When I’m not worrying about skin care, I’m thinking about hair! When my hair started falling out like crazy several years ago, I began my hair loss research, and found that just like with skin care, there are a lot of hair care product ingredients to avoid as well! The ingredients I’m going to tell you about might not make your hair fall out, but they are unnecessarily harsh on your hair and scalp. There’s no need to use these ingredients when there are plenty of shampoos (some of which are very inexpensive) that don’t contain them.
If you are concerned about hair care, and what you are cleansing and styling with, check out this book: Don’t Go Shopping For Hair-Care Products Without Me - Paula Begoun. It’s a few years old, but it’s still a good resource to learn more about hair care, and a lot of the products reviewed are still on the market today.
Shampoo Cleansing Ingredients To Avoid:
Extremely common ingredients
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
Ammonium Laureth Sulfate
Ammonium Xylene Sulfonate
TEA Lauryl Sulfate
Sulfur (in dandruff shampoos)
Selenium Sulfide (in dandruff shampoos)
Less common ingredients
Magnesium Sulfate
Sodium Thiosulfate
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Alkyl Sodium Sulfate
Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate
TEA-Dodecylbenzene
Sodium C12-15 Alkyl Sulfate
Sodium Dodecyl Sulfonate
At the drugstore, a lot of the cheap shampoo brands like Suave, Dove, VO5, and Pert Plus contain these “bad” ingredients and I would suggest staying away from them. I’m sorry to say, even Pantene is a shampoo that is on the “bad” list.
Good Shampoos
Currently I use mostly drugstore shampoos that only cost a few dollars, and they work great and do not contain the “bad” ingredients. I’ve been using L’Oreal Vive Pro Nutri Gloss Shampoo, and Garnier Fructis Fortifying Shampoo, and from Ulta I buy Back To Basics Citrus Clarifying Sage Shampoo. At the store today, I noticed cheapo Sunsilk also makes the “okay” list. Most of the higher-end drugstore shampoos, or more expensive shampoos from Ulta or hair salons don’t contain the bad ingredients, but you should still read the labels to make sure. I’ve used expensive shampoos, and don’t think they work better than cheap ones, which is why, even with my hair loss issues, I’m okay with $3 shampoos if they contain the right ingredients.
Is there ever a time when it’s good to use “bad” shampoos?
Several years ago, I dyed my hair with a semi-permanent color, and for some reason my hair turned black, and it was all goopy and sticky, even after washing it 3 times! I was desperate and bought the cheapest, crappiest sounding shampoo I could find, hoping that it would be super harsh. I believe I bought Prell. Well, let me tell you, that Prell got all the goop out of my hair and it worked wonders to strip all the nastiness right out of there!
If you have “perfect” hair and are using Pantene, or some other shampoo that contains the “bad” ingredients, then by all means keep using it. But if you are experiencing any problems at all - hair loss, dandruff, dry hair, frizzy hair, then I would recommend switching.
What about Sodium Laureth Sulfate?
Sodium Laureth Sulfate is the gentler version of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. A lot has been written about the evils of SLS, and how it is extremely irritating and possibly carcinogenic. At this point, I personally feel comfortable using Sodium Laureth Sulfate, but stay away from its harsher Sodium Lauryl Sulfate cousin.
What about “natural” shampoos?
If you go to Whole Foods, or even some drugstores, there are shampoos that are SLS-free. This is good if you are sensitive to SLS, or are afraid of it. However, natural shampoos aren’t necessarily and better than regular ones, nor are they really all that “natural.” A lot of natural shampoos also contain a lot of ingredients that Paula Begoun deems irriting, which is why I stick with regular shampoos. Below is a list of more ingredients to avoid. I usually don’t bother searching labels for these ingredients since these aren’t usually in regular shampoos.
Shampoo Additive Ingredients To Avoid:
Avocado
Balm Mint
Balsam
Essential Oils
Eucalyptus
Grapefruit
Horseradish
Lavender Oil
Lemon
Lime
Menthol
Orange
Papaya
Peppermint
Rose
Sage
Thyme
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November 30th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
SLS, from what I’ve read, is basically irritating *because* it’s a detergent. We need oils in our skin and removing too many is bad. But this is something that can happen with *any* detergent, so it’s not just SLS… I’ve actually cut way back from using shampoo in general, myself, and found that my normally-frazzled hair is doing a lot better because of it. But it all depends on your own hair, I think… if you have fine, easily-weighed-down hair, the same oils that I’m trying to preserve could leave your hair greasy and stringy, and then a detergent would be a good thing.
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:16 am
Nice article but unfortunately Paula doesn’t completely understand the chemistry of the things she writes about. Don’t get me wrong, I love Paula and she has some great advice. However, sometimes she gets things just a little bit wrong. For example…
There is practically no difference between ALES and SLES. These ingredients are salts and when they are put in water, the “Ammonium” part and the “Sodium” part separate from the “Laureth Sulfate” part. There is no noticeable difference between the two. So, if the advice is to avoid ALES then the same should apply to SLES.
The advice also doesn’t consider formulating tricks that are done to reduce irritation of detergents and other ingredients in the formula. For example, Pantene includes glycol distearate and cocamidopropyl betaine in their formulas which has the benefit of significantly reducing irritation. In fact, some SLES formulas would score worse in irritation and harshness tests than Pantene. (Note I’m not endorsing Pantene, just pointing out some facts about formulating).
Incidentally, the next time you have a tough time getting color out of your hair, soaking it in warm distilled water works better than any shampoo.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
does pantene pro have any kind of pork,beef in the ingrediantes……
thank you
December 31st, 2007 at 2:31 am
i actually use alberto vo5 kiwi lime squeeze clarifying conditioner to wash my hair. i know it’s not a shampoo, but luckily it doesnt have any of those ingredients. i have a question… it uses actindia chinensis (kiwi) fruit extract and lime peel extract. is that considered an additive that is harmful.
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Lane,
I haven’t read about those ingredients being bad for hair, so you should be fine. I’ve never thought about using conditioner to wash hair, since I didn’t think it had any cleansing ingredients in it to clean hair.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Bits of Beauty - Part 20…
Tis the season to be jolly but all in moderation otherwise you could end up looking like St Nicholas himself come mid January. Alex from Health Owner discusses the difference in saturated fat and unsaturated fat and the direct benefits…
January 28th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
want to know if a shampoo can be used as a body wash also. very good information
January 31st, 2008 at 3:19 am
judy,
I wouldn’t use regular shampoo as a body wash because it usually has ingredients that are a bit more drying and harsh than body washes. However, there are some body washes that have basically the same ingredients as shampoo, so it just depends on the product.
Also, Philosophy makes products that you can use as shampoo and body wash (and I think bubble bath).
January 31st, 2008 at 8:10 am
Jeni, isnt garnier also have SLS in it?
January 31st, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Lovy,
The Garnier I use doesn’t have Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it.
It has Sodium Laureth Sulfate, which is much less harsh, and what’s in most shampoos that are a bit more expensive.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:59 am
oh yes Jeni, i just checked it out, and you are right. I just learned that hair care products sometimes also can be the cause or aggravating acne, especially when we wear our hair down and sometimes touches our face. Is there any ingredients in Garnier shampoo that is bad for acne prone skin or are they safe?
February 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I have the last 2 published books of Paulas regarding hair care products, and find some of the info from book to book differed. One said to avoid a shampoo I was researching and the next said it was good. That confused me. I have fine thin oily hair and still have not found a suitable shampoo or product to handle my hair. Any help would be appreciated.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Connie,
I haven’t noticed any discrepancies in Paula’s books, but I guess it’s not surprising since she reviews thousands of products! I wonder if the product’s formula changed? I also have a lot of problems with my hair, and I’m by no means an expert when it comes to making hair look good. I would look in Paula’s book, and then look up every shampoo that sounds good in the Product Reviews on http://www.makeupalley.com to see what other people say. And I’m sure you are already using shampoos for oily hair, or a clarifying shampoo?