What Does Sulfate Free Mean
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What Does "Sulfate-Free" Mean?

Sulfate-free shampoo is great for color-treated hair. Learn about sulfates in your shampoo and discover what type of shampoo is best for your hair.

There's no doubt you've taken notice of the amount of products now mentioning they're sulfate-free. The need for sulfate-free products has been growing steadily the past few years, and there are several reasons why these products are beneficial to various hair types.

As the sulfate-free movement grows, it's critical to understand the answer to, “What is sulfate-free shampoo?” and how sulfates affect your hair.

In this article

woman washing hair

What Are Sulfates?

Sulfate is a salt found in most hair care and cleaning products, including your shampoo. In a scientific sense, sulfate forms when sulfuric acid comes in contact with another chemical. Sulfate is an umbrella term for other synthetic chemicals including sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES).

Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate are oily compounds used to create lather, typically sourced from plants (like palm kernel oil and coconut oil) and petroleum. If your skin or hair products foam up when you use them, this is a sign that they contain sulfate.

Sulfates are in shampoos because they are very aggressive detergents. Prior to using sulfates in shampoo and soaps, products used ingredients that were simple but ineffective. Sulfates were introduced to products because they were potent, cheap, and simple to obtain. Most importantly, they rose in popularity as an ingredient because they created the bubbly lather we've learned to associate with cleanliness.

woman smiling while rinsing hair

What is Sulfate-Free Shampoo?

A sulfate-free shampoo simply means shampoo that has no sulfate, and alternately has other cleansing ingredients. Sulfates in shampoo often help the product lather, but it also removes protective oils and color with each wash. If you have colored hair, especially vibrant colors, you will want to use a sulfate free shampoo that does not strip the color from your hair.

To protect color treated hair, avoid washing your hair daily and instead use dry shampoo between washes to lower the amount of exposure to sulfates.

long brown hair with treatmeant mask

Is Sulfate Bad for You?

There is little scientific evidence that sulfate can have harmful long-term effects, but it can cause irritation of the lungs, skin and eyes. Contamination can also happen during manufacturing with a substance 1,4-dioxane. Although they don't appear to have long-term effects, they do affect the health of your hair, so it's probably best to avoid sulfates if you can.

Here's 6 Reasons Why You Should Consider Using a Sulfate-Free Shampoo:

  1. Sulfates Wash Away the Protective Oils Your Scalp Produces

    Your scalp produces natural antimicrobial, water-proofing oils that get washed away by sulfates. The hair and scalp are then robbed of crucial moisture and can be left exposed to dangerous bacteria, allergens, and pollution. This then makes your hair vulnerable to damage or infection.

    For additional protection, use a hair mask like Guacamole Whip Deep Moisture Mask by Sauce Beauty to add back in moisture.

  2. The Hair Cuticle Gets Lifted with Each Use, Causing Breakage and Split Ends

    Your cuticle is the outermost layer of your hair. It serves to protect the inner layer called the cortex. When the cuticle is damaged, it leaves your inner layers exposed to direct heat, pollution, and UV rays. This causes breakage, split ends, and could also be contributing to why your hair just doesn't seem to grow past a certain length.

    On top of using sulfate-free shampoo, a bond builder can help prevent breakage while you are lightening.

  3. Your Hair Can Take Longer to Dry

    When sulfates lift your cuticle, the inner layer of your hair strand absorbs more water. This can significantly increase the amount of time it takes to dry your hair.

  4. It Can Leave Your Hair Feeling Staticy

    Sulfates have a negative ion charge and cause static or flyaways. In order to neutralize this, you'll have to use a conditioner that contains heavy silicones, which create an artificial shine. The silicones can mask the true condition of your hair and the extent of the damage.

  5. Your Scalp May Become Irritated

    As we've discussed, sulfates strip the protective layer of natural oils on your scalp. This leaves it unprotected against ingredients in other hair care products, which may cause scalp irritation.

  6. Sulfates Dry Your Hair and Can Disrupt Curl Patterns

    Sulfate can also have adverse effects on curly hair. Curly hair is naturally drier, and sulfate serves to strip away the natural oils of your hair, leaving it even drier and more brittle. This can disrupt natural curl patterns. If you have curly hair, you may want to steer clear of shampoo and conditioner with sulfates.

man getting long hair washed in salon

How to Know if Your Shampoo Has Sulfate

Many shampoos will boast on the front of the bottle that they are free of sulfates, but this isn't always the case.

Check the ingredients listed on the back of your shampoo or other product bottle. Most sulfate-free products will claim they are sulfate-free, but instead they include ingredients where the chemical compounds are just one or two atoms away from technically being sulfate. They're also known as “sul-fakes”. Some are worse than others, so be careful about the ingredients that may be hidden on the back of your shampoo bottle.

Check Your Shampoo for These Ingredients:

  • Sodium Lauroyl Taurate

  • Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate

  • Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate

  • Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate

  • Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate

  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

  • Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)

  • Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate

To some degree, sulfates are unavoidable. However, the ingredients listed above are generally considered more harsh than others.

woman shampooing hair

Which Shampoos are Sulfate-Free?

It is important to check the ingredients of anything you use on your hair and scalp. If you have sensitive skin, you don't want to choose just any product. Protect your hair while removing dirt with shampoo that is well suited for your hair type and your hair needs, whether you want shinier hair or healthier hair.

Useful Alternatives to Sulfate:

  • Alginate

  • SLSA (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate)

  • Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate

  • SCS (Sodium Coco Sulfate)

  • Disodium / Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate

  • Decyl glucoside

  • Lauryl glucoside

  • Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate

  • Dimethicone

Keep in mind that the above mentioned alternatives aren't the only ones out there. If you truly want to know if your shampoo is sulfate-free, you can run the ingredients list through a product checker such as SkinCarisma.

woman getting hair washed at salon

When Should You Stop Using Sulfates?

If you have any sort of unexpected reaction to sulfates, you should stop using sulfates immediately. This includes itchiness, redness, irritation, skin rash or inflammation. Any of these reactions could mean that you are allergic to sulfates. Stop using the sulfate product immediately and consult your doctor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it true that sulfate-free shampoos are better for color-treated hair?

Sulfate-free shampoos do not contain any sulfate detergents, which are commonly used in shampoos, but can strip or fade hair color.

Is it necessary to shampoo my hair every day?

How often one should shampoo varies with each individual and depends on hair type and texture, lifestyle, styling practices and climate.

If I leave a shampoo on my hair for a few minutes will it clean my hair better?

Professional-grade shampoos are designed to attract soil and lift it off the hair. Leaving shampoo in your hair for a little longer can help lift soil, but it isn't a necessity for cleaning our hair.

Are there shampoos specifically formulated for use in hard water conditions?

Hard water shampoos are specifically formulated to eliminate and prevent hard water mineral deposits.

What are the benefits of natural ingredients, such as herbs, wheat, soy, egg, lemon and tea tree oil in shampoo?

Natural source botanical extracts derived from herbs, flowers and other plant-based sources infuse hair with proteins, nutrients and moisture.

What shampoo is best for color-treated hair?

Shampoos that are designed to control color loss are lower in pH, ranging from 2.5 to 4, which forces the cuticle of the hair to close, thus enabling the hair to retain its color.

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