Caution: 5 Ingredients That Can Damage Your Hair

If you think you can trust the labels on your hair care products THINK AGAIN! It’s hard to believe that skincare and beauty companies are promising long-term beautifying results with the kind of ingredients they use in their products. In fact, using some haircare products can often be the same as cleansing your hair with harsh chemicals. Let me tell you what to be on the look out for when you are choosing products for your hair. Keep reading to discover 5 potentially toxic ingredients found in most shampoos and conditioners. 1. Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (SLS) This ingredient goes by both names and can be found in soaps, cleansers and shampoos. This is the ingredient which produces all that foam and lather when you shampoo your hair. Sodium Lauryl is a highly irritating chemical and is found in floor cleaners, car wash detergents, engine degreasers and is the same found in a wide array of beauty products. In fact, it cleanses your hair the same way it degreases an engine, by removing excess oil thereby causing a drying effect on your hair. So next time you wonder why your hair feels so dry, brittle and straw-like, your shampoo or conditioner could be the culprit. So look for it in your hair care products. It also goes by a number of different names including sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, ammonium laurel sulfate, sodium dodecylsulfate, sulfuric acid, sodium salt sulfuric acid, A12-00356, Akyposal SDS, Aquarex ME, and Aquarex methyl. 2. Isopropyl Alcohol This is a solvent and denaturant (poisonous substance that changes another substances natural qualities). Isopropyl alcohol is found in hair color rinses, body rubs, hand lotions, after-shave lotions, fragrances and many other cosmetics. This petroleum-derived substance is also used in antifreeze. Your hair reacts very badly to this ingredient and should be avoided at all costs. It will dry your hair out and break it off. Mineral Oil & Petrolatum Mineral oil is a derivative of crude oil (petroleum) that is used industrially as a cutting fluid and lubricating oil. This commonly used petroleum ingredient coats the skin and hair just like plastic wrap. The hair's natural barrier is disrupted as this plastic coating inhibits its ability to breathe and absorb moisture and nutrition into the hair shaft or follicle. This causes immature and unhealthy strands that dries out easily. Petrolatum exhibits many of the same potentially harmful properties as mineral oil. Honestly, this stuff belongs in your engine, not on your hair. PEG This is an abbreviation for polyethylene glycol that is used in making cleansers to dissolve oil and grease as well as thicken products. Because of their effectiveness, PEG's are often used in caustic spray on oven cleaners and yet are found in many personal hair care products. PEG's contribute to stripping the natural moisture from hair, making it look dry and brittle. Proplyene Glycol (PG) This ingredient is actually the active component in antifreeze. There is no difference between the PG used in industry and the PG used in hair products. Because of its ability to quickly penetrate the skin, the EPA requires workers to wear protective gloves, clothing and goggles when working with this toxic substance. The question you should be asking is what is Anti-Freeze doing in my shampoo and conditioner. PG is one of the most common humectants found in conditioners and is less expensive than glycerin and has a better permeation rate. It has also been linked to sensitivity reactions such as scalp irritations, allergic reactions and dryness. Run to your bathroom and look at the ingredients in your hair products. Do you get a dose of these listed items every time you wash your hair? It may be hard to fathom but haircare companies around the world are utilizing these products in order to give you the immediate results. It’s more important than ever to choose natural, organic products that are free of the above substances when searching for skin and haircare products. Keep in mind, the more of a particular ingredient you have in a product, the closer it is to the top of the list of ingredients on the bottle.

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