Cianyde says…I have started wondering if my current fav conditioner ( ‘Jungle’ hair conditioner from Lush ) is as good as I thought it was… The main ingredient is ‘Cocoa butter’ with ‘propylene glycol’ and ‘avocado’ listed later. Is cocoa butter actually a good HAIR conditioner ( I was under the impression that only certain substances like coconut oil and olive oil actually penetrate hair, won’t cocoa butter just slide down the drain?) or , is it the propylene glycol and the avocado that are the only worthwhile ingredients? 
The Right Brain responds:
We applaud your skeptical approach to reading your conditioner label, Cianyde! But remember that conditioning isn’t just about penetrating hair because most conditioning occurs on the surface. That’s where ingredients like hydrocarbon oils and silicones actually do a great job of smoothing the cuticle to enhance softness, comb ability and shine. Let’s take a look at the ingredients in Jungle Hair.
Jungle hair ingredients:
Cocoa Butter, Cetearyl Alcohol and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Avocado Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Perfume, Soya Lecithin, Figs, Bananas, Passion Fruit, Kumquats, Kiwi Fruit, Cetrimonium Bromide, Ylang Ylang Oil, Vetivert Oil, Cypress Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Chlorophyll, Limonene, Linalool
Inside out
Some oils, like coconut, do penetrate into the cortex where they are able to help strengthen the hair. We can’t find any published data showing penetration of cocoa butter and even if it does penetrate, it’s unlikely to have an effect in a rinse out formula. In a rinse off conditioner the oils are emulsified (in this case by the cetearyl alcohol, sodium lauryl sulfate and glyceryl stearate) and so are more likely to be rinsed away.
Conditioner culprit
It’s more likely that the cetrimonium bromide is the conditioning culprit. This is a classic old school conditioning agent: a fatty alcohol reacted with nitrogen so it’s substantive on the hair. That means it stays on hair even after rinsing to give the slippery conditioning effect that your hair needs.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
There’s nothing wrong with Lush Cosmetics Jungle Hair conditioner but don’t get fooled into thinking that it works better just because it contains some natural ingredients. In fact, we’d expect that it wouldn’t work as well as Pantene or Tresemme. Does anyone want to do an experiment? Try Jungle Hair on one side and Pantene on the other. Let us know which you like best.
Loading ...
{ 11 trackbacks }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so happy that you’ve done this post, I was always under the impression that if conditioners had all the thick stuff in it like avocado or cocoa butter it would be a much more effective conditioner than those with just chemicals. I’ll be on the lookout for some centrimonium bromide in future conditioners
.
Thank you for answering!Its nice to know I was thinking along the right track:)Funny how centrimonium bromide does the trick but cocoa butter gets all the glory!
I actually use this conditioner every day on my very long, tangle-prone hair, and it works like a charm. Detangles, leaves my hair soft, and smells nice. But y’know, does it really matter whether it’s the cocoa butter or the centrimonium bromide that does the job, as long as you like the product and it works for you?
Cocoa butter does have some nourishing properties on the hair, but LUSH mostly uses cocoa butter as a houser for essential oils. When you base something in cocoa butter, the product by nature is solid (which means it can be sold without wasteful packaging) and is a carrier for other conditioning essential oils. So while Jungle is based with cocoa butter, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the most conditioning ingredient.
It is nice to know why products work, though — that way, you can shop more intelligently when you look for other products.
I wish I’d known the difference between dimethicone and cyclomethicone, for example. It would have saved me a lot of annoyance with VO5’s conditioners, that always felt great in the shower and then left my hair feeling like raffia when they dried.
Since understanding the difference between the different kinds of silicones and fatty alcohols, I can read the labels and be guaranteed of getting something that works for me. And I know enough to ignore all that “angel dusting” garbage where they wave the bottle near a carrot then tell you it has carrot extract in it, or whatever.
wouldn’t butters work best if it is left in the hair than rinsed out? Plus I think Shea butter is better for the hair as is makes the hair soft and shiny without weighing it down. Cocoa butter is too heavy for the hair especially fine hair and too greasy, thats why most people use it on their body for very dry skin!