Quick Reference: HAIR (cones, sulfates, alcohols)

SULFATES= ingredients that contain the words "sulfate" or "sulfonate" 

SULFATES to AVOID in your shampoos:
Sodium laureth sulfate
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
Ammonium laureth sulfate
Ammonium lauryl sulfate
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate
Sodium myreth sulfate
Sodium Xylenesulfonate
Ammonium Xylenesulfonate
Alkylbenzene sulfonates
Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate
TEA-dodecylbenzenesulfonate
Ethyl PEG-15 cocamine sulfate
Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate

Gentle cleansing alternatives to look for in "sulfate-free" shampoos:

cocamidopropyl betaine

coco betaine

cocoamphoacetate

cocoamphodipropionate
sodium cocoyl isethionate

disodium cocoamphodiacetate

disodium cocoamphodipropionate

disodium lautreth sulfosuccinate

lauroamphoacetate

behentrimonium methosulfate

babassuamidopropyl betaine

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CONES = silicones = ingredients with names that end in -one, -conol, or -xane 

CONES to AVOID (you'll need a surfactant to remove build-up):
amodimethicone
dimethicone
dimethiconol
cetearyl methicone
cetyl dimethicone
phenyl trimethicone
stearyl dimethicone
behenoxy dimethicone
bis-aminopropyl dimethicone

 

Water-soluble CONES you can happily use on your hair:

'cyclo'-cones

dimethicone copolyol

laurl methicone copolyol

hydroxyl polysiloxane (hydrolyzed wheat protein)

starts with PEG or PPG and have a # of 8 or higher

 

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ALCOHOLS = look for ingredient names containing "propyl", "prop", "eth", or "denatured"