It’s so rare that I find sulfate-free shampoos (that don’t cost a fortune) anywhere but online these days. I had heard of the Aunt Jackie’s line before, but never got a chance to try any of their products. Well, I learned something that day…
Aunt Jackie’s “Oh So Clean” Shampoo 12 oz. $11.99
Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Sodium (C-14-16) Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coconut Oil Monoethanolamide, Polyquaternium 7, Glycol Stearate, Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, D-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamic Aldehyde, Linaool, Amyl Cinnamic Aldehyde, Lilial, 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, 2-Methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, CI 15985 (Yellow 6), CI 47005 (Yellow 10)
I used my new shampoo method when I tried this product and I noticed something right away. This product suds up A LOT for a sulfate-free shampoo.
So I did some research.Apparently the active “sudsing” agent in this product is Sodium (C-14-16) Olefin Sulfonate, which is a sulfate, and a pretty harsh one actually.
So how can this product be promoted as “sulfate free”? Well, its doesn’t NOT contain sodium laurel/laureth sulfate, or ammonium lauryl/laureth sulfate. Which have been highly publicized as being harmful for the environment as well as very drying on the hair and scalp. But there are other surfactants out there such as Olefin Sulfonate which are just as harmful, even though they are not publicly touted as “sulfates”. They are still technically in the sulfate family. Sodium (C-14-16) Olefin Sulfonate has not only been found to be harsh on the hair, but people have had sever skin reactions to it as well. But don’t take my word for it, for more info about Olefin Sulfonate, check out the links at the end of this post.
Clearly I should have read the label and did my research before I bought and used the product.
For the record. I personally did not suffer any adverse effects from this product. But since I’ve made a conscious choice NOT to use products with harmful sulfates in them I feel that this product falsely represents itself.
RATING: 1 Stupid – Misleading labeling: product is being promoted as “sulfate free” and harmless, when, in fact it is not.
Savvy Ratings: 5=Savvy 4=Smart 3=Suitable 2=Satisfactory 1=Stupid
(This is the first time I’ve ever posted a bad review. But it just goes to show how as consumers, we really need to educate ourselves!)
Info on Olefin Sulfonate:
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/06/are-sulfate-free-shampoos-really.html
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/natural_bodycare_ingredients.cfm
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=chem&id=2590
http://www.cosmeticscop.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/1373/sodium-c14-16-olefin-sulfate.aspx
