Sulfate free? Paraben Free? What does that even mean?

Ok so here’s the gist of it. Sulfates and parabens are chemicals that are found in many common beauty products, like your hair products, makeup, face wash, etc. While these chemicals do their job in your beauty products, they can have negative long-term effects! We’ll break down each for you:

Sulfates are foaming agents. While they are great to give you sudsy soap bubbles, they have been found to break down proteins, which have a degenerative effect on cells in the long run. In the hair care world? Sulfates can cause a dry, irritated scalp, leading to those white flakes appearing on your favorite black top. They can also fade your color and cause the hair to lose its shine.

Parabens prevent bacteria and act as preservative. Although it has not been proven that parabens cause cancer by any means, fairly large amounts of parabens have been found present in breast tumors, leading researchers to believe it may be a possible cause or link to breast cancer.

Do my beauty products contain parabens or sulfates?? Both chemicals are fairly easy to recognize on the ingredient list on your beauty products; the chemical name will have “sulfate” or “paraben” as part of it, such as “butylparaben” and “sodium laureth sulfate.” Remember: the higher up on the list of ingredients, the higher content of that chemical!

Now, don’t be TOO frightened of these facading factors. While both have been found to link to potentially hazardous problems, there is no solid evidence or causation proof. So don’t go throwing away every single product that have the words “sulfate” or “paraben” on the ingredients list!

But, if you’re like us, and like to play it on the safe side, love your color to last, hair to be hydrated, and your “do” en pointe, we highly recommend the Kevin Murphy line and the Living Proof line (which we just recently started carrying!). Both are sulfate- and paraben-free, but will still give you an amazing lather, have a long shelf life, and oh….smell AMAZING. Do you have a favorite sulfate or paraben free beauty product? Spill! Comment below and let us know!