PSA: go to the source

The Is it CG? app is a great way to analyze the ingredients of your curly girl products, but it’s only as good as the source of the information. It is really important to go directly to the manufacturer of the product to copy the list of ingredients. If it is not available through them, than some other credible sources are Sally Beauty or Ulta. Target is pretty good too.

Amazon, on the other hand, is not a credible source for ingredients. It is a great place to purchase (some) products and to read reviews, but I do not recommend copying the ingredients from that source. I have seen too many discrepancies with ingredients like the example below from their site.

Example: Ion Hardwater Shampoo (inconsistent ingredients bolded)

Amazon’s Ingredient List

WATER ,SODIUM C14-16 OLEFIN SULFONATE, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, COCAMIDE MEA, PPG/PEG-2/10 GLYCERYL COCOATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE, PEG-120 METHYL GLUCOSE DIOLEATE, FRAGRANCE, DISODIUM EDTA, WHEATGERMAMIDOPROPYL DIMETHYLAMINE HYDRO, PANTHENOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM GLUCONATE, METHYLPARABEN, GLUCOSE, PROPYLPARABEN, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ASCORBIC ACID , BLUE 1, YELLOW 5

Sally’s Beauty Ingredient List

WATER, SODIUM C14-16 OLEFIN SULFONATE, COCAMIDE DIPA, SODIUM CHLORIDE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, GLYCERIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, DISODIUM LAURETH SULFOSUCCINATE, DISODIUM EDTA, FRAGRANCE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE, SODIUM GLUCONATE, PEG-120 METHYL GLUCOSE DIOLEATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, PANTHENOL, CITRIC ACID, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, GLUCOSE, LINUM USITATISSIMUM (LINSEED) SEED EXTRA, BENZOIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID, BLUE 1, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, HEXYL CINNAMAL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL

Holy Moly! You can see from these examples that these ingredient lists are soooo different. Amazon’s list basically says it is not curly girl approved because it contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate. It also has a couple parabens, which is a deal breaker for some. These look like totally different products to me.

Here’s what the bottle says!

Looks like Sally’s Beauty has the correct ingredients and Amazon was way off.

Lesson learned! Always double check the ingredient lists. I would hate hate hate for anyone to purchase or not purchase a product because the ingredients that were entered into the app were incorrect. Please try to find the most accurate ingredients before using the app.