A sulphate-free shampoo for curly hair, built on sea buckthorn and protein, from Natura Siberica.
Why curly hair is dry — the fact everything else follows from
Your scalp produces sebum, and sebum is the hair's own conditioner. On straight hair it travels down the shaft easily and reaches the ends, which is why straight hair goes greasy at the roots. On curly hair it cannot: every bend and twist stops its progress, so it collects near the scalp and never gets far.
That is the whole reason curly hair is chronically dry at the ends, frizzes, and behaves badly when treated like straight hair. It is a plumbing problem, not a hair-quality problem.
What sulphate-free actually means
Conventional shampoos are built on sulphates — usually sodium laureth sulphate. They are extremely effective detergents: they foam abundantly and strip sebum thoroughly, which suits an oily straight-haired scalp perfectly well.
For curly hair it is the wrong tool. Curls have too little sebum on the lengths to begin with, and a strong detergent removes what there is, along with any product protecting the cuticle. Milder surfactants clean the scalp without stripping the lengths.
Expect much less foam. Sulphates are what produce the big lather people associate with cleaning, and their absence is the commonest reason people abandon a sulphate-free shampoo. Foam and cleaning are not the same thing.
On protein
Protein strengthens hair and helps a curl hold its shape. But curly hair needs protein and moisture in balance, and too much protein makes hair stiff, straw-like and prone to snapping — the state usually called protein overload. If your hair starts feeling crunchy and brittle, alternate with a purely moisturising wash.
Washing curls well
Shampoo the scalp only, with the pads of the fingers. The lengths are cleaned adequately by the lather rinsing down, and scrubbing them creates frizz. Then condition generously from the mid-lengths down, and detangle only while the conditioner is in, with fingers or a wide-tooth comb.
Never brush curly hair dry. It separates the curl clumps and turns them into frizz.
Attitude
Natura Siberica
Natura Siberica
