I’d been battling a losing battle with blemishes and acne for the past month and a half. I’d never really had perfect smooth skin but I’d stopped getting breakouts too. I’m getting too old for having a face full of acne! So, I was at quite a loss last month when my whole face inexplicably broke out. Not only was I getting hard painful acne, I was also getting lots and lots of bumps under my skin which were horrid. My forehead, where I don’t get many spots, was a mess as were my cheeks.
I initially thought it was a skin product I was trying out so I stopped using it. Instead of going away, I kept getting one bump after another on my skin and it really bugged me.
That was until I was reading some reviews online and came across a user of Tresemme hair conditioner who loved how soft the conditioner made her hair, but said that it caused her to get body acne. That got me thinking. What if the skin problems I was facing was not to do with skincare but with the Tresemme conditioner I was using? I gave it a rave review previously, but I’d never thought it might affect the skin.
My hair conditioner was finishing, so I decided to stop instead of restocking, just to see if my gut feeling was right. I went instead for Himalaya Herbals Protein Conditioner which I have also reviewed.
Within 3 days of stopping my Tresemme conditioner, I realised I was not getting any new spots. Within a week, and with a little help from my trusty apple cider vinegar toner, my skin is now almost back to the way it was i.e. relatively smooth, with no new blemishes or spots. I’m very happy about that.
However, it got me wondering about why the Tresemme conditioner would cause my skin to break out. I’ve never had a hair product do this to me before. It could be because I wash my hair everyday so I am exposed to the product a lot and something in it did not agree with me.
Either way, I seem to have isolated the hair conditioner as the cause of my traumatic month-long battle with problem skin and I’m working on clearing it up now, with great success.
Have you had a hair product break you out before?
Are “aussie products” good” ?
I’m glad I found this because I thought I was going crazy too. Its nice to know that other people are having the same problem as me, but I am running out of options. So far I have experienced break-outs from: Dove, Herbal Essence, Tresseme, Garnier Fructise, SunSilk, Head and Shoulders, Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo/Cond, Pantiene, Suave and even this one organic soymilk stuff… I just bought some baby shampoo, but I need conditioner or my hair will fry 🙁 I’m not sure I’m reacting to the same things everyone else is since others can use some of these products, but I definitely have the bumps on my neck, around my ears and on my forehead.
Jessica, Try Vosene anti dandruff conditioner, it doesn’t seem to have the sodium laureth sulphate in it!!! I’m also using the soak and float from lush and that is doin the business!!!! Good luck!
I’ve been using Aussie lately, and I’ve come to beleive its a ance causer as well. The day after I started using it acne started building up. Afterreading this I;m going to stop using it and see what happens.
I’ve been getting the occasional pimple on my back and lots of build up of things under my skin that were some kind of stuff from the shampoo that caused bumps on my skin. I’ve been using tressume and aussie, so I’m not quite sure which shampoo it is and they both make my hair feel sooo soft!! I think I’m going to try an organic shampoo, it sounds very convincing!
i recently went to a dermatologist for my acne (which wasn’t really bad at the time), she put me on some pills and topical medicine and told me if i were to break out with tiny little bumps to stop using the medicines. so of course, i broke out in tiny little bumps so i called the doctor back and she put me on a topical steriod, well of course that didn’t do anything, so i actually went into the dr. office so she could look at the bumps. she gave it ONE look and goes “that’s due to a hair product”…. ive been using the same hair products for ages. im only 24! so she prescribed me some antibiotics (which i couldn’t take because they were too big to swallow)….she also told me to get “FREE AND CLEAR SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER”….has anyone heard of this? i haven’t got it yet because i have to special order it at the Walgreens Pharmacy and I’m sure it’s going to be super expensive. From reading the previous posts, I’m going to stop using Tressme Shamp/Cond and see if it clears up. The red bumps are all over my forehead and neck. They aren’t necessarly acne, but some of them turn into tiny whiteheads. I’ve also tried to limit my intake of chocolate and soda, because we all know that’s not good for you.
Just like other readers I’m so glad I came across this post, no one else I know has this problem. “Amy” on Nov 19 talked about an allergy to sulfate in medicines, I also have this problem just never connected the 2. I don’t know how I didn’t see it, I wasn’t always allergic to sulfate and when the allergy started so did the breakouts from almost every shampoo. I have the breakouts from the same shampoos and more as “Jessica” on Dec 8. Herbal Essence used to work for me then they changed the formula. I feel desperate because I can’t run around with dirty hair and I don’t want to have these painful disgusting breakouts
It is the shampoo. After years of trying to figure out what made my skin to breakout I realized it was Garnier I don’t know why but always after using it I will get pimples where my hair touched my face. I now use an anti dranduff shampoo and conditioner and it has change my life.
Okay, I’ve tried Burt’s Bees More Moistrue Raspberry & Brazil Nut Shampoo, hydrating teatree mint Shampoo by organix, and Aveda color conserve shampoo and conditioner. I go through a honeymoon phase where my skin is just about cleared up (about two weeks) and then the breakouts start again. Any more shampoo suggestions?
if your skin breaks out due to hair products, please stay away from ALL super moisturizing products, they all have a heavy amount of ingredients that remain in your hair even after u’ve washed it off, to keep your hair moisturized, and that’s what causes the breakouts. i learned this a long time ago, when i was 18, and i used dove. made my hair so soft, but made my face break out and have a fireworks and mardi grass festival.
until today i cant use stuff that is too moisturizing, so i would suggest, surprisingly enough, Guardian’s organic rice shampoo and conditioner, or Yokiso! olive shampoo, which uses mild veggie based cleansers.
i’ve been using both the above and my skin is great. however i must warn u that the olive shampoo smells HORRIBLE< like those cheap imitation men's perfume, i hold my breath everytime i wash my hair, lucky it doesnt linger at all. surprising but relieving. hope this helps. =)
I thought I would try Tresemme nearly two years ago after its heavy advertising and promise of ‘salon quality’. However after a few uses, a dry itchy patch the size of my thumb started developing at the back of my head, just above the nape of my neck. Most of the time it is extremely itchy, even after I’ve scratched it in the last few minutes. The skin also grows back the next day after I scratch it off. Someone told me I’ve got Psoriasis. It is only a small spot underneath all my long hair but I get very paranoid about making dandruff flakes and looking unhygenic in college. I knew it was Tresemme which caused it because I usually use Herbal Esscences shampoo that my mum stocks up.
I still have the dry patch but it is not as frequently itchy anymore. After seeing this article, I DO NOT recommend anyone to try Tresemme products!
Giovanni organic hair care products do not have those ingredients and they smell excellent!
I have had bad acne for years and always thought it would eventually go away… I’m on the pill, using a really expensive cream recommended by a beautician, and still nothing. Then last week I read on Yahoo that shampooing hair too much could make skin extra-oily. I decided not to shampoo for a day, and then went away for the weekend and used the conditioner at my parents’ house. I’ve had no new spots on my face or bumps under my skin, even without using my skin cream for three days! This morning, I finally realized that it must be the hair products – I’ve been using Herbal Essences as long as I can remember, and I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out, because I’ve tried everything. Thanks for this post!!! I’m going out now to buy organic shampoo and conditioner and HE is going in the trash!
I thought I was going crazy. I NEVER BREAK OUT and all of a sudden, within a few weeks after using tresseme for the fierst time, I have breakouts ALL over. Chest, face..Im grossed out!
OH MY GOSH! I’m so excited! I had a hunch that maybe shampoo or conditioner cause my acne, and lo and behold this is the first site I look at and tresemme is the culprit for alot of people! My forehead has been bespecked with these awful little pimples for almost a year, and the sides of my cheeks by my ears have scars from the zits i had there. I’ve tried differin, fish oil pills, vitamins, proactive, nothing, birth control pills, EVERYTHING and they never went away. But I have been using Tresemme for the past year!!! I’m going to quit using it TONIGHT and get back to you!
I have went through this same problem, trying to find out why my skin was breaking out so bad. I narrowed it down to a conditioner I was using. I was in denial because I loved the conditioner so much, but it was the reason for my breakouts. It was bumble and bumbles super rich conditioner.
Finally my skin cleared then I recently went to my hair dresser and he recommended me to try a new product called Moroccanoil. He put it in my hair and I was sold. My hair is very long and anything that helps it look smooth and shiny, I will buy.
Big mistake. The product is amazing in my hair, but now, once again I am dealing with my face broken out worse than ever. I have such painful, huge pimples on my face now. Probably when I sleep, the product absorbs onto my pillowcase and when I turn side to side, it goes on my face. This is the worst my skin has ever been. I am going to stop using the product and hope my skin clears soon.
Just a warning to acne prone skin to avoid these amazing but pimple causing products.
Once I discovered sulfates were the cause of my acne/ breakout issues, I switched to the organic product line Organix (I found it at my grocery store… they also carry it at Rite Aid and Target). Problem solved! I’ve also recently tried the L’oreal sulfate free shampoo and conditioner and they seem to work as well as the Organix line… and they are about the same price… $6-$7 per bottle.
Washing and conditioning hair in the shower makes my back break out I recently found out. So wash hair seperately!!!
So I stumbled upon this website in the same manner as everyone else… trying to find a shampoo that won’t make my face breakout. Sodium Laurel Sulfate is in a lot of stuff!!! I discover (via my dermatologist) that it is also in a lot of toothpastes. I switched to Sensodyne (which doesn’t have this) and it dramatically cut down on my around the mouth breakouts. I have struggled, however, to find a good shampoo. Pantene and all of its subgroups are horrible for your hair and skin!!! Don’t even try it. And what sucks the most is that pretty much every shampoo says that is is moisturizing which translates to: oil. It is hard to figure out what is oil in the ingredients list because they use the most technical name possible for all of them. Some will list grapeseed oil, avocado oil, etc. It makes perfect sense to me that if we are trying so hard to get the oil off our face, we should really try to keep it off our faces. I mean, gravity pulls liquids south so it only makes sense that whatever goes on our hair works its way down to our faces throughout the day. I have heard that Finesse is oil free, but I have not been able to verify this.
Recently, I’ve been having continuous breakouts along my forehead, hairline, and cheeks. This puzzled me, because I’ve never really had prolonged acne problems like this. I knew it wasn’t the makeup I’d been using; I’ve been using the same foundation for months with no problems. However, recently, I did switch shampoos and began using Herbal Essences Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner. It dawned on me that perhaps that was what was causing my sudden breakouts! I searched it on yahoo, and this site came up. Glad to know I’m not the only one! I’m switching hair products.
I’d been suffering from acne since my teenage years (I’m now 26) and I’d need to see a dermatologist every two weeks just to keep my skin relatively clear. This year, I discovered by accident the two sources of my acne — shampoo and dairy products. Shampoo (and I’ve tried all of them) triggers my acne. Consuming dairy products (including butter in baked products) exacerbates existing acne. When I stopped using shampoo and consuming dairy, my acne stopped. The other day I even used make-up (for a stage performance) and nothing happened to my skin! What I use now to wash my hair and scalp is a mild FACIAL wash my dermatologist recommended. It’s more expensive, especially since I have long hair, but waking up to clear skin and being able to look in the mirror is worth it. I haven’t visited my dermatologist in months. I’m experimenting now with using shampoo to wash only the parts of my hair that don’t touch my face, to see if that makes a difference.