Did you persevere with sulphate-free shampoo?

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If you switched to sulphate-free shampoo, did you stick with it?

I'm trying it at the moment, say for the last four or five shampoos, and not sure whether to give it more of a chance.

I've got very fine, thin hair. Trad. "detergenty" shampoos give me really squeaky clean shiny but floppy hair for one day, then grease the next.

With sulphate free shampoo, my hair's got more body, I can go more than a day before shampooing, well, two, but there's sort of a coated, ever so slightly oily feeling.

Interested in other experiences/tips. If I just need to hang on a bit longer, I don't want to bugger it up by jumping back to ordinary shampoo.

Sulphate free shampoos only really work well if you use conditioners and styling products with no silicones, otherwise it won’t wash all the build-up off.

My hair never ever felt clean when I tried it. I didn’t persevere for long as it was depressing washing and drying it for my hair to feel the same as it did when I got in the shower! Also fine, thin hair. The best results I’ve ever had is from the super cheap own brand apple shampoo and conditioner I bought for the kids!

@Noapplejustcrumble

Sulphate free shampoos only really work well if you use conditioners and styling products with no silicones, otherwise it won’t wash all the build-up off.

Yeah this. Try washing your hair very thoroughly one last time with a sulphate shampoo then never use any products with silicones again.

Then you'll get the true result.

Yes the coating on your hair may well be silicone if you havent removed that from your routine too. There are lots of silicone free conditioners now, a quick Google search for Curly Girl products and your shop of choice (Tesco etc) should bring up plenty of replacement options.

I removed both from my hair routine a few years ago and don't regret it one bit, my hair is much healthier now and it can go longer between washes too.

B&M is your friend! Curly Girl method doesn't have to be expensive.

Ah, thanks, all

@PearLime @Noapplejustcrumble
I do have the matching non-sulphate conditioner.
But my styling products will be no doubt chock full of silicones.

Thanks for your comments/advice.

@Pinkflask
There's a 99 pence Alberto Balsam shampoo sitting by the side of the bath, calling me! Alongside my fancy sulphate-free trial sizes.

I don’t notice a difference and I have similar hair to yours. So I use the sulfate free stuff because I like the idea but my hair is no better or worse really.

@Slub what products do you get from b&m? Ta

The conditioner and styling products need to be silicone free, not sulfate free.

You may need to wash occasionally with a sulfate shampoo just to get rid of any build up anyway (Alberto Balsam would be perfect!) but if you haven't switched conditioner, then your hair is going to struggle.

What I do is 2 shampoos - first with the normal one and then the sulphate free one. No idea if that is even a thing but it works for me.

I have thick, curly hair and sulphate free shampoos don’t work for me at all. The only time my hair has felt nice with sulphate free is when I’ve used a regular shampoo at most 2 days before. Otherwise I also have this gloppy, oily coated feeling. I never use silicon conditioners, haven’t for years so it’s not that.

It’s not just the one brand either, I’ve tried many (and they all cost €€€€). I’ve now given up, I don’t think sulphate free is good for my hair. I wanted to like it, as I sometimes suffer from dermatitis on my scalp, but it did not like me.

I now use a regular cheap shampoo with no silicone and wash less frequently. If i wfh I can go for almost a week without washing again. My hair looks and feels great, whereas with the sulphate free I always had a greasy root and felt like I needed to wash it more frequently.

I've tried so many sulfate free shampoos on my thinning hair, and I just can't get on with them. I always end up going back to cheap Alberto Balsam shampoo aswell!

@OhDear2200 I buy XHC Banana shampoo and conditioner - 400ml bottles are £1 each and Garnier Ultimate Blends Banana Hair Food tub usually around £3 per tub.

Been doing Curly Girl since May this year and my hair has never looked better.

I cut out sulfates originally to help with dandruff but once I eliminated silicones as well, my hair improved dramatically. It's shiny, moisturised, the waves sit nicely, I barely need to do anything to it. Just a blob of conditioner smoothed over it when dry to get rid of fuzzies.

Gosh. Sulphate free shampoos are all marketing nonsense. I know. I work in the industry. And as for silicones! They are super for your hair. Hair is dead remember. Silicones smooth the cuticles.

Nothing personal @Blessex but I'm not sure I'd trust anyone in the industry to give it to me straight.

Shampoo is basically glorified overpriced Fairy liquid, stripping all the natural oils out of hair and scalp so we 'need' conditioner, treatments etc to try to get some moisture back into it.

Many people are sensitive to the ingredients (including sulfates) and end up with scalp problems which they try to treat with even more expensive shampoos that relieve the itch but don't cure anything because they have the same problematic ingredients.

As for silicones smoothing your hair - well yes, a thin coating of rubbery stuff will make your hair feel slippery but if you're depositing more every wash you're eventually going to weigh hair down. Cue clarifying shampoos, yet another product we're now told to buy!

I have consistently found that the less I fuck around with my hair and the less product I use, the better it looks. I got caught out at my partner's house the other day, and ended up 'washing' my hair by giving my scalp a good long massage under a hot shower. No product at all. It looked and felt completely clean, and still does 2 days later.

@Hoesbeforebroes have you read on the ingredients list what sodium laureth sulphate is replaced with?

I don't know @Blessex, still at the partner's place where Head and Shoulders is all that's on offer... but I'm interested to know more if you have any insights into the alternatives. Genuinely interested, not trying to pick a fight! I barely shampoo my hair at all these days but when I do, I want to be using the ingredients that will take best care of it.

My mother in the 60s was a hairdresser ( and thereby hangs a tale - she wanted to go to art college but granny said - only weird people go to art college ) - she reckons most shampoos are largely the same and any shampoo with a bit of conditioner can work

I once read that the 3 words which have earned a fortune are "rinse and repeat"

I have wavy/curly hair and have used sulphate-free shampoo for years. Every now and again I think I will try a shampoo with sulphates - big mistake! My hair goes all fluffy and I hate it.

It worked really well for me for years but I have a scalp condition now so need to use a special shampoo that has silicone in. I have very thick wavy hair and it was so much nicer without silicone.

@Hoesbeforebroes ha no we won’t fight over shampoo don’t worry .

So I work in the industry so know a bit about the formulations etc. Sulphates are basically surfactants that clean your hair and scalp. They remove dirt and grease. Sulphate free was basically a marketing ploy to stand out - devised by marketing people. But if you remove sulphates you need alternative surfactants to replace them with. So a cocktail of alternative surfactants are added such as sodium c14-16 olefin sulphonate. These alternatives are not as efficient so don’t clean as well hence why people moan about greasy hair when using a sulphate free shampoo and they don’t wash out of the hair as efficiently as the ultra efficient sulphates. But each to their own and if this is what people want to do then fine. It’s just not really based on any evidence or science that’s all and is another way to dupe and scare women into parting with their money.

Silicones are no longer the clunky things that clog up hair. Science has meant they can now be super fine. I mean hair is dead. Silicones sit on the dead hair and make it feel better. They can be super lightweight now so again not the demons we are led to believe they are.

And don’t get me started on parabens! The most tested preservative out there which has been completely demonised based on one mis-read report years ago (and repeatedly tested and not proven) and we are having to replace them with many lesser tested preservatives.

And clean beauty. Sigh. Another money making ploy. In the end everything is a chemical.

As to whether all shampoos are the same. Well no they aren’t. That’s not to say that the more expensive ones are better. Actually cheaper shampoos from the big companies with big R&D budgets can be amazing as they contain technology with multiple patents - simply because these companies can afford it and have been around for years and years so have built up huge technical skills. And the science can be amazing and make a difference so I wouldn’t say all shampoos and conditioners are the same honestly .

Thank you for the info @Blessex - really interesting 😊

Thanks @Blessex for giving me another few ingredients to look out for.

I really think it comes down to the type of hair. Mine is thick and wavy, prone to being coarse and dry so it responds well to being left 'a little greasy', as that helps keep it smooth and soft. If I used a strong shampoo it'd be left all fluffy and dry and I'd be sticking a ton of conditioner and serum in to try to get it back to where it should be.

I can see how my approach would be a disaster for someone with fine, flyaway hair though, they would need that squeaky cleanness to give it body.