorite shampoo contains sulfates and you’re not ready to let it go, make sure you follow up with hydrating products to keep potential dryness at bay,” Dr. Schlessinger says.

Which ingredients are bad for hair?

Of course, if you have very dry, damaged hair, sensitive skin, or a skin condition, opting for mild sulfate-free products isn't a bad idea. It's also personal, he explains—silicones work well with certain hair types (like curls and coils!), but not with others (those with fine, straight hair might want to steer clear). If you don’t have curly, dry, or color-treated hair, sulfates don’t pose as much of a problem.

Verb Hydrating Shampoo

My hair is flat and stick-straight, I don't color it, it gets greasy fast, and I load up on the dry shampoo and volumizing products. The best way for me to reset my hair is with a sulfate-filled formula. However, if you have a sensitivity to sulfates or if your hair is dry, fine, or damaged, it may be best to choose a different type of shampoo.

Smoothening Hair Serum for Frizzy Hair - with Fresh Rose

Below, we've rounded up six bestselling and top-rated sulfate-free shampoos to try. At NBC Select, we work with experts with specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.

Is it ever okay to use hair care products with sulfates and silicones?

Surfactants lower the surface tension of the liquid they are in, which makes the liquid easier to mix with water and work up into a good foam. Iman Balagam is a beauty contributor at Cosmopolitan with nearly four years of experience writing beauty stories that range from curling irons to collagen for hair growth. She’s an authority in all categories, but is an expert when it comes to hair oiling, thanks to years of personally researching and testing different hair oils to grow her thick hair. If you don’t have the patience to leave it overnight—or your scalp tends to be oil-prone—try hair oiling as a pre-shampoo treatment. Simply leave your hair oil on for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour, before shampooing and conditioning your hair as usual.

When sulfates make contact with your hair, they create a negative electrical charge, which can create frizz after you shampoo. You can minimize these risks by looking for a sulfate shampoo that also has frizz-neutralizing ingredients, such as amphoteric or nonionic surfactants. However, if you’re especially prone to frizz, you might want to skip sulfate shampoo altogether. Some shampoo formulations can be irritating to users with sensitive skin, so Odele created a product specifically formulated to work with their needs. According to the brand, the formula is extra gentle, free from synthetic fragrances and even approved by the National Eczema Association.

Which ingredients are good to use on hair?

It depends on a variety of factors, such as hair density, how often you wash your hair, etc. However, there are a few ingredients — or types of each ingredient — that you should overall try to stay away from. Keep scrolling to find out which ingredients you should steer clear of. If you prefer to minimize your exposure to such chemicals, there are plenty of more natural alternatives available that provide gentle cleansing without sacrificing effectiveness. These alternatives offer a milder approach to hair care while still ensuring cleanliness and nourishment for your locks.

20 Best Sulfate-Free Shampoos 2023 for a Gentle Cleanse - Allure

20 Best Sulfate-Free Shampoos 2023 for a Gentle Cleanse.

Posted: Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

To get to the bottom of it, we talked to dermatologists and asked them to weigh in on whether sulfates are actually bad for your hair. If you've recently had a chemical or color service, a sulfate-free formula may help prolong the life of your service. One of the most common myths surrounding sulfates is that they cause cancer. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this claim or that sulfates cause any harm to health. With every salon appointment, chances are, the subject of removing sulfate-infused shampoos out of your shower usually arises before the round brush makes contact with your freshly-cut layers. Parabens’ and phthalates’ main purpose is to increase the longevity of the hair product.

Formulated with 0% sulfates, silicones, and dyes, this plant-powered shampoo gently cleanses hair without stripping strands of color or natural oils. Every shampoo formula contains at least one kind of cleansing ingredient to help wash away dirt and sebum from the scalp. Sodium or aluminum lauryl sulfate (SLS or ALS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) are common sulfate surfactants used in shampoo formulations. We're going to go out on a limb here and say that shampoo—sulfate-free or not—holds a permanent place in your hair care product arsenal. And "If you are concerned about losing your hair's natural oils, the only thing you can do is stop washing your hair. "All shampoos strip your hair of natural oil.

Sometimes, people will overuse or waste the product in hopes of seeing their hair sudsy, but sulfate-free formulas don't give that experience because they offer a more gentle cleanse. I have a near encyclopedic knowledge of skincare ingredients, but when it comes to hair care, there’s really only one ingredient I recognize, and that’s sulfates. All I really know about the ingredient category is that they’re not good for hair, at least according to the hairstylists I’ve gone to — I’ve been told to avoid shampoos that contain sulfates for years.

Rëzo points out the words "sulfate" or "silicone" will not explicitly appear. While silicones will be listed via the aforementioned monikers, sulfates will appear as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), lauroyl isethionate (ALS), and sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES). Both Fekkai and Rëzo agree to avoid shampoo formulas with these additions, because they say cleansers formulated with sulfates strip hair and color more often than not.

When used in shampoo, sulfates can remove oil, dirt, product build-up and pollution from the scalp and hair. They’re also easily rinsed out with water which means no leftover residue. Because sulfates are so good at wiping away oil and debris, they can be too drying for some. That's why sulfate-free shampoos have become more and more popular over the past decade. “Sulfates shouldn’t be viewed as a bad ingredient,” says Leland Olson, style-color master from Kevin Murphy.

It is lightweight, colorless, odorless, and prevents moisture from escaping skin and hair. Most concerns around its use have to do with its ability to build up on the scalp and hair, weighing down hair and blocking new follicle growth. More serious concerns have to do with the manufacturing process, which includes polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are considered to have potential links to breast cancer, Dr. Robinson explains. It’s definitely possible to get that super-clean, fresh-from-the-shower feeling without SLS or SLES in your shampoo formula.

First, determine whether or not your hair type is compatible with this ingredient—then decide whether or not to nix it from our regimen. "A person with curly, coarse hair will have a completely different experience than someone with fine, limp hair when using a silicone-based product," says Fekkai. For example, when hair has a lot of product buildup or oil, a shampoo with sulfates can effectively cleanse strands. However, their ability to cleanse is a double-edged sword and can make them not-so-great for certain hair types.