Turns out those hair conditioners are not as good for our hair as we are made to think they are!
The shampoo ads, hairstylists and beauticians will all tell us the same story, applying conditioner after shampoo is good for our hair health. In fact, they go as far as telling you that it is a “NECESSARY STEP” after shampooing our hair. However, what they fail to mention is that the RIGHT conditioner with the RIGHT ingredients is what is good for our hair and not every other conditioner. Right is the key word!
Those over the counter (OTC) conditioners that claim to do wonders to your hair are not the ones with the right ingredients. If you see at the back of those shampoo and conditioner bottles, under the ingredients section, you’ll find “Alcohol and Sulphate” in some form or the other. Those are the ingredients that you need to skip in your hair care regime, completely!
How is Alcohol and Sulphate bad for your hair?
Chemicals are bad for our health in general. But when it comes to hair, certain compounds are specifically bad; Alcohol and Sulphate being two of them. The reason behind it is their chemical composition. Their chemical composition is such that it harms the health of our hair. To understand this, we have to dig a little deeper into the science of hair.
Let’s Dive Into Some Science Here.. .
Human hair is made up of proteins containing amine, carboxyl, peptide and carbon-carbon bonds. When it is exposed to conditioners containing alcohol (R-OH), the process of esterification occurs. Alcohol breaks the peptide bond in proteins and as a result forms an ester. When the proteins in your hair are broken down, it weakens your hair, making them more prone to damage.
This is not it, alcohol also tends to break the carbon=carbon double bonds in our hair, disrupting the alignment of proteins, causing kinks and split ends. So the next time you are being told that those OTC conditioners will detangle your hair, smooth out your kinks and reduce split ends, don’t believe a word of it. They will only worsen things for you further.
As far as Sulphate is concerned, it is usually present in the form of Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) in our regular soaps, detergents, dishwashing soap and liquid as well as toothpaste. SLS is what gives them the alkaline effect and produces foam when comes in contact with water. Now I’m sure nobody wants to expose their hair with the same chemical ingredients they wash their clothes, dishes and sink with.
Solution: Look for Conditioners free from Alcohol and SLS
While everyone is turning towards an organic lifestyle, many brands and companies are manufacturing products that are made from more natural ingredients. Some of them that we have tried and can reliably recommend to everyone residing in Pakistan are Himalaya Herbals, Body Shop and Saeed Ghani. All their range of shampoos and conditioners are free from alcohol and SLS.
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