A Rant: Sulfates and Shampoos

You know what really gets on my nerves? (Besides bad drivers?)

Slippery marketing and consumers who fall for it.

Specifically the type of marketing that leads women with expensive (or home) dye jobs to the types of shampoo that will help that color wash out faster. That’s right, I’m talking about sulfates, sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) to be exact.

Basically, this is an ingredient used to create lather and it acts as a soap. So when it comes to hair, any color that has been deposited will be lifted and washed away when a surfactant is used. This means that your fantastic dye job will fade days, if not weeks, faster than if you used a sulfate-free shampoo product. Sulfates are typically not found in conditioners and styling products, since they don’t need to lather.

Now back to my pet peeve. When a brand markets a line of shampoo towards consumers with colored hair but has SLS as its second ingredient, then I’m pretty sure that makes it NOT safe for color-treated hair. Brands like Redken, Matrix Biolage, Paul Mitchell, and more have products claiming to be safe for color-treated hair but still contain sulfates. AND WE BUY THEM.

So what’s a girl or guy to buy? Here are some of my personal recommendations:

• Matrix Biolage Delicate Care Shampoo
• Big Sexy Hair Color Safe Volumizing Shampoo
• It’s a 10 Miracle Sulfate-Free Shampoo
• L’Oreal Ever System (I like EverCreme, but there are several varieties to choose from.)
• Basically anything from the Organix line

You can find these products in various places, since retailers like Target and CVS are now carrying brands that were formally only sold in salons. I don’t think It’s a 10 products are sold outside of salons, though. Since every Ulta has a salon, all of the brands above are at least sold in stores, with some brands being sold online as well. (This is why most of my links are for Ulta.)

With all that being said, what do you think? What has your experience been? This could have been much more in depth, I realize, but I encourage you to read others’ thoughts on the topic and decide what works best for you!

Much love, homies,

Laura