My mother always used Salon purchased or Health Food Store purchased cosmetics in particular Shampoos and conditioners. (Note this was in the 70’s and 80’s so all of those products Like Nexxus that used to be a Superior Salon exclusive product, have now been reformulated for mass production and can now be bought in the grocery store). Because of my up bringing in my personal life, I’ve I have always been real selective when it comes to what cosmetics I buy.  As a professional Stylist I am even more militant about what I use and sell to my clients.

About 5 years ago I switched to Sodium Lauryl and Laureth Sulfate (SLS) free shampoos. SLS is a surfactant that also gives us suds when we shampoo. Bubbles harmless right? Read on.

I am going to link to some other blogs so you can conduct an up to date search but basically for me it comes down to this: At best SLS is a completely harmless strong surfactant that strips the hair & scalp of much needed oils, (for shine) and moisture (to prevent split ends and breakage). Strong surfactants like SLS strips artificial color from your hair. Nothing like paying hard earned money for your color service only to have it wash down the bathtub drain in two weeks! At worst it instigates hair loss, is an allergen for most people, which irritates the scalp/skin and may be carcinogenic. Who needs that!

I’ve done some research, which included trying my new SLS free shampoo vs my old shampoo. I do not know if SLS is a carcinogenic, there is just as much info out there that says it is as there is that says it’s not. But why take the risk? SLS free shampoos use milder surfactants. Plus I had a serious Aaha moment when I used a SLS free shampoo. My hair did so well on SLS shampoos. It was soft and supple, no frizz, and plenty of shine especially when I flat ironed. Also I’ve has several clients that had really bad scalp flaking and it disappeared once I put them on SLS shampoos.

I am a curly girl. I am Afro-American and I am “natural” meaning, I do not chemically relax my natural curls. Curly hair naturally is prone to dryness. The curlier the hair the dryer it is. Chemical services on any hair type (straight or curly) dries out the hair. Dryness leads to split-ends, split-ends lead to breakage. I know tons of people who think their hair doesn’t grow when what they are really dealing with is Severe Breakage. Basically the hair breaks off before you realize (notice) any length. That is why I am always ALL about putting and keeping Moisture in the hair! (Protein too, but that’s another post.) Switching to a Sodium Lauryl Sulfate free shampoo is a great start to moisture rich hair.

Another thing to be mindful of when purchasing a shampoo is the PH or Potential Hydrogen. A lot of store bought products won’t list the PH or molecular weight of their shampoos and conditioners. And believe me you want to know! Shampoos with a high PH like a 9 to 11 can cause the cuticle cells of hair to swell up and get rougher which can leave your hair looking dull and lifeless. Yikes! I recommend a shampoo and conditioner that have a PH of about 4.5 to 5.5. 

Pravana Shampoos and Conditioners are two out of my three ROCK BOTTOM YOU MUST HAVE PRUDUCTS! All of Provana’s shampoos are sulfate-free. I use Pravana’s Hydrating  line for maximum moisture. Pravana is ONLY available for purchase in salons, like (shameless plug aleart!) Ahead of Style, Inc located at 9410 NE Hazel Dell Ave, Vancouver WA 98665 Phone 360-573-9922. Also AOS only uses SLS Free shampoos on their clients.

OK here are the links:

Skin Deep: My favorite place to look up product ingredients.

The Beauty Brains: Says SLS is safe

Mane & Chic: The post to read is Shampoo is the Devil. LOL. Wonderful site!

Jason Cosmetics

Killer Strands: Love this site!

Nappy Me:

Snopes: Says SLS is safe

Long Hair Care Forum: Search results of posts. Great NON-Professional site.