The Right Brain Rants: 
We recently stumbled across this posting from 100777.com which suggests that there’s a Great Shampoo Scandal and that shampoo and other hair products are actually bad for your hair. While we here at The Beauty Brains love to expose cosmetic marketing cons, we don’t like to see legitimately useful products bashed by people claiming to be in the know. So even though this link is few years old, we thought we’d look at some of the things claimed about hair products and whether there’s any truth behind this so called scandal. (BTW, credit for the photo goes to 100777.com. Even though we disagree with the article we did laugh at the picture!)
The Great Shampoo Scandal
The primary message from the Scandal is that shampoo is bad for your hair and you should really be using soap. This is just plain WRONG! Soap is not a good thing to use on your hair. Why? While some of the details are inaccurate, they correctly point out in the article that soap reacts with something in the water (Calcium & Magnesium ions actually) and forms an insoluble scum. The insoluble scum is really a salt that does not dissolve in water. When you use soap to wash your hair, the insoluble scum is invariably left behind making your hair feel nasty and unclean. The detergents in shampoos do not react with the ions in the water like soap does, so this problem is solved.
Savage shampoo
The Scandal also explains that shampoo is very harsh and damages your hair permanently. This is overstated but there is some truth in it. Shampoos can be considered harsh in the sense that they remove oils from your hair and scalp. So in that way they are more harsh than things like water or vegetable oil. But compared to other things like alcohol or acids, shampoos are very mild. And depending on which detergents you’re talking about, shampoo can be much milder than soap! Almost any physical activity can be damaging to your hair, even just exposing it water can swell the hair shaft causing some damage. And of course there are many process much more severe than water and shampoo exposure: styling processes like combing, drying, curling, and flat ironing as well as chemical processes like perms and color treatments. That’s why you should be using a conditioner. Conditioners provide some protection against all of the damaging things you do to your hair. They actually work!
The Beauty Brains bottom line
There is no Great Shampoo Scandal. Companies are not making shampoo that are knowingly bad for your hair just to make a buck. Instead, they are challenging their cosmetic chemists to make products that work better and provide a better consumer experience to give them an edge over their competitors. The shampoos on the market today are far superior to soap for washing your hair. But many products and process can be damaging, so you should use a conditioner to provide at least some protection.
Loading ...
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s an… interesting website. This is only one of their more… interesting claims. I’m surprised you gave them any credence whatsoever.
On the other hand, I have a bar of Lush shampoo. Only I’m not using it to brush my teeth. ^_^
I’m always suspicious of any information put out by someone who doesn’t know how to spell words common to the subject they’re addressing (in this case “ingredients”)…it throws up an immediate red flag for me. Furthermore, I’ve used Pantene 2-in-1 for color-treated hair for years. I keep (for some unexplainable reason) trying the “designer” shampoos and always come back to Pantene (usually leaving half or more of the designer product to throw away). The Pantene leaves my hair much shinier, more manageable, and healthier-looking than shampoos costing 3 to 4 times as much!
Could soap scum be cured by getting a showerhead filter?
@tsunamino – it could help but probably not a cure
Speaking of soap, I have a question!
I’ve been lurking at the long hair community and some of the posters wash their hair with natural soaps (saponified oils as apposed to synthetic detergents you mentioned in a previoius blog post). I’ve read that you’re supposed to use a vinegar rinse to close the hair cutitle and balance the scalp, but would it be able to dissolve the scum as well?
I don’t think the anti-shampooers are saying that we should be using soap instead of shampoo. I think they are saying that shampoo essentially IS soap, and we shouldn’t be using it.
But speaking of shampoos, I don’t use it any longer and my hair still gets clean and looks better/shinier.
*shrug*
And to think, I did it for eco-friendly reasons and to remove those kinds of untested chemicals like parabens from my life.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
What is bad for your hair is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Look for shampoo’s with milder cleansers in them. Simple as that.
@Marcia – Based on what evidence?
Marcia is correct. SLS and SLES is a cheap detergent that produces foam/bubbles which we all equate with cleansing, though it does not clean anything. SLES is a milder version of SLS, and is commonly used in industrial engine degreasers, concrete cleaners etc.. While it’s considered non-carcinogenic by OSHA, the NTP as well as the IARC feel there is unveiling evidence that SLS produces a potential carcinogenic effect in shampoo when it interacts with other nitrogen bearing ingredients to form nitrosamines ornitrates. This is a cause for concern, as SLS enters and maintains residual levels in the lungs, liver, and brain from skin contact. Conclusion: why even use a little bit of something that is questionable, especially when it actually doesn’t really help clean your hair, and it’s only purpose is to create foam to make one FEEL like it’s cleaning? Fake foam.
@Ari – While you are correct that SLS & SLES are relatively inexpensive and that bubbles do not equate to cleansing, you are mistaken to say that these surfactants do not clean. They do cleanse and cleanse better than almost any other surfactant available. That’s why they are used so frequently in cleaning products.
As far as your safety concerns, this myth has long been debunked and groups that base their decisions on scientific evidence do not see SLS, SLES, ALS, or ALES as problematic. People that base decisions on politics & fear might see it differently.
But the question to you is what alternative would you suggest people use and what is your evidence that these things are “safer”? Many ingredients haven’t been found to be problematic because no one has studied their effects. SLS has been thoroughly studied (more than most any other surfactant). The replacement surfactants could have lingering, unknown dangers. Why would you be willing to take that risk?