Toronto – Going against widespread shifts in clean beauty, The Ordinary is opting to champion a controversial ingredient in its new haircare line: sulphates.
Banned by retailers such as Sephora and Credo, sulphates have fallen out of favour with consumers seeking non-chemical beauty alternatives. Used for decades as a cleansing and foaming agent in personal care products, sulphates have acquired a negative reputation as the clean beauty movement grew.
Now, chemists, product formulators and doctors are debating whether the reputation is justified. Sulphates, they claim, are one of the most effective and cheap substances for washing hair and generating an ideal lather when used in the right concentration. They are not an allergy, a hormone disruptor or a cancer-causing substance.
In keeping with The Ordinary’s Skintellectual approach, the new haircare products are named after the key ingredient in each formula. The shampoo, for example, is called the Sulphate 4% Cleanser, which has led to polarising debate online. The Ordinary’s decision to resurrect shunned sulphates has generated a lot of publicity. Perhaps missing from the brand’s communication, however, is the fact that sulphates typically cater for Western, white hair.
Strategic opportunity
Weighing in on a cultural debate can help fuel publicity. But companies must be careful to consider all demographics when launching initiatives
