What's wrong with sodium/ammonium lauryl sulfate?

Glib Gurl

Glib Gurl

Well-Known Member
So I'm reading Sistaslick's article on how to build a regiment and in terms of a moisturizing shampoo, she says to avoid products that contain "sodium/ammonium lauryl sulfate." Noticing that neither of the shampoos that I use (Motions Lavish Conditioning Shampoo and Nexxus Therapee Moisturizing Shampoo) are listed amongst the sample of products to use, I check their ingredients list and, sure enough, both have ammonium lauryl sulfate as the second ingredient. Ack! Does this mean that I shouldn't be using these products??? I hope not as I have several bottles of each! How much harm does this ingredient do to your hair?

Sistaslick? Gymfreak? Other scientific divas - please help!
 
Sodium and Ammonium lauryl sulfate are drying to your hair. As they cleanse they remove alot of the natural oils from your hair and can leave it feeling stripped of all mositure. You see both of these in many clarifying poos. I don't think all shampoos have the same level of SLS and ALS so what you are using maybe just find. My hair is in a constant battle with dryness so I have to be very careful to avoid them, unless I am clarifying.
 
I am not scientific, but I do know what products do and don't do for me.

I use all sulfate free shampoos because others dry my hair out.

I like ABBA and Pureology shampoos. Giovanni 50/50 is good, too.
 
The lauryl and laureth sulfates are very drying- especially for 4 type hair. There are shampoos that do not contain it. Or you could conditioner wash-
 
They also leave a build up on your scalp. Every 4 days when after I would rinse out the shampoo out my hair I would always see this white gunky stuff on my scalp and for the LIFE of me I couldn't figure out WHAT it was since I do not grease/oil my scalp. And right after my scalp use to itch to high heaven. It wasn't until I stopped using shampoos with SLS the white stuff went away and my scalp does not itch anymore.
​
 
Aw, man :( Well, like I said, I have *bottles* of this stuff and I generally like it, so I don't want to throw it out. That said, I do have Type 4 hair so I am probably getting more dryness out of it than I would like. Would pre-pooing with oil (or doing an oil rinse after 'poo-ing) help counteract any potential problems?

Thanks ladies . . . .
 
its quite drying, actually i did not realise while i was using it, until it tried a different one- elasta qp creme conditioning shampoo is sulphate free and detangles pretty well.
its cheap as well
 
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ALS dries out my hair. SLS/SLES does NOT.

Use what works for you. If you arent experiencing any damage or dryness, keep on keeping on. :yep:
 
MizzEsq said:
ALS dries out my hair. SLS/SLES does NOT.

Use what works for you. If you arent experiencing any damage or dryness, keep on keeping on. :yep:
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I believe it is the opposite, but I could be wrong. ALS and SLES are less irritating and is milder than SLS, but drying all the same.

I don't use any of them.
 
HoneyDew said:
I believe it is the opposite, but I could be wrong. ALS and SLES are less irritating and is milder than SLS, but drying all the same.

I don't use any of them.
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I've always believed it to go in this order:

Sodium Laureth sulfate--> Sodium lauryl sulfate/ammonium laureth sulfate--> ammonium lauryl sulfate.

*shrugs*
 
sodium/ammonium lauryl sulfate is what makes the suds when you massage the shampoo into hair. They always add this because this is what people expect to see when shampooing...if it doesnt have bubbles people think its not working. Its drying to some but for me it doesnt make much of a difference and long as I follow my wash with a moisturizing conditioner.
 
MizzEsq said:
I've always believed it to go in this order:

Sodium Laureth sulfate--> Sodium lauryl sulfate/ammonium laureth sulfate--> ammonium lauryl sulfate.

*shrugs*
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You could be right. I get even more confused because you still have the Sodium Coco sulfate, sodium methyl cocoyl Taurate and others.
 
sjprincess182 said:
. Its drying to some but for me it doesnt make much of a difference and long as I follow my wash with a moisturizing conditioner.
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Same here...I've used shampoos w/ sulfates w/o problems. I think you have to do what works for your hair because lots of people use them w/o dryness.
 
mkstar826 said:
Same here...I've used shampoos w/ sulfates w/o problems. I think you have to do what works for your hair because lots of people use them w/o dryness.
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I agree, but if someone is dealing with dryness (like I was) laying off the sulfates might help a bit.

Actually I don't think it was really the sulfates alone. I was doing like 4 lathers and clarifying 2 times a week. That is just too much sulfate use! :nono:
 
Glib Gurl said:
Aw, man :( Well, like I said, I have *bottles* of this stuff and I generally like it, so I don't want to throw it out. That said, I do have Type 4 hair so I am probably getting more dryness out of it than I would like. Would pre-pooing with oil (or doing an oil rinse after 'poo-ing) help counteract any potential problems?

Thanks ladies . . . .
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Dilute it...you really don't need much shampoo to cleanse the scalp. A good pre-poo with oil ain't never hurt nobody. If you don't like that feel, a good clarifier is Aubrey Organics Green Tea Clarifying. You can always step over into CW land...but it takes time adjusting to it. Good Luck!
 
Glib Gurl said:
Aw, man :( Well, like I said, I have *bottles* of this stuff and I generally like it, so I don't want to throw it out. That said, I do have Type 4 hair so I am probably getting more dryness out of it than I would like. Would pre-pooing with oil (or doing an oil rinse after 'poo-ing) help counteract any potential problems?

Thanks ladies . . . .
Click to expand...

If you do not want to give up your shampoos that contain these drying agents, pre pooing with a moisturizing conditioner before hand should help
 
(Sent to your PM box too)
Hey Glib!

Sodium lauryl sodium and the other lauryl sulfates are basically detergents used in shampoos to remove dirt, oils, debris, etc. Problem is, they work a little to efficiently at that. They'll remove natural oils-- and textured hair types need that to remain pliable, soft, and supple. Especially near the ends.

Generally if your shampoo is making your hair feel squeaky clean- its too harsh. I know most of us expect that squeaky feeling or we feel that our shampoo isn't working, but squeaky clean and textured hair means parched tresses. You have to leave some oil/conditioners behind on the strand and moisturizing shampoos should help you do this. They can't if there are too many stripping sulfates in the formula.

These stronger shampoos are great for oily hair types, typically straighter hair types--- but our textured hair needs something much more gentle for cleansing. Good moisturizing shampoos won't contain these sulfates. Clarifying shampoos will contain multiple sulfates because their sole purpose is to lift away EVERYTHING from the shaft.

Now, not all sulfates are created equal. There are the "laureth" sulfates are gentler than the lauryl sulfates, and the tricideth sulfates and myreth sulfates are gentler than both of those. Sodium is gentler than the ammonium sulfates, etc.

To counteract the effects of these shampoos you can either dilute them with water or add your favorite oil or conditioner to them. You could also deep condition your hair really really well to help put back some of the conditioning agents on the strand, but I think starting off with a gentle cleanser is really the best thing to do in the first place.

Harsher shampoos can lift your cuticles and rough them up badly. That's also why these strong shampoos tend to leave the hair feeling tangly. All of those cuticles are catching on one another and aren't smooth--- its tangle city after those shampoos.:ohwell: Your deep conditioner will have to work overtime to correct that.:nono:


HTH!!!
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lollyoo said:
its quite drying, actually i did not realise while i was using it, until it tried a different one- elasta qp creme conditioning shampoo is sulphate free and detangles pretty well.
its cheap as well
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I use the Elasta QP Cream Cond. shampoo as well, and my hair likes it.
 
I found this bit of information about sulfates in shampoos:

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate - very, very, harsh

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate- very harsh but better than the above

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate- better than the above, but still a little harsh

Sodium Laureth Sulfate- gentle, great pick!

TEA lauryl Sulfate- good pick

TEA Laureth Sulfate- good pick

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I currently use Generic Nexxus Therappe Shampoo and it has Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and it really is gentle on my hair.

I've used some shampoos in the past that had the ammonium sulfates and sodium lauryl sulfate in them, and they were pretty harsh on my hair. They would get my hair squeaky clean but would leave my hair dry.
 
I personally don't care if my shampoos has sulfates in it.. My hair is fine with it and I love my Nexxus Therappe:yep:. The key is not to put all that lather on your hair and you should be fine. The more lather I get the more my hair feels stripped. So for me it I avoid excess lathering.

Now on my body is a different story I use sulfate free body wash b/c it dries my skin out too bad promoting my eczema and dermatitis but as far as my hair/scalp is concerned, sulfates are not an issue.
 
I used to love Nexxus Therrape until I tried Dr. Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap. The difference in my hair was like night and day as far as dryness & tangling. Now I'm using my leftover Therrape to clean my hair tools and to hand wash my scarves, lingerie and stockings. I hate to waste anything.
 
just_DSP said:
I used to love Nexxus Therrape until I tried Dr. Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap. The difference in my hair was like night and day as far as dryness & tangling. Now I'm using my leftover Therrape to clean my hair tools and to hand wash my scarves, lingerie and stockings. I hate to waste anything.
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:wave: just_DSP! Would you say that Dr. Bronner's is moisturizing?
 
I went to go and have a look at the ingredients on my Keracare dry & itchy scalp and it has Ammonium Lauryl Sulfare AND Ammonium Laureth Sulfate. The two harshest ones on Poohbear's list!!

The PJ in me wants to go and buy a whole new range but there is not all that much left so I will dilute it and finish what I have and when I need to buy a new shampoo, I think I might go for something milder like Nexxus Therappe.
 
Dare~to~Dream said:
:wave: just_DSP! Would you say that Dr. Bronner's is moisturizing?
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Hey there chica! :wave: I'm not sure if it's technically a moisturizing soap, but it's made with my favorite oils, contains glycerine and is very gentle on my hair. If you don't want that peppermint tingle, they have some with other essential oils like lavender.

Ingredients:
Water, saponified organic coconut & organic olive oils (with retained glycerine), organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, mentha arvensis (American wild mint), organic peppermint oil, citric acid, Vitamin E

I dilute mine with water. I wish I could remember which poster turned me on to it. Whoever you are I love you!
 
just_DSP said:
Hey there chica! :wave: I'm not sure if it's technically a moisturizing soap, but it's made with my favorite oils, contains glycerine and is very gentle on my hair. If you don't want that peppermint tingle, they have some with other essential oils like lavender.

Ingredients:
Water, saponified organic coconut & organic olive oils (with retained glycerine), organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, mentha arvensis (American wild mint), organic peppermint oil, citric acid, Vitamin E

I dilute mine with water. I wish I could remember which poster turned me on to it. Whoever you are I love you!
Click to expand...
Wow...I love those ingredients! Thanks so much for answering...I may just look into this product. :)
 
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