Posted in Hair, Hair Archive, Hair Tips | Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Ok. so before you think I’m a big stinky person, I DO wash my hair, just not with regular, beauty-supply-store variety shampoo. Why? Because most shampoos have ingredients that I don’t use anymore. As mentioned in the video in my previous post My Health Turning Point Sodium Lauryl and Laureth Sulfates can affect your health. Here’s more info on them, and how dimethicones and Amodimethicones are related.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate/Sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) – This ingredient is in almost every cleaning product we use. It’s always near the top of the list of ingredients in shampoos (which means it’s in large quatities), bodywashes, laundry detergents, dishwashing detergents, floor cleaners, even car shampoo. SLS is put into products in order to make them “sudsy”. We have been mistakenly led to believe that if a product doesn’t produce a lot of bubbles, it’s not cleaning properly. (For the record, bubbles don’t actually clean anything). SLS is also very good at removing oils from surfaces like your dishes, floor, car, clothes and of course, your hair.
In recent years, SLS has been suspected of causing or aggravating many heath probelms, among them skin allergies, hair loss, and eye irritation, due to the fact that it removes oils so readily. As well as the brain, and liver, and that the body actually has problems expelling the product and it stays in the skin and body for a long time. Things tat stay in your body too long usually cause problems.
- Dimethicone/Amodimethicone (cones) – These ingredients are found in products such as conditioner, lotion, body creams, deep condtioners, oils, serums, foot creams, as well as shampoo. They are man-made, silicone-based ingredients that add slipperyness (slip) and smoothness to products and hair. They help resist tangles, and make hair more manageable and soft by coating the hair with a thin layer of silicone (basically rubber), and keeping moisture out. Thus, making the hair appear less frizzy and more smooth.
The problem with cones is, after awhile products with cones build up on your hair and cause dryness, breakage and split ends. Unless you wash them out of your hair with shampoos with SLS. Cones don’t appear to be life threatening, but they can cause scalp irritations and dandruff and other skin problems since the scalp cannot breathe as well. Amodimethicone was developed later, and is said to wash out of the hair and off of skin more easily than dimethicone, but the jury is still out.
Some people swear by cones, but on my journey I personally have sworn them off simply because they have to be washed out with SLS shampoos, and those risky side effects are not worth it to me. I’m interested in what you think about the above ingredients. Do some research and leave a comment Thanks!
Some of my sources:
http://www.healthy-communications.com/caution.html
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/106751
http://www.healthy-communications.com/slsmostdangerousirritant.html
http://www.mywomenstuff.com/2008/09/24/what-is-silicone-and-is-it-bad-for-your-skin/
http://sci-toys.com/ingredientsadimethicone.html
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curly-q-a/curlchemist-amodimethicone-and-other-amine-functionalized-silicones
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