# Surfactant

Canonical URL: https://guide.rozhair.com/glossary/surfactant/

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All shampoos contain surfactants. The question isn't *whether* — it's *which*. Surfactants are classified by how aggressively they bind to oil and how they behave on the hair's protein and lipid surface.

The aggressive family is the [sulfate](/glossary/sulfate/) group ([SLS](/glossary/sls/), [SLES](/glossary/sles/), ammonium lauryl sulfate). They strip efficiently — too efficiently for most hair types.

The gentle family is long and growing: cocamidopropyl betaine (coconut-derived, very mild), sodium cocoyl isethionate (excellent cleaning without stripping), decyl glucoside (plant-derived, biodegradable), sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate, and several newer synthetics. These clean through slightly different mechanisms — some charge-binding to dirt, some emulsifying oil without disrupting the protein shell — but all leave more of the hair's natural protective lipids intact.

You want a shampoo whose first surfactant sits in the gentle family. Read the label.