At Noughty we’re committed to telling the truth, suds and all, so we love to do a little myth busting. Let’s talk bubbles.
Bubbles are beautiful, but somewhere along the line, we’ve come to associate them with cleaning power. The bigger the bubble the better their cleansing power, right? Nope. Time to burst the myth. Bubbles and their size have nothing to do with cleansing. The truth is, they’re just air wrapped up in soap film.
The only thing that bubbles attract is air, not dirt. The bigger the bubble, the more trapped air. In fact, many shampoos, soaps and body washes have ingredients added just to produce big, bubbles, which do absolutely nothing.
The most common of these ingredients are the sulphates (SLS and SLES). These are actually quite harmful to hair, as they are known to strip it of its natural oils. They can, therefore, be the cause of dry hair and irritate the scalp and skin.
So, if bubbles don’t clean, what does? Surfactants. What you’d know as soap. Molecularly soap has two parts – a water-loving head and an oily (water-hating) tail. When dissolved in water, soap molecules cling to each other – all keeping their tails out of the water. These clusters are known as micelles, and when you mix them with your hair, they combine with the oils in your hair, dissolving them and lifting them away when you rinse. These micelles work the same way as micellular cleansers do on skin.
At Noughty we use a particularly innovative surfactant, known as SLMI, or Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate (try saying that after a bit of bubbly). This is derived from corn and coconut and is kinder and gentler for the scalp.
Its hallmark is a brief froth of small bubbles, which is gentle, effective, non-stripping and perfect for cleaning hair. To get the most out of a sulphate free shampoo, it’s important that it’s activated before use. To activate, put a small amount on a wet palm, add a little water and rub palms together before working the mixture through the hair.
So, the moral of the story is, save the bubbles for your champagne darling 💁🏼♀️