Introduction

Introduction

Sally Beauty is one of the largest retailers of beauty and personal care products in the U.S. and has over 3,700 stores worldwide. At the corporate level, it states that it is committed to serving a diverse customer base in communities across the country, highlighting products for all hair types and profiling Black brand founders.¹ At the same time, across the five most recent editions of Mind the Store’s Retailer Report Card from 2017 to 2024, Sally Beauty earned failing grades for lacking a safer chemicals policy. In contrast, competing retailers Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Walmart, and Target earned grades of B- or above.

To better understand the presence of toxic chemicals in products for textured hair sold at Sally Beauty, Toxic-Free Future conducted an independent analysis of ingredient labels for 577 products, with a focus on formaldehyde releasers and siloxanes, specifically, the siloxanes D4, D5, and D6. Both formaldehyde releasers and some siloxanes are linked to cancer, among other health impacts, and will be restricted in hair products in Washington state and the European Union, respectively, by January 2027.

Key Finding

Across the 577 hair products reviewed, more than one in six (17%) contained chemicals that release formaldehyde and/or the siloxanes D4, D5, or D6.