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Urtekram Brown Sugar Shampoo

When I started typing this post I was excited I had found something I had been trying to find for years! That is a Sodium Laureth Sulfate free shampoo. I thought I found it. I was so sure. Once I started reading the INCI more closely at home and writing the end of this post I noticed my mistake. I must have been in a hurry in the store because I totally didn't see it before. And I am quite sure I read the whole INCI list completely. But I didn't register everything... So first I was very excited. Then hugely disappointed. The beginning of this blog post is written when I thought I found SLS free shampoo... the tone starts to change in the middle. I had written all this, and did not feel like changing the entire blog post. So there you go. From happiness to sadness. In one blog post.

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Years ago I heard the shampoos containing SLS, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, aren't good for you. I started searching those from normal stores. I wasn't too scared of SLS to completely stop using shampoos that contained it, so I wasn't ready to order them online or find special stores that sell them. That being said, did I find shampoos that would not contain SLS? No, I did not. 

It all changed last Sunday. I found it! 250 ml and it cost 4,70€ in Citymarket.

They had two, one was Aloe Vera, I think, I might be mistaken. The one that I got was Brown Sugar. I had recently bought hair conditioner so I didn't get that. The price is more than what I'd normally pay and my boyfriend said that eventhough it does cost quite much, but because it's Fairtrade, he's all for it.

Urtekram Brown Sugar Shampoo is a Fairtrade product, it's Ecocert certified and they do not test on animals. Those are the things that the package says. The company is registered in Denmark.


It has a lot of text in different languages. In English it says: 

"GB Shampoo with cane sugar. Nourishes your hair and gives it extra volume. 
Water, aloe vera*, cane sugar*¤ (28%), coconut and corn sugar soap, vegetable glycerine, levulinic acid, anisic acid, citric acid, essential lavender*, and eucalyptus* oil. Nothing else. *=Organic farming, ¤=Fairtrade certified. Best used before the end of: See imprint."

Best before was 09 2013
More English text... "100% of the total ingredients are from natural origin. 15% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming. Natural and Organic Cosmetics certified by ECOCERT Greenlife according to ECOCERT Standard available at http://cosmetics.ecocert.com"


I have only used this a few times now. The smell is very nice. It's not a strong smell, and it doesn't stay in your hair, which I like kind of. I don't really like to smell like anything.. :D

It washes my hair well. I'm not sure if it creates a huge amount of foam, because I haven't opened my eyes in the shower yet while I've been using this. :D My boyfriend says it foams, but not as much as "normal" shampoo. 

My hair definitely needs hair conditioner afterwards, but that is nothing new. Right after rinsing my hair feels clean and my scalp feels clean too.

Okay, now as I was typing this, I noticed the INCI says Sodium coco-sulfate. Baaah I got excited too soon... I must have read the list too quickly in the store... How stupid! I got excited for nothing.

By googling Sodium Coco-sulfate I found plenty of texts. The main thing they were saying is that they're the one and same product. Both are derived from coconut oil, but the way they are purified is different. They are also saying that SCS is better than sodium laureth sulfate. It is added to create foam, which people believe makes the shampoo work as a hair cleaning product. In fact, once there is foam, your hair is already clean and ready to be rinsed. The foam does nothing.

INCI: Aqua, aloe barbadensis gel*, saccharum officinarum powder*¤, cocamidopropyl betaine, coco-glucoside, sodium coco-sulfate, glycerin, sodium cocoyl glutamate, levulinic acid, p-anisic acid, citric acid, lavandula angustifolia oil*, eucalyptus globulus oil*, geraniol^, limonene^, linalool^. (*= from Organic Farming, ^=essential oil, ¤= fairtrade certified)