Sulfates are traditional cleansing agents that are found in detergents, household cleaning products, and shampoos. Sulfates create foam or lather that helps lift and remove dirt and oil from the hair. If your shampoo creates an abundant lather you can bet that it most likely contains sulfates. Common sulfates found in shampoo are sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate.
While safe, sulfates can be drying to the hair, especially curls. As a detergent, sulfates can strip hair of its natural oils which can make curly and wavy hair dry, dull, undefined, and frizzy. They can also strip color and moisture from color-treated hair causing color fading and dryness.
SLS/SLES sulfate free shampoos are gentler on hair and won’t strip its natural oils—which is especially important for curls since they need their natural oils to stay moisturized, shiny and healthy-looking. Note to self: when you choose a shampoo that is free of SLS/SLES sulfates it’s free of lather too. Our Low-Poo and No-Poo cleansers offer low-to-no lather, so you need to use it a bit differently than a traditional shampoo—we like to say “scrub in/scrub out.” We recommend that you scrub the cleanser into your scalp using your fingertips to cleanse and then allow the water to move the cleanser through your lengths to cleanse as you rinse. You will need to use the same scrubbing motion to rinse the cleanser out thoroughly too.
We took the “poo” out of shampoo! In 2002, we pioneered an innovative new haircare category with the launch of No-Poo Original, our game-changing alternative to traditional shampoo. This first-of-its-kind, no-suds conditioning cleanser changed the industry. So we don’t make shampoo, we make cleansers! DevaCurl No-Poos and Low-Poos are conditioning cleansers formulated with gentle surfactants that cleanse the scalp and curls without stripping moisture. Isn’t it time you quit shampoo and switched to DevaCurl?
It’s in the best interest of curls. These ingredients tend to be harsh on curls, stripping their natural oils, blocking moisture, and also causing buildup that can weigh them down.
The leaping bunny symbol on our products signifies that there is no animal testing done at any stage of our product development, guaranteeing that our products are 100% free of animal testing.
We are committed to continuously listening, learning and finding innovative ways to help all curlkind love their curls! We listen to our stylists and curl community to find out what they need and also use the latest technology and ingredients to formulate the newest essentials to bring out the best in curls. All products are dermatologist tested, stylist tested and they also meet our strict standards of quality, safety and performance.
There are some things we will never put into our products. Our complete "NO" list:
No SLS/SLES sulfates, silicones, parabens, phthalates, gluten, Coal Tar Dyes, peanut-derived ingredients, Formaldehyde, MIT, paraffin, petrolatum or mineral oil, DEA or TEA, Triclosan, Benzophenone, Dihydroxybenzophenone, Ethylene Glycol, Dipropylene Glycol, Nonolynol, Octoxynol or derivatives, 3-Benzylidene camphor, Talc, Ethyl acrylate, Ethyl methacrylate, Methyl methacrylate, Butyl methacrylate, Hydroxypropyl methacrylate, Tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate, Trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, Aluminum Salts, Benzophenone, Butoxyethanol, Carbon Black, Lead, Lead Acetate, Methyl Cellosolve, Methoxyethanol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Mercury or Mercury Compounds (Thimerisol), Insoluble Plastic Microbeads, Resorcinol, Toluene, BHA, ETA, Nanoparticles, Polyacrylamide, Acrylamide, or Styrenes.