Friday, August 10, 2012

Sulfate Free Shampoos: What they never told you

By Mat Wattson


Have you seen the emails cautioning you of sulfates used in shampoos, expected to cause inflammation as well as cancers? You must have thought you realized the truth. Continue reading to know it.

Just what are sulfates?

Sulfates, are a variety of chemical compounds widely used in hair shampoos, soaps, tooth pastes and several other lathering products and solutions to provide them their foam. They fit in typically the class of surfactants.

The major sulfates employed are:

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate

Precisely what are these chemicals used for?

Surfactants are used to diminish the surface tension of water with the intention that the water reaches considerably more regions. For example, plain water need not get to your scalp when you are cleaning your hair because the water has a tendency to stick to the hair and the surface tension does not allow it to flow easily. When a surfactant is used, it reduces the surface tension of water and makes it flow more freely and thereby wet more places. This leads to much more thorough cleaning and elimination of oil and dirt.

A sulfate free shampoo doesn't make use of any sulfates. Why?

That is where the realities are disguised by the lies and partial truths.

By their character, sulfates result in irritation to the skin, eyes and also other vulnerable areas.

When tests were conducted on rats, scientists have found that sulfates in a larger concentration when used for a longer time can become deposited in the skin follicles and can consequently lead to the damage of those follicles, causing hair thinning.

Nevertheless, virtually no signs of damage was identified when the products with sulfates in lesser concentrations were applied for limited durations and not continuously, and anytime it was followed by a careful clean up soon after application.

Also, the above sulfates have never been observed for being carcinogenic, at least when this post is being penned.

Another real problem with sulfate based shampoos is the fact that they do dry out your scalp. They strip the skin of all the sebum and this triggers an increased activity of the sebum generating glands. Increased sebum upon the skin is a direct cause for dandruff.

For that reason despite the fact sulfate based shampoos may possibly not be as unsafe as many people claim, they definitely are not good for folks susceptible to dandruff.

If perhaps you don't have any scalp problems, it is fine to use your ordinary shampoo. (Almost all of your typical shampoos contain sulfates inside them. Just take a look at the back side for SLS or SLES and you may find them)

If you are having dandruff, or Seborrheic dermatitis or Scalp psoriasis, it is better you change to a sulfate free shampoo to avoid inducing irritation to your scalp and triggering an enhanced sebum secretion.




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