If your hairdresser has ever questioned your haircare routine, odds are you’ve been lectured on the downsides to parabens and sulphates.
While both serve a functional purpose – parabens preserve cosmetics for longer and sulphates are the detergents that give shampoo its lather – they can have detrimental effects on your hair. The latter strips away the moisturising oils that keep strands healthy, as well as irritating sensitive skin, exaggerating existing conditions like psoriasis and eczema, and stripping any dye from your hair. Meanwhile research links parabens to breast cancer, given that they have been found in some breast tumours, though the strength of these links remain unclear.
Finding alternatives that works for you is tricky. Even the best sulphate-free shampoos don’t foam up as much as those with sulphates, and without parabens your products will not last as long. The right ones, however, will work wonders on your hair, inflicting less damage with regular washes.
As a lot of brands are misleading in what constitutes as “natural” haircare, we've tracked down the shampoos and conditioners true to their word. We wanted something gentle that doesn’t leave any residue, but thorough enough to keep our hair feeling bouncy and fresh.
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