Are Sulfate Free Shampoos Just A Con?

Black women love a scapegoat. Since hair forums and blogs became popular and we learned from each other exactly how black hair can be grown long, we’ve been looking either for that 1 product that will guarantee us long locks or that 1 evil product that stunted our length retention efforts in the first place.

Scapegoats for our breaking locks have been named and shamed over the years, from mineral oil* and it’s sidekicks petroleum and paraffinum liquidum to silicones and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). We sing the praises of overpriced cosmetics that are free from either one or all these ingredients telling anyone who’ll listen that avoiding them is the reason for our sudden success in hair growth.

I won’t pretend otherwise, in the past I was just a fearful of using some of these ingredients as the next person but I quickly debunked the idea that mineral oil is as evil as all that and I have even mentioned in previous articles that silicones can be used as part of a good hair regimen. I’ve personally used silicones throughout my hair journey.

I’m not giving the green light on mineral oil per se, many products containing this oil are of inferior quality and natural oils* will always be superior anyway, I’m just saying that mineral oil* in and of iteslf is not the cause of black women’s length retention issues. Neither are silicones or any other suspect ingredient that comes to mind.

With that thought, SLS is the next item on my list of myths to debunk. Among the ‘dangers’ assigned to SLS are the following:

1. It’s a skin irritant that some people may be allergic to.

2. In animal studies, SLS penetration and uptake is much greater in neonatal and young animal eye tissue, compared to adult animals, and shows “penetration into the eye, as well as systemic tissues (brain, heart, liver, etc.). SLS also showed long-term retention in tissues, up to five days after a single drop. This has not been researched in humans.

3. It is a possible carcinogen.

4. It strips the hair of natural oils* making it more likely to break.

I don’t want to downplay the potential dangers of SLS but at the moment, that’s all they are, potential dangers. We live on a planet more toxic than ever now and so many things are possible carcinogens, exhaust fumes, fertilizers in our food supply and even toasted bread (because of the browning) is reported as being a carcinogen!

Looking at the point that SLS strips our hair of natural oils*, that alone doesn’t make for a convincing argument for going SLS free. I recently received a bottle of Sheilo sulfate free shampoo that claims in it’s branding to ‘Moisturize and Fortify’. The ingredient list on the back of that bottle had 42 items which itself is a worry when a cheap V05 SLS containing poo only has 17!

While it’s true that there’s no sufate to be seen in the ingredient list of the Sheilo poo, a very suspicious Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate appears after water as the first ingredient. Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate has been reported as being even more drying than SLS by some curlies and there have not been many health studies on this ingredient to date so who knows what they will find out about it in the future. I mean apothecaries prescribed cocaine in the past  to ‘cure’ alcoholism!

Here’s the thing, a manufacturer could use SLS but include a large amount of moisturizing fatty acids in the formulation and the result would be clean hair that remains soft while another manufacturer could use a sulfate free formulation without as many moisturizing ingredients and you would find that the product will strip your hair. Incidentally I found this shampoo to be very drying indeed.

If you have been wondering why going SLS free has made little difference to your hair, remember that the formulation of a product is so much more important than the individual ingredients that make it up. Until people understand this, cosmetics companies will continue to play on your fears with overpriced ‘sulfate free’, ‘mineral oil* free’ and ‘silicone free’ products that do nothing for your hair and could possible make things worse.

If you don’t want to use sulfates, don’t just buy a random sulfate free shampoo*, they are not all created equal. Give your business to companies who create 100% natural hair products like Aubrey Organics which use soaps as their detergents for cleansing.

It’s only through trial and error that you will find the select group of products that work for your hair and that takes time and patience. More importantly, it’s not the products that you use that will grow your hair long, it’s your regimen. Period.