A nasty little ingredient - Sulfates/Sulphates

Today I wanted to talk to you about a nasty ingredient found in a lot of skin care and hair care products, Sulphates/Sulfates. I am no scientific expert and most of what I’ve research has come from googling, but basically Sulphates are detergents designed to ‘clean’. They are commonly found in personal care products such as shampoo, toothpaste and cleansers, they are what make products foam. Supposedly they are also used to clean car engines and household floors.  The problem with Sulphates is they can cause irritation to the most sensitive skins, if you don’t suffer from any skin conditions they probably don’t affect you. For quite some time I have suffered with a rash on my stomach, which I just assumed was heat rash, which it probably is. I’ve done lots of different things to help rid it, including prescribed ointment sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Recently I changed a few products that I’ve been applying to the area, and the condition got even worse, it spread!! I had also recently changed my shampoo, which I raved about recently.

And that got me thinking about what products are in the shampoo that could also be flaring up the area. Common ingredients in both the shampoos I use are Sulfates, in particular Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) the new shampoo also contains Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES).  I don’t know if it was a combination of all these products that made my skin flares up even more, but I’m going to assume it was. I also noticed that my scalp became a lot more itchy after using the new shampoo, and had little pimples on it!

I then went on to examine the rest of the products I use in the shower, my Purity Cleanser also contains Sulfates as does my Philosophy Shower Gel (which is fine I don’t use that on the area), but I was shocked to read that the Hopes Relief Goat’s Milk Shower Gel that I use for sensitive skin does actually contain Sulfates. I’ve done a quick google of this product and none of the websites I’ve found lists sulphate as an ingredient but it does have it written on the back, maybe they’ve changed the formula!

To help me combat my issue, I am cutting out sulphate products particularly shampoos. Luckily I had a backup of a sulphate free cleansing bar, which also a Hope’s Relief Product. So I have been able to use that. I also have a Natural Instinct Body Wash, which is Sulfate and Paraben free! Thanks to a Beauty Heaven Discovery bag. And luckily my Pure Fiji Shower Gels are also Sulfate free! I’ll be stocking up on those in the future (sigh of relief)!

As for shampoo, I’m going to be switching to the Organix range, specifically the Coconut Milk Shampoo as I have used this previously, and I also have a Moroccan Oil Cleansing Shampoo on the way from Ry. I’ll keep you posted on my progress and let you know if switching to Sulfate Free has helped calm my rash!