Armed with the honest data, keeping your hair at its best is simple. All that’s required is a small daily attention and some knowledge about the best hair attention products, styling tools and hair accessories suitable for your hair type.

Getting the facts about what products will employment best for you can be dense, though. There is a abundance of misinformation about shampoo ingredients in particular. A quick search of the internet will reveal all sorts of hidden dangers in your hair styling products. Are there really chemicals in your shampoo that will hurt your hair … or much your health?

After aqua, the greatest concentration of ingredients in shampoo are detergents. These are used, of direction, to aid lift oil and dirt from your hair when you wash it.

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) are the most common primary or secondary detergents found in commercial shampoo formulas, usually in a concentration of roughly 4-5%, although there can be wide variations between different brands of shampoo. What is the difference between these two ingredients and should you be looking for one or the other in the shampoo you choose for your hair?

In terms of chemists working up a formula for a shampoo, the largest difference between the two is how soluble they are in aqua. Compared to SLS, ALS is over three times more soluble in aqua, which makes it a brilliant choice for chemists in formulating clear or colourless products.

In terms of how they employment in your hair removing dirt and oil, they are the same. Recognised as effective detergents, both are particularly brilliant at lifting oily dirt.

Is either ingredient toxic? SLS and ALS both share alike pH and toxicity profiles. So if you have an urge to drink your shampoo or rub it into your eyes, the effects will be the same. Basically, they will both taste dreadful, are very unlikely constitute you sick, and sting quite a bit if you leave it in your eyes for over four seconds. In terms of extended lasting effects, however, since both ingredients are so soluble in aqua, they rinse away quickly and easily and leave no residue on your hair or skin.

Is there a connection between sodium lauryl sulfate and cancer? No, this is an urban myth. In 2000 a report on SLS from the Journal of the American College of Toxicology originally published in 1983 was altered heavily to falsely imply that SLS caused cancer. This bogus report has since been widely copied and circulated on the internet.

This falsified report is still frequently cited by small, independent shampoo companies trying to promote sulfate-autonomous of charge shampoo as an antidote to female pattern hair loss, among other health issues. No connection to date has been demonstrated between ill health and the employ of sulfates in shampoos.

The culprits that are most likely to cause irritation to your skin or eyes are perfumes and preservatives. However, the concerns raised by sodium lauryl sulfate is largely unfounded and you can be assured that your shampoo is safe both for your hair and for your extended-term health.

Melissa Hill is founder of Stone Bridge, the UK’s premier designer of luxury French hair accessories and clips. Melissa is regarded as the UK’s leading expert on “everyday hair attention and styling,” teaching techniques to thousands of women every year on how to achieve healthy and manageable hair.

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