For years, kinky curly coily heads everywhere have moved away from the use of most commercial shampoos. For many, this migration to other cleansing alternatives is due in large part to a common cleansing agent called Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate. Many who have shied away from this ingredient claim that although this cleansing agent is extremely effective, it is overly drying to curly hair. But how is this cleansing agent overly drying? And why does it only effect curly hair in this manner? I decided to do some research to find the answers to those very questions.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), like all cleansing agents, are surfactants. Surfactants are materials that can greatly reduce the surface tension of water when used in low concentrations. This allows water to get underneath oil and dirt so that the impurities can be removed from the surface that one desires to be cleaned. (Surfactants can be used in a variety of different ways, not just as cleaning agents, but for the purposes of this post I am focusing only on the properties of surfactants as cleaning agents.) Both SLS and SLES are surfactants that are extremely effective for tasks requiring the removal of oil. This application is ideal for many cleansing purposes such dish washing detergents, floor cleansers, clothing detergents, and shampoo. Shocked that our hair is seen as having comparable amounts of oil as your floor? I was too, but after a little more research I discovered the logic behind it.
Everyone, regardless of whether you have kinky curly coily hair or straight hair, produces an oil called sebum. Sebum is an oily, waxy, naturally odorless substance produced to lubricate the skin and hair of mammals. For humans, this substance is produced in greatest abundance on the face and the scalp. Ideally, our scalp produces sebum, and the sebum glides down our hair shaft providing moisture to our hair. Overtime (depending on how your body personally produces the substance), sebum can accumulate in our hair, giving it that nasty, oily, and dirty appearance and feel. To rid our hair of this oily substance, a cleansing agent that is effective in removing oil is necessary. This is why many companies have chosen to use SLS and SLES in their shampoos.
So why do these cleansing agents effect curly hair differently from straight hair? Well, the difference in the physical properties of straight hair and curly hair provide some insight. For those with straight hair, the body's naturally produced sebum can freely flow down the hair shaft since there is nothing obstructing it from doing so. Curly hair, on the other hand, does not allow sebum to be moved so easily. With all of the turns and curves of curly hair, sebum does not have the ability to flow all the way down the hair shaft. Because of this, little to no sebum actually reaches the ends of curly hair. Using the same strong oil removing cleansing agent will therefore produce a different effect on straight and curly hair. Since straight hair will have excess sebum, the use of SLS and SLES shampoos will not excessively strip the hair of moisture. Curly hair, on the other hand, which usually does not have excess sebum, will usually be stripped of what little moisture it does have by the use of SLS and SLES based shampoos. For this reason, many kinky curly coily heads have chosen to forego sulfate shampoos.
This is not the effect that SLS and SLES based shampoos will have on all curly hair, but most people have experienced excessive dryness from its use. I have personally chosen to not use sulfate shampoos and I have noticed somewhat of a difference in the moisture levels of my hair. As always, use ingredients and products that work best for your hair.
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