From my teenage, I heard several times, been told by many of my elders that we must keep on switching our shampoos. During those days this innocent girl couldn’t find a reason to do so. I loved the fragrance of my shampoo and never wanted to make anothor choice. Now after years, I realised that continuous and regular use of some harmful chemicals on our hair can be damaging to our hair, skin and also overall health.
After going grey I am so concious of what am I applying to my virgin “earned” silvers to avoid any harm caused by the products I use. Now I select my hair products after a thorough research. I try to keep the things simple and focus on what is best for the health of my hair.
Recently while looking for the best suitable shampoo for my hair I discovered some of the chemicals used in shampoos can be harmful for the health of the natural silvers. So I just thought of sharing here as it can be a topic of interest for some of you too.
So let us see what are these bad chemicals and their effect on silver hair. First one is the most popular of all we know-
SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS)
Also known as-
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Sodium
- Laureth Sulfate Sodium
- Lauryl Sulfoacetate Sodium
- Lauroyl Isethionate
- Sodium Lauroyl Taurate
- Ammonium Laurel Sulfate (ALS)
This chemical is really bad for any kind of hair. The only thing this detergent does is creating lot of foam and cut through dirt very fast. The power of this ingredient can be guessed on the basis that it can dissolve grease from an engine. This cheap synthetic product is capable of stripping out the natural oils from the scalp leaving it dry and rough. Long term use of SLS can even create serious scalp problems including baldness.
Talking about grey hair, it is already dry. Continous use of SLS containing shampoo can worsen the situation. The intensity of damage depends on the quantity of SLS in the product.
Still wanna use shampoo containing SLS, I would suggest-
- Reduce the frequency of its usage.
- Make sure to rinse off the shampoo thoroughly.
Try something natural, you can look for products with fruit and vegetable based cleansing ingredients.
PARABENS
Also Known as-
- Methylparaben
- Ethylparaben
- Propylparaben
- Butylparaben
- Isopropylparaben
- Isobutylparaben
Parabens are used as preservatives in shampoos and cosmetics to preserve the shelf life. Basically used to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold in the product. Excessive use of parabens can cause skin irritation. Better to avoid on grey hair and scalp as its already fragile and can cause further damage.
ALCOHOL
Research has found that not all alchohols are harmful. Still the bad ones exists. Isopropyl alcohol is the one to avoid. Specially, if you have extremely damaged hair as it can result in more breakage and dryness. It can disrupt the skin’s natural balance. Still if you need to use products containing alcohol try to use a moderate composition.
ARTIFICIAL COLOURS
We love colours! Yes, we do love. Artificial Colours are added to products to make them more appealing. But these colors are derived from coal tar which is a byproduct of petrolium. Artificial colours when left on the skin for sometime are absorbed by our skin and may cause irritation, blocked pores, breakouts and may lead to acne. Also some of them may stain our natural silvers, as I had an experience recently. Artificial colours are labeled as FD&C or D&C, followed by a color name and a number. Like: FD&C Red No. 8 or say D&C pink No. 4.
SILICONES
Silicone also known as-
- Dimethicone
- Methicone
- Cyclomethicone or Cyclopentasiloxane
- Dimethiconol
- Amodimethicone and so on..
Its difficult to remember the names of the whole silicone family. Just be aware of the ingredients ending with cone, conol, col and xane. Silicones are of two types-
Water-Soluble- Cyclomethicone and Dimethicone copolyol are soluble in water and can be washed off easily. They are light wieght silicones and dont leave a buil-up on hair. But they are pricey.
Non-Water-Soluble– These are the cheapest and hardest to remove from hair. Amodimethicone and Dimethicone are the most common non soluble silicone used in hair care products. You will need shampoos containing SLS to remove the hard build up from hair, which will further stripe the hair further making it dry and limp.
Still if you are gonna use products with silicones, it is advisable to use a good clarifying shampoo or hair clay mask periodically. And a deep conditioner to restore the health of the hair.
MINERAL OILS
Another cheap petrolium distillate is Mineral oil. Also known as liquid Paraffin has nothing to do with hair nourishment or repair. It coats on the scalp and the hair and clogs the pores resulting in hair dryness and dehydration. Similar to silicones it adds shine and act as a conditioning agent. It is not a remedy to damaged hair. In fact overuse of mineral oils may cause skin irritation and dandruff and can weigh down hair. If you own a shampoo with mineral oil try to limit the use to just one or two usage per week.
Better alternatives are available in the market. switch your hair product containing mineral oil to natural oils.
A simple trick to get the note of the ingredients on a product is that hair products list their ingredients from highest concentration to lowest, so while purchasing a hair care product look for the toxic chemical ingredients at the bottom of the list.
List of the harmful chemicals continues..but talking about grey hair, the above chemicals must be a NO NO. But one thing has to be cleared here, different hair demands different hair care needs. If you think the benefit of the above chemicals outweigh the risk and you know how to deal with it, you can continue using them. Else there are so many all natural products available in the market now.
You might like watching my fellow silversisters flaunting their Silvers with Red oufits! It was a fun challenge on Instagram depicting the beauty of Silver hair with colour Red! More videos on my Youtube Channel.
Have you been a victim of any of these chemicals? What was your ultimate solution?
If you find this post informative please share it!! Gonna discuss the Best Grey/Silver hair shampoos in the next post.