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?
The Joico Shampoo + Conditioner gave me really bad acne too after I bought huge bottles of both.
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Hi,
My whole life i have been using ‘fruits’ conditioner, and all of a sudden i got out of the shower, and my scalp felt like it was on fire, i checked for lice- but nothing! And then i began to notice a rash down the back of my neck that was itching like mad! I told my mum and she says that i might have an allergy to the shampoo or conditioner, but how do i know? PLEASE HELP!!!!
Even when i don’t use the shampoo or conditioner or anything else in the shower, my neck and face still get itchy. If you have any advice please reply!!!!!
And also i have been using for the first time tonight ‘garnier’ conditioner and i still get itchy.
What am i allergic too?
So as many of the people on here I too searched yahoo for shampoo causing acne. Here i am. We have been using Pantene for years and have been struggling with acne for years. I am 41 and this is ridiculous to have this kind of skin. I was thinking maybe my hormones but after some switching of shampoos i am convinced its the Pantene, and the Tresseme. We switched to Suave hypoallergenic typed and the bad skin went away but we were left with very dry hair and scalp. I thought we would give it a try again 3 weeks ago with the Pantene because it always leaves our hair so soft and wavy and it did but with it came severe breakouts again on myself and my 17 year old daughter. Our foreheads temples cheeks chins around the ears jawlines necks chests and backs..very bumpy skin over all. My daughter is getting painful bumps on her forehead and for me its the back of my jawline where i get them. I read every entry on this blog and we will NEVER use these products again. I went right out last night and got Burts Bees . They did have the regular line so i got the new line called GUD. I came home jumped in the shower and used it and even though I just used it last night my skin is already completely different! Smooth skin when I woke up this morning. The redness is gone! Some of the bumps are even gone and the tone has even changed! My hair is very soft and and wavy and smells fantastic. We really hope this works. It really hurts a persons self esteem to have skin like this. I hate to see my daughter be so upset about it and i wont lie it makes me not want to go out in public either. I got Burt’s Bees GUD at Walgreens and it was 6.99. I made sure it didn’t have the mentioned ingredients. I looked it up online and they have several different ones to choose from and are sold at Walmart as well as Target but Target has a smell that is exclusively theirs called Paranormal Activity which is pear and dewberry. I got the Vanilla Flame. If you go to the Burts Bees website its not on there. You have to look up GUD itself. Again i say.. I hope this works!!
I also think that since there are so many problems associated with these chemicals the companies that use them should really find a better way. I think its happening to a lot of people that are just as confused as to why this was happening. I did email Pantene about a year ago and they emailed me back saying that they had in fact changed their formula and asked if I would send in my bottles. I didnt respond or send in my bottles. They know what is going on..what do they need my bottles for..they know what they are putting in them. Now that I’m positive its the shampoo and conditioner! We are going natural.
I had also read in some of the posts that it was in toothpaste so I went to look and sure enough in our Crest Complete and the 5th ingredient is sodium lauryl sulfate. We are switching toothpastes as well. We are on our last bar of Irish Spring bar soap so when I go to buy more soap today I will be looking to see what’s in it as well…We might be switching completely over the Burt’s Bees for everything.
I will really try to update this to let everyone know how the GUD is working.
Gud is no good for us. After 2 washes with it we were itching..After the first wash my skin felt fantastic and my hair smelled and felt wonderful but I started itching here n there. After the second wash my hair still smelled and felt wonderful then i started itching everywhere *sigh* and my face and neck started getting bumps where there were none before. Im not giving up.
This afternoon I posted on my FB “Lets talk shampoo…What do you use?” and got a fairly big response. SO out the door i went before the Aveda salon closed. I told them what was going on and she looked at my hair and sold me 2 small bottles of Shampure shampoo and conditioner. I’m not sure about the smell but I have 14 days to return them if anything goes wrong. So good to know because they were expensive. If this doesn’t work another friend said to try Moroccan Oil. Or Origins I might give a try but I would have to order them online seeing as the closest store to us is in the next state over. I like to smell what I’m getting before I get it. UGH this is so frustrating!
So its now March 3rd and I’ve been using Aveeda Dry Remedy. Works fantastic but I have a few issues. The smell and the cost. The smell I’ve had to get use to. It makes my hair feel very good and soft. My natural waves are there and my hair is really healthy looking. As far as the breakouts go. I still get a couple here n there but they are nothing like they were before and heal way faster. My skin tone has even changed and is more even. Is it possible for shampoo to have such an effect that it even changes skin tone?? I’m going this evening to get my sons hair cut and I’m going to ask her to show me something comparable to the Aveeda. 80 bucks for 2 large bottles. Its just not in our budget to buy such an expensive shampoo for a household of 5. We are however very thankful that our hair is no longer falling out, our skin is clearing up nicely and we are not itching all over. Ill let ya know what else we find that works that’s cheaper.
I thought it was my hair gel that was causing my scalp and forehead to break out but sounds like I may have to check the ingre. on the conditioner.
Most of the shampoos and conditioners have Sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl ether sulfate which is “comodogenic”. It is a number 5 on a 1-5 scale for clogging your pores. I recently switched to Trader Joe’s “TeaTree Tingle” Shapoo which is pure and has no pore clogging ingredients. For people suffering from acne, this seems to be a good shapoo. They also sell a conditioner for people that like to use conditioners 🙂 Hope this helps!
wow…. I have been battling ache on my back for 10 years!! A few weeks ago my partner mentioned that my back was clearing up, I have racked my brains to work out why. (I even tried a drastic hair cut once thinking my long hair was the problem.) Low and behold I now realise it was Tresemme all along! I started getting dandruff so decided to try something different a few weeks ago. Not only did the dandruff clear but also my back, and the small bumps that everyone on here talks about around the hair line. I feel like a different person!!! At the moment I am using Head and shoulders, but I think I am going to search for something more natural!! Thank you to everyone who has posted on here. 🙂
Hi all – I realised this years ago and stopped using all the shampoos under the sun! I get the brand Simple shampoo. I buy it for £1 in a bargain shop. Have used it for 2 years now. I do an occasional wash with vosene for a deep degrease! And no problems on my skin.
At the same time I stopped using products on my skin – cleansers, washes etc. I just use water twice a day and an occasional scrub with a massage sponge and a little soap. I was amazed how my skin cleared. I use L’oreal Men’s moisturiser with SPF – one bottle lasts me 1 year.
The truth is.. keep it simple! I know it’s tempting for the smells and smooth feel, but really it makes it unbalanced.
I still haven’t found a conditioner – am going to try the simple one too and make sure I just do the ends of my hair and wash and rinse my face, back and chest afterwards!
o yes – just wanted to add… just because it is natural or organic does not mean it wont cause a breakout! I tried loads of these products, all with poor results. Especially LUSH shampoo bars – itchy as hell and dandruff city! I guess it’s trial and error and we all have our own natural balance in oils in our skin!
Hi there, YES, I’ve had a problem with adult acne for eight years. Only recently did I notice that every time I went on holiday my skin got way better by the time I got home. I thought it was because I was less stressed, got more sleep while I was on holiday, stuff like that. However, I had a good think about it two weeks ago and thought about what else I did differently on holiday and the answer was that I always bought new travel size shampoo and conditioner from shops at the airport. I normally use quite expensive salon shampoo and conditioner having been told they are much better for your hair. So, I changed to the maroccan oil shampoo you can buy in boots and like magic the spots disappeared! I’m over the moon! And I’m saving money! Good luck to you all.
I have been fighting a losing battle with acne on my face, chest and back since giving birth to my children and tried everything under the sun to get rid of the problem. Last week, I decided to try going back to a shampoo I used to use before I had this problem, when my skin was clear, and I stopped using Tresemme. My acne disappeared within 5 days. I was thrilled but also very upset that not one doctor (saw GP, dermatologist, and Naturopathic doctor) ever asked me what products I used regularly, and only shoved the products at me that THEY wanted me to use/buy. I WISH there was at least one person out there who had suggested that this could be the problem so I could have had relief a long time ago. I plan to share this with everyone I encounter with skin issues, and I thank YOU for putting it out into cyberspace for me to confirm my suspicions about this horrible product. I can’t believe I might actually have a blemish-free future, something I thought I’d never have. Best of luck to all of you.
wow…I have the most perfect skin a man could have ever dreamt of, and I am not being silly, and since I started using the tresemme conditioners my skin has gone from great to horrible. I am 31 years old and I have pimples on my forehead everytime I use the condioners from that brand. It’s a no brainer, the product is amazinf for you hair, but for your hair ONLY> result: I had to stop using it…which makes my hair awefully dry, doesnt matter what conditioners I may use. There u have it, a perfect 20/20 situation, never win, just a bad trade…
Oh I also happen to have itchy skin where the Tresemme conditioner had gone down to, mostly bum and around legs. I remember I used to have that burning sensation after shower and I am sure I have no natural allergies to it, maybe the chemicals they put in it to make our hair so soft is also a big vilain causing more damages than good.
I don’t know whether to be ecstatic or furious, I’m a bit of both. I’ve used Herbal Ess and Garnier shampoos and conditioners well over 10 yrs now and have suffered from acne, what I thought was hormonal acne the whole time. My skin can look gorgeous, but it never lasts more then a couple days. I realized shampoo and conditioner contributed to back acne, so I washed my back afterwards, but I never thought about it causing face acne cause I try to avoid shampoo and cond getting on my face during a shower. But I have always washed my face FIRST.
So about a week ago I bought a new jumbo bottle of Herbal Ess. and doused my hair with conditioner. The next day I had 6 giant zits on my previously clear skin and it dawned on me, this can’t be hormonal, this must be from my conditioner! I’m in my mid 30s and cannot believe how bad I’m still breaking out. Lo and behold I went online and found this site along with countless others attesting to the fact the hair products DO cause acne.
I started washing my face and body AFTER my conditioner is all rinsed out and NO new acne since. I was rinsing my hair out and touched my face and yes, I did feel shampoo sliding down my face (though I thought it was just sliding down my back this whole time).
My acne from last week is almost cleared up. I am so excited to the fact I MAY have clear beautiful skin for more then a few days. That this has been the culprit all along!
At the same time I am furious that I have had to suffer with acne so long and so needlessly. Not to mention all the time and money spent trying to clear it when it was such an easy solution! All the times I dried my skin out with acne medication and that made my skin look worse. Then it cleared up and the cond. and shampoo clogged it up again. How can this not be more common knowledge? Thank you for this site and I just wish I would have realized this much much sooner!!! I’m looking forward to gorgeous skin while I’m still fairly young enough to to have it!
I have been breaking out only on my forehead for at least 4 years! During those years I never thought that it could be the conditioner that was causing it. I went to a dermatologist and all they wanted was to prescribe the latest acne medication. They made sure to give me a few samples so that I would later fill the prescription for 200 bucks! Yeah right!
Then I went to a naturopathic doctor. She checked my blood, ran some tests, and finally declared after finding nothing wrong with me that I must be putting something topical that I shouldn’t. And guess what…she was right.
I thought it was the face wash, lotions, etc…So I stopped using those but still the problem persisted only on my forehead. I was like, “What the hell! What have I done in the last 4 years that I never done before?”
And then that’s when it hit me. I have been leaving regular conditioner on my hair to moisturize and hydrate my curls and waves like what the Curly Girl book and what Terri LaFlesh says in her book. I’ve been leaving Pantene, Aussie, Suave, and others in my hair like leave-in conditioner. I decided to put it to the test and stop cold turkey. And while I did that I washed with warm water only with a soft cloth. And then afterwards I applied the juice of fresh lime to the forehead and temple areas. Within 2 weeks there was a HUGE dramatic difference! In 3 weeks the pimples were completely gone!!!
I wish I knew sooner that it was the damn hair conditioner that was causing all this rubbish! Never again!
I used to use this hair treatment wax (as a conditioner) from Watsons that made me breakout so bad! I replaced what I’m using with SYOSS (by Schwarzkopf) shampoo and conditioner. A week after I stopped using the Watsons product, I immediately noticed a big difference, my face began to clear up once again. My SYOSS stock ran out just a week earlier, so I used Creamsilk as a conditioner, I noticed that I’m starting to have small bumps once again.
So I therefore conclude that maybe I am allergic to conditioning shampoos and conditioners that are too “creamy and rich”.
omg, this is so ironic. I used to use the Himalaya Protein shampoo earlier and then four years ago I switched to Unite Eurotherapy shampoo and conditioner since i heard great things about it like its sulphate free etc. I think because it was 11 times the price of the himalaya I thought it would be great. Since the past four years I have been getting bad acne on my lower cheeks. It was a shock to me because I have never gotten acne in that area before, it was always just on my forehead. it took me four years to figure it was the shampoo that was breaking me out and I just switched back to my himalaya protein shampoo. I never even knew shampoos contributed to breakouts!
Biolage Hydra Therapie Shampoo and the conditioning Balm gave me Cystic Acne… no skin problems before.. then started getting painful bumps deep under the skin, two on my chin, two on side of my face and three on the other side on my cheek and one on my lip.. Now I’m having to wash my hair seperately so I can use the stupidly expensive shampoo and conditioner up and try to keep it off my face, neck and shoulders.. my hair looks great, now if only my face didn’t look like it has leprosy.
I have been having breakouts for months using tresemme, I thought it had something to do with being pregnant. Had breakouts on my arms,neck,back etc. Will try something else asap. Thanks!
To everyone who has contributed to this blog – THANK YOU. It is only today after trying microdermabrasion, detoxing, buying AHA/BHA creams, eating raw foods, trying the oil cleansing method, changing my pillow case every 2 days, trying skin needling and even hypnosis for stress that i have realised the cause – TRESEMME shampoo and conditioner. I’m devastated it has taken me a whole year to realise (I happen to have bought the biggest of their bottles). The skin on my face (i’m 33) has aged 5 years over the passed year. I have little whiteheads covering on my forhead, jaw line and cystic acne on my cheeks. The pores on my face are literally suffocating. I have hope the acne will eventually disappear but the scarring has crushed my self esteem. My whole life i had perfect skin until now. I’m hoping a vitamin packed diet will help long term but girls please STAY AWAY from these offending ingredients we are smothering over our precious bodies.
Hey..ive had the same problem for the last 1 yr. I din actually it was due to shampoos until very recently, even my dermatologist thot i had folliculitis. I had bumps slightly itchy and painful whenever i shampooed my hair. A week ago i switched to a herbal shampoo.I noe its too early to say anything but it feels like heaven. Im using something called dhathri dheedhi shampoo. Its available only in India and UAE, I believe..bt it workers wonders..Hair is so clean and scalp feels so good.