4 April 2024
Zero Waste Laundry: this is how you improve your washing routine
- Lifestyle
Unfortunately harmful products in hair care are very common. That’s why in this article, we will explain which ingredients you should definitely avoid. By using natural hair care products and going to an organic hairdresser you help the environment, save your health and keep the watercourses clean! On top of that, non-natural hair care products are the source of many skin and hair problems. Do you want to make sure you buy safe products? Take a close look at the list of ingredients on the bottle or packaging, because a green box doesn’t always mean it’s a truly planet-friendly product…
Do keratin shampoos really work?
What creates series of bad hair days? Everyone knows the feeling, there are days when your hair is not in shape or full of knots and tangles. This can be caused by chemicals in your hair products or hair coloring. One of those chemicals is keratin. Keratin shampoo promises to strengthen your hair and make it shine. A false promise by multinationals for the following reasons:
Keratin, a popular ingredient for many hair treatments, is an animal protein found in the skin, beak, feathers, hooves, claws and ribs of living creatures. Our own hair consists almost entirely of keratin, because it gives strength and structure. If you have not enough keratin, your hair becomes brittle and there is a chance that it will fall out. So producers make keratin shampoos, at first sight this seems logical. But if you investigate further, you will discover that there is only 0.01%-0.03% in the shampoo. This negligible keratin content is too low and doesn’t help the health of your hair. On the other hand, those low percentages are too much if you look at it from an animal’s point of view.
So, why is your hair smooth after using a keratin shampoo? This question brings us to the second common hair care issue. Your keratin shampoo probably contains chemical smoothing products, like silicones.
What are silicones?
Silicone is a kind of liquid plastic. Some silicones are dissolvable in water, but most of them are not dissolvable so they stay in your hair after rinsing. Silicones rich shampoos put a plastic film around your hair which makes your hair look shiny. But those insoluble silicones can lead to a build-up. This means that the remains of hair products stick onto your hair. The build-up makes your hair heavy and it can cause hair loss because there is no cell renewal. It can take up to 20 washes with natural shampoos to get the nasty silicones out of your hair. It’s in all kinds of products such as shampoos, conditioners, styling products, … So remember, smooth hair is not always healthy because the smoothness can come from these silicones.
Do you want to have healthy hair? Choose natural hair products, look at the packaging before buying and ignore them if they contain silicone or keratin. You recognize silicone on the packaging ingredient list on the by terms that end in ‑cone, ‑conol or ‑siloxane.
Chemical products also respond to the pH value of the hair as opposed to natural products that put a film around your hair and strengthen it.
Chemical vs. real natural hair dye
Many brands describe themselves as ‘bio hair care’ brands, but often ammonia is replaced by ethanolamine in their hair dye. This is a chemical and odorless product that has the same effect as ammonia. Ammonia is put into hair color in order to bust through the hair cuticle to deposit colour. A consequence of this action is damage to the hair cuticle that ultimately degrades the hair’s structural integrity. The result overtime is dry, brittle, unhealthy looking hair.
Chemical hair dye is aggressive to your hair and scalp. It can cause allergic reactions because the small molecules of the hair dye are easily absorbed by your skin. Therefore, try a natural hair dye, which will make your hair shine. The plant-based colouring attaches itself to the cuticle (bark) of your hair so that the structure of your hair is not damaged. Your hair will become firmer and will shine beautifully thanks to the tannic acid content. Moreover, your roots will be less noticeable because you have natural colour shades.
A truly organic product consists of pulverized powder that your hairdresser mixes themself with water. So, it is never packed in a tube like many hair products. The list of ingredients of such an organic product consists only of Latin plant names. A real organic hairdresser works with 100% dried pulverized plants, for example henna.
After reading all the above reasons, you’re definitely looking for a way to get your hair shiny with organic products, aren’t you?
