How to choose a shampoo without sulphates, silicones and parabens?
Hair care is an essential part of your beauty routine. To best pamper your hair, you need to choose the right products for our hair type. First of all, we need to understand if our hair is fine, oily, dry or simply normal, in order to treat it properly. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the ingredients of shampoos, masks and other products for beauty care because they can have a certain impact on the well-being of our hair.
The substances in question are sulfates, parabens and other silicones, which have gradually infiltrated our beauty products over the years, but today, we are increasingly willing to ban these artificial components. We just need to be able to identify them.
The sulphates
Sulfate is found in many shampoos and hair products on the market. They are surfactants, ie agents with foaming, washing and detergent power present in products for body and intimate hygiene. Why avoid them? They tend to weaken the pigment and therefore to smooth the color in those with colored hair. They can also be irritating to those with colored hair. people with more sensitive skin and skin. These agents are not directly harmful to humans, but they are not biodegradable. Avoiding them means taking action to protect the environment.
How to identify them on a label? Sulphates are fairly easy to find if you know their names or acronyms. These terms identify them: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SDS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSA) These are components present in the wash bases that are potentially irritating and can lubricate the scalp In contrast, wash bases with ingredients such as Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate or Decyl Glucoside are believed to be milder.
The silicones
Shampoos, conditioners, masks and serums ... Silicone seems almost impossible to avoid. A small development to clearly identify this synthetic product. It can, on the surface, be a great beauty asset for unruly locks and coarse hair. This is exactly what gives the hair that light and silky texture after shampooing. Not only that, silicones cover the hair with an invisible patina that makes the hair shine and detangles in a few simple steps. However, in the long term, silicone, which is a fatty substance, clogs the pores, suffocates the hair preventing them from breathing and prevents the penetration of the other active ingredients present in the care products. Weakened, your tips break and are brittle and dull.
How do you identify it on a label? As you can imagine, silicone is rarely mentioned in the ingredient list, as many want to avoid it. It hides behind the following terms: Dimethicone, methyl dimethicone, phenyltrimethicone, stearyl dimethicone, cyclomethicone, cyclotertrasiloxane.
Parabens
Parabens are a group of chemicals used as preservatives. Their purpose is to prevent the proliferation of bacteria in shampoos, as well as masks and conditioners. With this information, it would seem that they are good for our daily hair care. While parabens do not directly affect the hair, they have been accused of having a possible impact on health several times. The controversy arose from a study by Professor Philipa Varbre of the University of Reading, published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology in January 2004. This study showed a link between parabens and breast cancer.
How to identify them on a "label? Most often they are simply called" parabens ", but they can also appear under the term hydroxybenzoate.
Where to find a shampoo without sulfates, silicones and parabens?
To take care of dry hair, fine hair, oily hair or normal hair (let's not forget them!), Choose natural ingredients and products with an alternative beauty routine. This solution can be used as a cure to regularly eliminate synthetic products that damage the balance of the hair and scalp. Or you can use a long-lasting treatment with a range of products suitable for your hair type.
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Some brands develop hair care products that exclude these chemical components. The trend is also towards shampoos with low artificial elements, so as to hardly ever lather. Finally, the "homemade" shampoo is also a good solution to take care of our hair with healthier products. If homemade hair masks are often the best known for care while washing, you can also make your own homemade dry shampoo (useful when you have oily hair) based on starch or white clay.
A counter-current solution ...
To avoid sulfates and other parabens, some beauticians also opt for slightly more extreme solutions to do some sort of hair detox, like Virginia Tapscott. This Australian blogger simply wanted to reduce her use of beauty products and decided not to wash her hair for 6 months. As a result, the young woman explained that, at the end of this experience, her hair was neither dry nor greasy and it had fewer knots.
As anticipated, this is a decidedly extreme choice that for various reasons, first of all personal hygiene, is not among the best to follow. The ideal is to pay more attention to the choice of hair care products, preferring natural components and supporting your hair type.
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