We appreciate many of our customers want to know more about the issues concerning the ingredients in the products they use. To that end, we have covered some of the topics we are frequently questioned on, and we will endeavour to add new material as and when it becomes apparent our customers are requiring further information on a particular subject.

All Faith in Nature shampoos and some of our other products are blended from a mix of essential oils, herbal extracts and special ingredients in a detergent base, and this base is known as a surfactant. The surfactant we use is called Ammonium Laureth sulphate (ALES) and belongs to a class of compounds known as alkyl sulphates (AS). This surfactant is considered to be a safe, gentle and effective cleansing agent and ALES is rapidly biodegradable, aerobically as well as anaerobically. Virtually 100% of the detergent is immediately removed from the skin or hair by the simple act of rinsing with water.

AS can be derived from animal fats or be 100% petrochemical, and it can also be made from natural sources. As a strictly enforced policy, all Faith in Nature products requiring a surfactant only contain ALES that has been extracted from plant/vegetable oil and one that has not been tested on animals.

A prime advantage of ALES is that its chemical construction is reputed to result in molecules that are larger in size than those found in other sulphates such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), ensuring that these molecules do not penetrate the skin. Also, ALES has a greatly reduced irritation factor (being less than half of that found in SLS), resulting in a safe cleaning agent that is much more gentle to the skin. For these reasons Faith in Nature does not use SLS or SLES.