Sulfate Free Shampoo | Hair Care

Welcome to mypure | the sulfate-free organic beauty specialists

Sulfates are used in shampoos and body wash products to make them foam and dissolve oil, sulfate can sometimes be spelt with a "ph" as in sulphate but the chemical is exactly the same. There's a lot of confusion surrounding sulfates particularly around which are considered safe to use on the skin and those which are not. The four common sulfates are:

1) Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
2) Sodium Laureth Sulfate
3) Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
4) Ammonium Laureth Sulfate.

Of these only one is permitted for use in certified organic products. Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) is certified by the European organic regulator (Eco-Cert) as OK to use in organic toiletries and cosmetics because all the research on the irritancy and toxicity of ALS point to this particular sulfate being safe to use on the skin.

Some manufacturers of natural products choose to avoid sulfates and they substitute them with chemicals which have not had such bad PR, unfortunately this sometimes results in an even more irritating chemical being used. For example Sodium Olefin Sulfonate (also know as C14-C16) is much more irritating than Sodium Lauryl Sulfate but because it has not been talked about in the press it slips under most people's radar.

Many people with allergies to sulfates are not actually allergic to the sulfate itself. The problem is that some sulfates excessively breakdown the skin's natural oils and this means the skin is more permeable to other ingredients in the product. It is usually deeper penetration by other ingredients which causes the allergic reaction.

When we launched mypure in 2003 we banned all four sulfates including ALS from our products but since ALS was approved by Eco-Cert we no longer have grounds for banning it. The only products we stock at mypure which use ALS are the Lovea shampoos & bodywashes and these are all certified organic by Eco-Cert, all other sulfates (SLS, ALES & SLES) and harmful sulfate substitutes remain banned from our products.

The mypure promise

At mypure.co.uk we have a very thorough vetting process called the mypure promise which we apply to everything we sell. We check to make sure there are no nasty chemicals or any ingredients which are likely to cause skin irritation or allergies. As a result we have very few complaints but if you do buy something from us that you don't like just return it to us within 14 days for a full refund.

Know your organic skin care certifying associations

Most of the natural & organic brands we stock at mypure.co.uk are certified by one of the certifying bodies shown below. Our product pages display the relevant certifying association's logo and there is also a summary of brand certification at the bottom of this page. You can visit each certifying association's website by clicking on the logos below.

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