Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate are detergents(SLS). You almost always find them in shampoos, body wash and face washes. It has been the trend lately to take SLSs out of shampoo (also called Sulfate Free Shampoos) and face washes.
Wen hair care and Pureology are some of the hair lines that have taken SLS out of their shampoos. Basically SLSs are degreasers and can strip your skin and scalp of all your natural oils. Also it is what make your washes suds up. It can strip your barrier function. Sounds bad, right? Well for most people that is a bad thing. Especially people who are prone to dry skin. But for me SLS free shampoos left my scalp extremely scaly and with a lot of hair loss. I would say that its like adult cradle cap. I have talk to other people and read about other people who have had the same problem with SLS free shampoos. So what is happening? I think that certain amount of the population has an oily scalp and thicker hair and that keeps the extra oil on the scalp and mixes with dead skin cells and together it forms scales on the scalp. And when that does not get removed with a SLS shampoo it causes hair loss, Because the scalp can't breath. For me it was very upsetting.
Wen hair care and Pureology are some of the hair lines that have taken SLS out of their shampoos. Basically SLSs are degreasers and can strip your skin and scalp of all your natural oils. Also it is what make your washes suds up. It can strip your barrier function. Sounds bad, right? Well for most people that is a bad thing. Especially people who are prone to dry skin. But for me SLS free shampoos left my scalp extremely scaly and with a lot of hair loss. I would say that its like adult cradle cap. I have talk to other people and read about other people who have had the same problem with SLS free shampoos. So what is happening? I think that certain amount of the population has an oily scalp and thicker hair and that keeps the extra oil on the scalp and mixes with dead skin cells and together it forms scales on the scalp. And when that does not get removed with a SLS shampoo it causes hair loss, Because the scalp can't breath. For me it was very upsetting.
So what can you do? First find a shampoo that is for your hair type that has SLS in it. Or, you can commit your self to brushing your hair for a few minutes a day. Sounds obvious but if your like me. A busy mom who wears a messy bun most days, if found I had no need to brush my hair but once a day. Brushing mechanically exfoliates you scalp and gets rid of the scales and allows the oils from your scalp to travel down the hair shaft. Also if your determined to use SLS free shampoo (it is better for color treated hair) then try washing your hair daily. Now a case can made saying that SLS shampoos strip the scalp so much that it over produces oil. This could be true. In theory it using SLS free shampoos should correct the problem. For fine/oily hair this might be the case, but I needed something stronger to get out all the hair products I use daily. Waiting until Sunday to use a striping shampoo didn't seem to work for me. What it boils down to is that if you have been using SLS free shampoo and your scalp is scaly and you are loosing a lot of hair, then its not the right shampoo for you.
As for the body washes and face wash. Use SLS washes if you need to, but if your skin is super dry after the shower than you should use something marked "soap free". I personally like french made soaps. They seem to be a lot gentler on the body skin and for the face, there has been a whole new class of gentle face wash. And best of all they are pretty cheap. Just make sure your washing 2 times a day.
By the way, I love Pureology and believe in their cause. But there shampoo is just not right for me. But the conditioner and styling products are.
