Does Mane n Tail Conditioner Contain Wax?

Janis’ joust: I can’t believe I’m asking this, but the topic came up in a long hair forums I’m on — once AGAIN, someone pipes up with the “authoritative” announcement that there is wax in Mane n Tail conditioner. They seem to be hated only slightly less than Pantene. *Sigh* Could you make some sort of statement about the actual ingredients of this stuff and what they are?  This is such a damned urban myth, and I can’t believe people are so anxious to cling to it. It’s like the alligators in the sewers, it just does not go away.

The Right Brain’s boast:

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE the members in the Beauty Brains Forum?  Well, I’m telling you now! The comments there are always so clever and spirited. For example, Janis raised the above question about Mane n Tail conditioner containing wax. Normally, we’d do some research to figure out the true scoop on the ingredients. But in this case, we didn’t have to because fellow Forum member Jami jumped in with her OWN research. (You gals are AWE-some!) To get the full effect you should read the entire thread yourself but here’s a quick recap.

A mainly tale

Jami contacted company that makes Mane n Tail and received a very (in our opinion) reasonable response: their conditioner does contain an ingredient that is technically called “emulsifying wax.” However, as the spokesman for the company correctly points out the following:

For instance, we [Mane n Tail] list emulsifying wax as an ingredient in our Mane ‘n Tail Moisturizer-Texturizer Conditioner. Emulsifying wax is not a wax as most consumers would assume from the name. Emulsifying wax is the ingredient that allows our other ingredients to blend properly; improving texture and consistency. So it is correct to say our product contains an ingredient with the word wax in the name but without researching the ingredient’s use, the consumer may be mislead by a writer’s omission of the complete explanation. We understand that researching each ingredient would be tedious for a consumer. That is why we follow the FDA’s regulations and recommendations list of approved ingredients for use in cosmetic products.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Well done, Mane n Tail! You have defended yourselves with honor. And a super-special thanks to Janis and Jamie for doing the heavy lifting on answering this one. We might just have to make you honorary Beauty Brains. (Except you’d hate the painful hazing process.)