Friday 16 May 2014

Sulphates! Who? What? Where?

Recently there has been a lot of talk over the blogosphere on sulphates, what they are, what they do, should we use them, should we not and I thought I would share my personal experience with them and my views. As a teenager I suffered with a dry scalp and patches of dandruff but being unaware of various ingredients and products to help I just carried on with life like there was nothing I could do to help and that was it I had a dry scalp for life worry over. However as the years went by I would go through stages of it getting worse, being itchy and irritated and of course getting the dreaded flakes. I started to have a little research and came across the terms sulphates and it all changed from there.

The official name for sulphates is 'sodium lauryl sulphate' and 'sodium laureth sulphate' and these are what you will want to look for on ingredients lists of you beauty products if wanting to avoid them and shockingly they are usually the second or third ingredient! Sulphates are a cheap ingredient to make products lather and foam up helping to remove dirt and grease which ok sounds great but because they are so strong leads to irritating and stripping the skin. This ingredient is mostly found in shampoos and body washes/ shower gels but worryingly also in car garages and car washes for their strong de-greasing properties.

Some products can contain up to 30% sulphates which is pretty dangerous as it is so irritating to the skin, common side effects of using products containing sulphates include scalp irritation, eye irritation, dry and fuzzy hair and even inflation of the skin including hands and arms. However the chemicals can then also be absorbed further in to the body which can also cause some issues with pms and menopausal symptoms because it mimics the female hormone oestrogen. There are even articles saying it can increase female cancers but wether you believe the serious life complications it is completely up to you. On the other hand many. people say using sulphate free products can be just as dangerous as they simply replace the sulphates with other chemicals which can be just as harmful.

I personally prefer and am happy using sulphate free products as they don't irritate my skin and really improved the condition of my skin and hair and my dry scalp has completely gone! Currently there aren't a huge amount of easily accessible brands which are sulphate free however I have found a few which are both from the cheaper and higher end of the market. Firstly the brand 'Naked' is 97% natural and I believe all their products are sulphate free and range from around £4 - £7 which I love! Cheap and cheerful! Loreal have also recently released their 'Ever...' Product ranges such as 'everriche' for nourishing, 'ever pure' for colour care and moisture, 'ever sleek' for smoothing and moisture and finally 'ever strong' for reinforcing and vitality which all are sulphate free and range between only £6 - £8! There are also some higher end brands such as 'This Works' which can range from £8 up to £20 so there really is something for everyone out there and for someone who does suffer from any sort of irritation it's something I always recommend people to try.

Have you ever suffered from issues from sulphate containing products? Or have any other brands that are free of the nasties that you would recommend? Let me know! Thanks for stopping by, bye for now.x

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