From Sulfate-Free To Anti-Shampoo: Natural Movement In Hair Care

Trend for “free of” products in hair care is growing, as consumers demand gentle formulas created without ingredients that dry out hair and scalp, says global ingredient distributor Univar Inc. At extreme end of trend, some consumers are nixing shampoo altogether.

Consumer demand for safe, natural hair-care routines is spawning a growing number of “free of” claims in the marketplace and even eliminating shampoo from the equation altogether, according to global ingredient distributor Univar Inc.

“When you think of hair care, shampoo is such a big competitive market, but with the ‘free ofs,’ we’re changing that game,” Univar’s newly appointed Personal Care Industry Director Kelly Gilroy said in a June 3 interview.

Univar sources chemicals from more than 3,500 suppliers and develops cosmetic formula prototypes for partners and prospective customers in the personal-care sector, among others, providing technical expertise, process recommendations and related services in product development “from concept through production and commercialization,” according to its website.

The firm has identified movement to natural options in the hair-care market and increasing use of claims that highlight the absence of controversial ingredients and byproducts in products.

With regard to this “free of” trend, “it all started with sulfates,” Gilroy said, referring to the most common surfactants in shampoos – sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate – which contribute foaming and lathering properties and improve product efficacy.

In recent years, sulfates have gotten a bad rap from stylists who believe the substances strip hair of oils and fade color. The ingredients’ safety also has come under question, with online campaigns launched to steer consumers away from sulfates and industry groups working to counter misinformation via the Personal Care Products Council’s CosmeticsInfo.org site and other educational resources.

According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, ethoxylation of sodium laurel sulfate to make it gentler on skin can lead to contamination of the resulting sodium laureth sulfate with 1,4-dioxane, a substance classified as a suspected carcinogen by international cancer authorities and regulated as such under California’s Proposition 65.

Facing growing public concern, L’Oreal SA helped pioneer the sulfate-free hair-care movement with the launch of its EverStrong and EverPure lines in 2009, according to Univar.

Other brands have followed suit since. L’Oreal’s Kiehl’s, Johnson & Johnson’s Aveeno and Vogue International’s OGX all offer hair-care products touted as sulfate-free, employing alternatives such as plant oils and fruit and vegetable extracts to award comparable effects.

At the New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists Suppliers’ Day in May, Univar showcased a Free-Of Shampoo prototype featuring a sulfate-free surfactant from Stepan Company that produces high foam while promoting mildness and a microemulsion agent from Dow Corning that delivers shine.

In addition to hair care devoid of sulfates, consumers are demanding shampoos without formaldehyde, which prompted action from J&J in recent years to remove formaldehyde-releasing preservatives from its Johnson’s Baby Shampoo and other personal-care offerings (Also see "J&J To Remove Formaldehyde, Other Concerns From Personal-Care Items" - HBW Insight, 20 Aug, 2012.).

Paraben preservatives and smoothing agent silicone also have become targets in the free-of movement, which Gilroy expects to continue gaining momentum in part due to the popularity of such claims with younger consumers.

Gilroy notes that young people have grown up amid the naturals movement and come to expect brands to advertise when their products do not contain questionable synthetic substances. They may also be more open to the changing aesthetic of free-of formulas, she says.

The exec noted that the free-of revolution does impose challenges on formulators. “Surfactants are the building blocks of rinse-off products,” she said. “When you change the surfactants, everything else changes too. You might be able to clean the same way but you won’t get the same lather produced by surfactants.”

For most U.S. consumers, shampoo lathering is synonymous with clean, Gilroy suggested. Shampoos containing natural surfactants tend to produce less lather and be creamier than conventional formulas. Additionally, she said, removing traditional surfactants can affect product fragrance.

“The trick we’re always working on is to find a way to achieve all of these [desired] characteristics while reducing costs for manufacturers and ultimately the end consumer,” Gilroy said.

The Anti-Shampoo Movement

On the extreme end of the free-of trend is conditioner washing, or “co-washing,” a practice that nixes shampoo from the hair-care routine altogether, relying solely on conditioner for cleansing. Univar says co-washing is more a habit among a niche group of consumers than a broad beauty trend, but the drive for gentle products has definitely given the movement momentum.

The concept of co-washing is attributed widely to DevaCurl founder Lorraine Massey, who developed the DevaCurl No-Poo product billed as the “original” sulfate-free, non-lathering shampoo alternative.

Advocates claim that textured hair in particular has a tendency to dry out and regular shampooing depletes hair of crucial natural oils or throws the scalp’s oil production into overdrive, creating issues for many ethnic consumers and others with curls or wavy locks.

A market of anti-shampoo products has sprung up to accommodate the co-washing trend. Bumble and bumble founder Michael Gordon’s new Purely Perfect line includes Cleansing Crème, an “un-shampoo with no detergent for frizz-free hair, longer-lasting color, a much happier scalp and no need for conditioners or masques,” according to the stylist’s HairStory.com site.

According to Purely Perfect, shampoo is the “enemy of great hair.”

Discussing the impetus behind the line’s introduction, the brand notes that “shampoo equals detergent and detergent is abundant in every shampoo regardless of price.” It continues: “We thought that there must be a way to clean hair without detergents, silicones and the like, and in fact there is! We got rid of the surfactants and sulfates (detergents) and replaced them with aloe vera, essential oils and other natural, premium quality ingredients.”

Purely Perfect concludes: “Is this the end of shampoo? We certainly think so.”

Stylist Ouidad, the proclaimed “Queen of Curl,” offers a Curl Co-Wash in her namesake line. The “rich, low-lathering, sulfate-free cleansing conditioner” is designed to leave hair moisturized, soft and frizz-free while gently clearing buildup, according to the brand’s website.

At the mass level, Procter & Gamble’s Pantene unit markets Truly Natural Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner for a “1-2-3 treatment in just one wash.” According to the brand, the formula serves to “clean, detangle and condition without stripping your hair’s natural moisture.”

In addition to the anti-shampoo trend with its value and convenience benefits, Gilroy noted that shoppers increasingly are drawn to multifunctional hair-care products.

“A lot of the innovation in hair is the multi-benefit ingredients, doing more with less. That’s particularly true with conditioner,” she said.

Univar has developed a prototype for a leave-in conditioner that does not need to be rinsed out, which it exhibited at the NYSCC Suppliers’ Day event. The product, which essentially combines conditioner and styling product in one formula for less hassle, contains ingredients from suppliers Dow Corning and Xiameter.

The multi-benefit craze is already huge in the skin-care arena, where consumers have flocked to BB creams and CC creams to get more perceived bang for their buck. Market researcher Mintel has projected that similar trends will be seen in the hair-care space (Also see "In Brief: Mintel Forecasts Rise In Multifunctionals; Pureology Rides The Wave" - HBW Insight, 23 Dec, 2013.).