Are you experiencing hair loss, an irritated scalp or hair that is just not in a healthy state? Have you considered whether the ingredients found in your shampoo are harmful and the cause of your hair problems?
Ever since hearing about Tresemme’s lawsuit, I have been doing my own research about the ingredients found in shampoo and beauty products and the effects it has on our health.
There are so many harmful ingredients that we are unaware of, that exist in hair care products.
I selected the 5 most common harmful ingredients found in shampoo and I will list them in this post. I will also tell you about an app that can help you discover clean products.
Disclaimer: Please note that this blog post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to purchase products mentioned in this post, I will receive a commission at no cost to you. I only recommend products I use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own.
Sulphates
These include Sodium Lauryl Sulphate or Sodium Laureth Sulphate.
Sulphates are strong detergents that basically remove oils and residue from the scalp once you’ve rinsed the hair.
They also act as the foaming source which most of us assume the more foam the cleaner my hair is getting. However, that assumption is incorrect.
Long term use of sulphates are linked to skin, lung and eye irritants. So I highly recommend switching to sulphate free hair products.
Parabens
As most of you are aware that preservatives are added to food to preserve its shelf life. Well, parabens work the same way but in beauty products. They are added to hair and beauty products to prevent bacteria forming in the products so that the shelf life is extended.
Parabens can imitate the estrogen hormone which disrupts hormone function. Therefore it has been linked to the increased growth of breast cancer cells, reproductive issues and skin irritation.
Fragrance
Products that contain fragrance or parfum not only have those ingredients in your products but hundreds of other harmful chemicals within the fragrance itself.
Hair care and beauty products most of the time do not have natural fragrances but synthetic fragrance that can be found in most products.
Synthetic fragrances are man – made scents which are made with chemicals such as petroleum. These synthetic fragrances can be linked to cancer, asthma, reproductive concerns and hair loss.
Formaldehydes
This ingredient is a known carcinogen. What is a carcinogen? It is a substance found in products that is known to cause cancer.
Formaldehydes are added as a preservative in products like shampoos, brazillian blowouts and keratin treatments.
Common formaldehydes are DMDM hydantoin, quaternium – 15, imidazolidinyl urea, benzylhemiformal and diazolidinyl urea.
Dimethicone
Dimethicone is a type of silicone used in products that acts as a protective shield to the hair which in time causes build up and excess residue. Causing oily, dirty hair.
This protective shield disallows moisture from absorbing into the hair causing clogged pores and skin irritation.
I recommend using a clean clarifying shampoo at least twice a month to help remove dirt and pollutants from your hair, if your products contain dimethicone.
What can you do?
There are some websites and apps you can use to determine which products are safe. A website I have discovered is MadeSafe. You can find products by category or brands that are safe for your family including bedding, baby/child and feminine care to mention a few. You will also be able to educate yourself by finding a hazard list and product profiles.
An app that has helped me a lot to make conscious decisions of the products I buy is the Think Dirty app. You will be able to search millions of products that are both clean and not clean.
The products are rated by color green, yellow or red. Green = clean, yellow = half n’ half, and red = dirty.
They also have a scanning function. So instead of standing in the hair product aisle of the Target, taking 20 minutes to decide on whether to purchase a good shampoo.
You can just scan the item and all the information of that product is at your disposal. If the item is not listed you can add it to the app and Think Dirty will research that item. You can view my haircare routine blog post for ideas on some clean products I use.
Conclusion
There are many harmful ingredients found in our hair care and beauty products that we are unaware of. Some ingredients such as formaldehydes shouldn’t even exist in products if they are known to cause cancer.
The point of this post is to make you guys more aware of the harmful ingredients that exist in our hair care essentials and to inform you to make conscious decisions when purchasing your hair care products.
I’ve also discovered that there are not many affordable clean ingredients in our drug stores. The clean ingredients I’ve found will be labeled clean but would contain fragrances. The clean products I’ve searched are extremely expensive.
I recommend using the MadeSafe website and ThinkDirty app to help you make informed and conscious decisions and use shampoos that are sulphate, paraben and fragrance free. As well as products that don’t contain formaldehydes. Use a clarifying shampoo twice a month to get rid of dimethicones. You can view my haircare routine blog post for ideas on some clean products I use.
I hope that this blog post has been informative and if you have discovered affordable clean drugstore hair care products to let me know in the comment section.
