Hey guys, welcome back! So we are starting a new series on the different ways on how to cleanse your hair. Please check out the previous series on conditioners. It has a lot of information and product recommendations (Who doesn’t love that?)
Let’s start off with shampoos, something every natural loves to hate! Is shampooing our hair really that bad? I mean when we had relaxed hair did we not happily reach for our shampoo? (I am assuming we didn’t mind that) so why is shampooing now one of the most horrid words you could say to a natural lol along with creamy crack and heat!
CHECK THE LABEL!
Sure every shampoo is different but if you look at the commonly used ingredients you will find these
- Ammonium Chloride
- Ammonium lauryl sulfate
- Glycol
- Sodium laureth sulfate
- Sodium lauryl sulfate
- Sodium lauroamphoacetate
- Polysorbate 20 aka PEG(20)
- Polysorbate 80 aka PEG(80)
- PEG-150
- Citric acid
- Quaternium-15
- Polyquaternium-10
- Di-PPG-2 myreth-10 adipate
- Methylisothiazolinone, or MIT
The dreaded S words! Naturals are notoriously known to try and stay away from Sodium Sulfate and parabens too (among a bunch of other scary words lol) why? Were we not reaching for the same sulfate as relaxed girls? Sulfate is the main reason your shampoo is able to cleanse effectively. It is powerful enough to penetrate dirt and oil and remove product build up. Unfortunately it also removes the natural oils of the hair…….. (ooo that’s why) causing it to be drier and frizzier and more prone to breakage. It is painfully irritant (Just let a tiny bit get into your eye) and can also dry out the skin (especially if you wash your hair in the shower and you let the water/foam down your body, although this is impossible to avoid lol. Anyone also notice if they spend a while in the shower washing their hair they can become very itchy?)
So now that we know shampoo is evil! Lool. What happens now? What if I mistakenly use it?!!!!
Well for starters, we have been using shampoos for years but our hair grows FINE so I really don’t think it’s THAT bad (After all, that’s why conditioners were made) but I do think moderation is key. Personally I still use sulfate containing shampoo (horror face) but once in a while when I really want to remove EVERRRYYYTHANGG lol.
SULFATE FREE SHAMPOO
So on the market recently are sulfate free shampoos that promise to do the trick without the dreaded ingredients. So what is in these shampoos that make them effective if not as effective as their sulfate containing counterparts (Are they as effective? Let me know)
And are they really sulfate free or are manufacturers choosing slightly different chemicals and re – naming them and branding them as healthier to driver sales hmm? No doubt in recent years the amount of sulfate free shampoos have increased! Actually it seems any product that is labelled *insert chemical perceived as evil here* free has doubled on the shelves in recent years!
So what ingredients should you be looking out for when it comes to sulfate free shampoo? According to Innersense, these are the chemicals you should be looking for and staying away from
Glucosides, Lauryl Glucoside
Taurates and Fatty Acid Isethionates
Glutamates, Amino Acid Sulfosuccinates
Stay away from products that claim to be sulfate-free but contain the following ingredients:
Cocamide DEA, Cocamide MEA
PEG’s, PEG8
Propylene Glycol
Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Hydroxysultain
I haven’t used many sulfate free shampoos in my day, as a matter of fact I have only used two, Aubrey Organics GPB Glycogen protein balancing shampoo lavender ylang ylang and Dr. Miracle conditioning shampoo. And I used these years apart! The Aubrey when I first became natural about 4 years ago and the Dr. Miracle now (it seems I’m in love with the sulfate lool see what I did there). I won’t say my hair has been in the best state in those years between and even now but I will not contribute that to the shampoo alone.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
It’s up to the individual to decide if they want to carry on using regular shampoo or switch to sulfate free. I say just use in moderation. If you want to make the switch check out some recommended ones below although I can’t vouch for most of these personally lol, you would have to carry out further research on them.
Aubrey Organics, GPB Glycogen protein balancing shampoo lavender ylang ylang. Its such a long time I used this so I can’t remember how it made my hair feel. All I remember is the price lol, it was £5 pounds on sale from the usual price of £9.99 (ouch). You can get online for £10.51
Dr. Miracle conditioning shampoo. I still use this and I love it very much. It has a tingling sensation as with most if not all Dr. Miracle products. It lathers up ok and gets the job done. Its £2.99 from most BSS
Dark and lovely Au Naturale: Moisture L.O.C sulfate free cleansing shampoo for £6.99
Design Essentials Almond and Avocado moisturising and detangling sulfate free shampoo for £8.50
NuNaat Real Me Lather up and hydrate shampoo for £7.99
Mixed Chicks sulfate free shampoo for £13.90
All these can be purchased on British Curlies (http://shop.britishcurlies.co.uk/sulfate-free/?sort=featured&page=1)
A great alternative to shampoos are natural shampoo bars. Great ones are African black soap and shea butter soap. I recently received shea butter soap from a company called Mon Shea to review and I must say I love it so much. I actually used it today as part of my wash day and washing my hair has never been so easy! (Why didn’t y’all tell me about the ease of use with shampoo bars? Smh lol) Anyway a first look at the company (On the blog already, read it here > http://wp.me/p1uQOd-ys and a full review will be coming soon. In the meantime check out their website for great alternatives for your hair and skin care needs. http://monsheabutter.co.uk/
If after all of this you are now completely off shampooing all together lol, don’t fret! This series is all about providing you with the different ways to cleanse your hair! Watch out for the next instalment which will be on co-washing.
That’s all folks, I really didn’t think it will be a long one but as I started doing my research I realised I would not be doing you guys any justice if I didn’t include some details. For more information on ingredients or anything please check Google lool. Otherwise here are a few references/websites I used today
http://www.xovain.com/hair/do-you-need-to-worry-about-sulfates-in-your-shampoo
https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Shampoo
http://www.tightlycurly.com/Ingredients.aspx
Until next time
Love
Sarah
sarah fynn 