Sharon says…A lot of hair appliances talk about emitting negative ions since they make hair shinier. However, I came across this Giovanni product that claims to use a “positive force” on the hair because “negative electrical charges have left hair desolate and bleak.” So what is the deal with ions in the hair? Does it make a difference if your hair is positively or negatively charged?
The Left Brain’s charged response
We’ve been hearing about these ionic appliances since we first started and have written about them a couple of times here and here.
Ionic Pentameter
But your question about whether ions in hair make any difference is one we haven’t directly addressed. Basically, hair has both negative and positively charge sites on it. These charges come from the amino acids that make up the hair’s protein. When hair gets damaged it can pick up either positive or negative charges.
Negative charges in your hair are beneficial because they make conditioners work better. Hair conditioners have materials in them called “quats” which are positively charged molecules. When put on the hair they are attracted to the negative sites and stay there to condition. Without them, hair conditioners won’t work as well.
But appliances that emit negative ions don’t really work any better. And positive ions are just more silly marketing. If you haven’t seen the Giovanni website, it’s funny! Its jumble of actual scientific terms with super hero hair care marketing would make Stan Lee proud.
My favorite part is the “mathematical theorem” (E = u B) and the claim that it is “well known”. This is just completely made up. It also looks strangely similar to Einstein’s E= mC^2 equation. hmmmm. No doubt written by a Marketing person who went to college.
Finally, I’d love to know what the “recognized benefits of magnetic therapy” are. The only benefits of magnetic therapy are making money for the people that sell them. I hope none of the Beauty Brains out there are wasting your money on magnet therapy.
What works for hair?
If you are dissatisfied with how your hair looks and feels, use a decent shampoo and a great conditioner. Leave the magnets on your refrigerator.
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ARGH!!!!
i’m a science communicator who spends alot of her time trying to train kids not to believe bollocks like this. I can’t believe people would fall for this drivel. it makes no sense
Saying that the equation is entirely made up is kind of harsh. Magnetic potential energy is defined as the magnetic moment times the magnetic field. Granted, the marketing people took liberties with the variable notation, but they clearly define it on the site. Now whether the use of the equation is meaningless– that I won’t argue. I do, however, think it is a little misleading to equate the formula to energy-mass equivalence, and not mention that it might be based on Maxwell’s equations, but just over-simplified.
@Delphi: Good point about the equation. We got a bit carried away because the website was so ridiculous. Thanks for keeping us honest.
I’m of two minds when it comes to magnet stuff.
First off with hair and ions there’s my own personal experiences. I had told a friend who was trying to force me to start blow drying my hair daily instead of my usual wash and wear that when I blow dry, unless my hair is in curlers, I end up looking like an extra from The Lion King – in other words my hair is all fluffed out and wild like a lion’s mane. She swore to me if I got an ion hair dryer (and made sure to use the positive ion setting as that was for styling while negative is for just drying hair) it would not turn out like that. Found a brand name one at Big Lots for cheap. Followed all the blow drying tips I found online, including the whole hanging head upside down drying while brushing the hair.
Still ended up looking like I should be wandering the Serengeti taking down gazelles and zebras.
So magnets and ions and all that – bunch of bunk. Using a hairdryer to style one’s hair takes skill I do not have.
But as for magnet therapy – well, there was a time people dismissed acupuncture, prayer, meditation, herbal therapies, even vitamins. Now they find that when put in conjunction with western medicine, it actually can make a person recover faster. If for no other reason then it reduces stress, which allows the regular medicine to work better. So who knows, maybe in their own way magnets do work. Just not with hair.
Also, thanks BBs for using Magneto. Now, can you find an excuse to use my favorite Marvel character? The uber sex Ragin’ Cajun Remy LeBeau aka Gambit?
What about all the flat irons that have ionizing effects? Is that bunk as well?
Delphi beat me to it, but E=vB is a well known equation in electromagnetism. I’m not saying it applies to the product in question, I won’t even waste time looking at the website.