I want to start this post by explaining my hair type. I have dry, damaged, breakage prone hair that is flat and naturally pretty straight, completely straight when I blow dry without even using a straightener. On top of that, I just don't have a lot of it. My hair strand itself is thick, but there's not a lot on my head. It falls out like crazy in the shower, in my brush, and I "shed" on my clothes all the time. Really, it's quite upsetting. I know part of it is due to imbalances in my body from PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome, read more
here), but it's a nightmare.
I want to be as kind and gentle to my hair as possible, so I started doing some research about sulfates. They have gotten a bad rap recently, and justly so...they are terrible for your hair. What's more, sulfates are the primary ingredient in many, many shampoos, drug store and salon brands alike. So why exactly are sulfates so bad for your hair? Sulfates like sodium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl are common ingredients in shampoo because they help form a lather, easily remove grime and dirt, and are cheap. But while doing so, they dehydrate the sebaceous glands, the oil producing glands on your scalp, stripping it of its natural moisture. This can damage the hair follicle and lead to hair loss. If you look at your dish washing liquid, sulfates are the main ingredient because they get that tough grease off of dishes. Do you really want to put something that harsh and stripping on your hair? There are other means of properly cleansing your hair that are much gentler and healthier. Organic and sulfate free products use mild surfactant ingredients that cleanse the scalp without doing damage the sebaceous glands and hair follicles.
Nearly every shampoo, unless directly labeled "Organic" or "Sulfate Free" contains sulfates. Herbal Essenses, Pantene, Dove, Aussie, Suave, and even more expensive brands like John Frieda and Nexxus all contain sulfates, among a plethora more. Since I have been on the hunt for sulfate free products, I discovered the Organix line of shampoos, conditioners, and treatments. All of their products are sulfate free. I purchased the Renewing Morrocan Argan Oil Shampoo, Conditioner, and Penetrating Oil, all around $7.00, at my local Wal-mart.
I have been using this system for the past few weeks, washing my hair every 2-3 days, and I love it! The shampoo doesn't produce much lather, as expected, but does leave hair feeling very clean. I shampoo when I first hop in the shower, then leave the conditioner while I shave, wash my face & body, etc. and rinse at the end of my shower, letting it soak in a while. My hair is so silky after using the conditioner! Then after I have towel dried my hair, I apply a dime sized amount of the penetrating oil all over, even at the roots because my hair is so dry. After blow drying, my hair is oh-so-soft and supple, shiny, and manageable. It doesn't tangle as easily as it used to. And I feel like with this shampoo, I don't need to wash my hair every single day, which is why I have been going 2-3 days in between washes...it just doesn't get oily or gross looking! I suspect that it's because when you use a shampoo containing sulfates, it strips your oil producing glands, so they try to compensate by producing more oil, making hair build up oil faster.
Overall, I adore this shampoo, conditioner, and oil system. I can't comment on the health of my hair or if it has stopped falling out as much yet because the life cycle of a hair follicle is way more than the three weeks I have been using it, but in about 3 months I hope to see a visible improvement.
There are several more formulations of the Organix shampoos and conditioners, including Rejuvenating Cherry Blossom, Brazillian Keratin Therapy, Coconut Milk, Teatree Mint, Cocoa Butter, and many more. They can be found at Wal-mart, Target, most drug stores, other select retailers, and at
www.organixhair.com.
How do you feel about sulfates? I got a lot of my information here,
Why Sulfates are Bad for Hair, and other internet research. What shampoo and conditioner do you use?
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