Reading the ingredients of your hair care products while on the shelf maybe a meticulous and tedious task for the analytical. However, most people don’t even know what they should be looking for or avoiding. Besides that, what exactly is in your shampoo and conditioner?
Knowing whether you have parabens or sulfates in your products Can have major determinations on whether the condition of your hair is good, bad, or fair.
after all the woman that you see with glorious hair down to her butt, that seems to shimmer in the light and keep its curls is not using the same products that you’re using if your hair doesn’t do the same. It’s very likely that the products that she and her stylists are using are free of parabens and sulfates. Let’s break them down and see exactly what you should be avoiding.
PARABENS, WHAT ARE THEY?
In short parabens are to shampoo what preservatives are to food. They were meant to preserve the shampoo and keep it from molding in growing bacteria within the shampoo containers. Parabens were founded and introduced to hair and skin products in the early 1950s. And initially just like with food adding a preservative to extend shelf life of a product sounds like a good idea. But let’s look at the goods and bads of this shampoo preservative called parabens and see exactly why we should choose brands that are free of them.
Good:
- They preserve the shelf life of skin and hair products for years on end.
- The quality of the product and the potency of the product is not diluted by including parabens.
- They are cheap.
Bad:
- They literally enter the surface of the skin.
- It has been found in human bodies as well as other animals after death.
- Dermatologists have grave concerns about it being absorbed by the skin and being anti organic.
you can clearly see why parabens are more than just a little sketchy, Now let’s dive into sulfates
SULFATES, WHAT ARE THEY?
Sulfates were promoted and introduced into hair products in the 1930s because it creates a soapy and foamy lather which is associated with clean. In short sulfates are a marketing tool to make you feel like you have clean hair and use the product that facilitated that cleanliness. With technology and evolution, we have found the negative health causes that sulfates can be found at the bottom of.
Good:
- Inexpensive and very effective.
Bad:
- Overly aggressive, so much so that the ingredients are used to clean construction machines.
- Strips away natural oils and creates a dry scalp.
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
