The Beauty Brains

Sonia says: I have natural black hair and for years I had dyed it light brown. Then one day went back to black. Now my question is how do I get it back to brown? I’ve tried several dyes and nothing has changed but my roots.

The Right Brain responds:
How do you get your hair from black back to brown? You need to bleach out the dark color before you can add the lighter brown shade. You should probably have this done in a salon, but if you do decide to do it at home, make sure you buy the right kind of hair dye. In case you didn’t know, there are 3 different types of hair colors. Here’s a quick description along with the pros and cons of each:

The 3 Types of Hair Colors

Temporary Color

This is basically a colorful gel or cream that coats your hair. It lasts 1, maybe 2, shampoos at best. Sometimes less if you’re sweaty! Manic Panic is a good example of this kind of product. And if you’re really feeling frisky, Betty Beauty even makes a temporary color for hair *ahem* down there.

Pros: You can go crazy and make your hair day-glo red, blue, yellow or orange!

Cons: You run the risk of looking like a clown, which is bad. But only for a day or so, which is good. Unless the circus is in town that day, which is bad.

Semi or Demi Permanent Color

These colors use ingredients known as “direct dyes.” They stain the hair and take several shampoos to wash out. The new Sunsilk Color Boost products use this type of dye.

Pros: Let’s you experiment with a touch of color without much commitment.

Cons: The colors usually aren’t very good and you can’t add lighter shades on top of darker hair.

Permanent (or Oxidative) Color

This is the most serious type of hair color. It typically involves bleaching your hair to remove your natural color, then adds in color molecules that are locked inside the hair shaft. It should last until your roots grow out but some fading from washing will occur. Examples include Garnier Nutrisse, Revlon Colorist, and pretty much any coloring treatment you get in a salon. Highlights are a version of oxidative color but may only involve the bleaching step.

Pros: When done properly, this kind of color looks fabulous and lasts for weeks even months.

Cons: The chemical process is damaging to your hair, you’re stuck with the color for weeks (even months), and you have to recolor when your roots grow out.

Statistics say that more than 60% of women color their hair. But that Betty Beauty product has got me wondering…how many women color their hair “down there?” Is that too scandalous? Leave a comment and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know what you think!

Here’s a news story that address the age-old question about using matching shampoo and conditioner.

FDA: Juicy Green Apple Conditioner Best Used With Juicy Green Apple Shampoo

WASHINGTON, DC—According to a warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration Monday, a generous amount of Suave Naturals Juicy Green Apple Conditioner should always be applied evenly and massaged into wet hair after washing with Suave Naturals Juicy Green Apple Shampoo.

“This is absolutely essential for optimal shine, shimmer, and texture,” said FDA spokeswoman Linda Mergens, who urged Americans to grab the product off the shelves and buy it after health officials discovered that the shampoo contains vitamin E, which is crucial for bringing out the natural beauty in hair. “Consumers should never under any circumstances mix Suave Naturals Juicy Green Apple Conditioner with Pert Plus, as it may impair luster.”

The FDA also warned that failure to use the product properly could result in hair not smelling like apples.

In case you couldn’t tell, the aforementioned FDA press release is a joke. We reprinted this story from The Onion, one of our favorite humorous websites, because we thought it was SO appropriate! The truth is, there’s very little technical reason to worry about matching shampoo and conditioner. You may want to match functional type (use moisturizing shampoo with moisturizing conditioner and volumizing shampoo with volumizing conditioner) but the brand doesn’t make THAT much difference.

–Mid Brain

Jeanelle says: I was wondering if you guys could tell me what to look for in a great heat protecting spray/serum/lotion. What are the key ingredients that protect hair from heat? (Besides the ones that promise to deliver to soft, silky protected tresses when in reality they leave you with sticky, gross hair from all of the alcohol!)

The Right Brain responds:

Jeanelle, if you’re buying heat protection sprays that contain a lot of alcohol, you should change brands before you look like the woman in today’s picture! Hopefully you’ll be able to pick a better product after we explain how heat damages your hair and what kind of ingredients can help.

Blow drying is bad

Blow drying causes a “flash drying” effect that not only removes the surface moisture but also removes water that is bound to the hair, which is called water of hydration. The effect of this flash drying is that the cuticles become dried, rigid and brittle. When the hair flexes, the pressure causes the cuticles to crack. One study (see Reference 1 below) showed cracks occurring not only on the surface layer of cuticles, but actually two and three cuticle layers deep. Combing hair with this degree of cuticle cracking causes significant breakage.

Ironing is icky

Ironing hair causes two different types of damaging depending on whether the hair is ironed dry or wet. Ironing dry hair causes radial and axial cracking along the edges of the cuticles, which can lead to chipping. Ironing wet hair causes the moisture to burst out in little steam explosions. This causes a bubbling and buckling of the cuticle that appears as tiny hair blisters under magnification.

Helpful heat treatments

Blow dry damage can be prevented by using products containing glycerin and propylene glycol because these actives retard water evaporation. Products like Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray should be helpful in this regard. You can also look for an ingredient called “hydrolyzed wheat protein polysiloxane copolymer,” which also showed significant reduction in cracking. Interestingly, while we would expect various silicones to have a similar effect, this study showed that silicones alone did NOT reduce cuticle cracking.

Iron damage can be reduced by using conditioners formulated with low molecular weight conditioners that can penetrate into the hair like cetrimonium chloride. Another study (see Reference 2) showed that exposing hair to heat in the presence of such a conditioning agent actually caused an increase in tensile strength (the force required to break a hair). This is because the heat reacts with the conditioning agents and cross links some of the protein chains inside the hair. Look for products like Sunsilk Heat Defense Cream if you want this effect.

Do YOU have any favorite products to ward off heat damage? Leave a comment and share your steamy secrets with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

References (online links not available)

1. Gamez-Garcia, M. “The Cracking of Human Hair Cuticles by Cyclical Thermal Stresses,” J. Cosmetic Science, 49, 141-153 May/June 1998.

2. Ruetsch, S.B, et al, “Effects of Thermal Treatments with a Curling Iron on Hair Fiber,” J. Cosmetic Science, 55, 13-27 Jan/Feb 2004.

Mandy asks:  Whenever I dye my hair either at home or at a salon, my roots never catch the colour.  Do you have any ideas why?

Left Brain says:

This is an interesting question Mandy. I’m assuming you’ve considered and rejected the obvious answer that you are not putting enough coloring paste on the hair at the roots.  This is understandable because you are encouraged not to get any chemicals on your scalp.  But beyond this, the most likely reason your roots aren’t taking up color is that they are just too “healthy” or undamaged.  Let me explain.

How hair grows

First, you have to know a little about hair growth.  Hair grows by pushing its way out of the hair follicle onto your head.  It’s a bit like one of those Play-Doh factory sets where you squeeze the putty through a small hole.  So, the newest hair is closest to the scalp.  When hair is exposed to things like UV, heat, combing, shampooing, wind, etc. it becomes damaged.  And while damaged hair doesn’t look or feel as good as less damaged hair, it does have one significant advantage.  It is easier to color.  Why?  Read on.

Damaged hair colors easier

When you color hair, part of the process involves chemically loosening the outer layer (cuticle) so the color chemicals can get inside.  It turns out to be much easier to loosen damaged cuticle layers.  New, undamaged hair, such as the kind found at your roots, has a much stronger outer layer and does not loosen up enough to let as many color molecules in.  When the color molecules can’t get into the hair, they can’t change the hair color.

**Warning:  Try the following tips at your own risk.  You could end up with a hair color you did not want.

Tips for coloring the roots

If the warning didn’t scare you, then feel free to try either of these 2 things to get more color on your roots.

1.  Leave it on longer.
Leave the color solution on the roots for a longer period of time before rinsing it out. So, if the time on the box says 20 minutes, leave it on your roots for 30 minutes. This will give the chemicals more time to get into the hair.

2.  Color the roots twice.
If the first method isn’t successful, try this. The first time you do the coloring process, just follow the directions as normal, but save a small part of the solution (don’t even mix it together) to use for later. After you’ve finished coloring, combine the remaining solution and color the roots a second time. This double process should damage the hair enough to get it to absorb enough color. Everyone’s hair is different so you’ll have to experiment with how long to leave the color on.

Beauty Brains Bottom Line:

Coloring your roots is harder but it is possible.  You just need to do things a little different and be prepared for some unexpected results.

Lisa’s leary of depilatories: I am curious about using a razorless hair removal product such as “Veet” or “Nair” but am concerned about what is actually in the product that causes hair to just come out? Can you explain this to me and are there some products that you know of that are better or safer than others?

The Left Brain’s depilation explanation:
Actually, Lisa, depilatories don’t make the hair “just come out.” They contain chemicals that dissolve the proteins in the hair so the fibers literally break off. So before you use a depilatory, I think it is important that you understand that this involves serious chemistry.

First, an interesting historical fact

Modern depilatory technology was first patented in 1930s for removing hair from cattle hides.

How depilatories work

Depilatories lotions work because then contain a chemical called thioglycolate that is capable of hydrolyzing, or breaking down, the disulfide bonds of hair keratin. These disulfide bonds are powerful sulfur - sulfur links that are responsible for giving hair and nails their tough quality. If you break these S-S bonds, the hair becomes so soft that it will simply break off when you wipe the lotion of your skin.

This chemical process is actually a more extreme version of the permanent wave process, which is also related to hair relaxers.

What’s in the formulas

Looking at commercial products like Veet and Nair here’s what I see:

Veet lotion
Water, Urea, Potassium Thioglycolate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Calcium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Ceteareth 20, PPG 15 Stearyl Ether, Fragrance, Magnesium Trisilicate, Titanium Dioxide, Propylene Glycol, Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Sodium Gluconate, Mineral Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Acrylates Copolymer, Hydrated Silica, BHT

Nair lotion
Water, Mineral Oil, Calcium Thioglycolate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth 20, Calcium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Prunus, Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Fragrance, Iron Oxides

Both products share two key components either calcium or potassium thioglycolate and calcium hydroxide. The hydroxide raises the pH and to help drive the reaction of the thio breaking down bonds in the hair. The urea in Veet also helps swell and soften the hair shaft. The rest of the ingredients are there to either thicken and stabilize the cream, or just for show.

What are the potential issues?

Since skin is made of keratin protein, it can also be attacked by the thio reaction. So, you have to watch out for skin irritation and burns or irritation of the hair follicle (folliculitis), You can also get ingrown hairs as the broken hairs grow beneath the surface of the skin.

If you’re using a depilatory, follow the manufacturers’ instructions and test a small site to assess for irritation or allergic reactions. And never use these products on eyebrows, near mucous membranes, or on broken skin.
Having said all that MILLIONS of women use these products without any problem at all. So give them a try and see if they work for you. If you’re looking for a chemical free way to remove hair, you might be interested in our post on threading.

Reference:
Emedicine.com

What’s YOUR favorite brand of depilatory? Leave a comment and share your hairlessness with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

Lejla must know mousse: I have fine hair and have been using the Sebastian Body Double Thickify Styler which is a volume mousse. I like the way it makes my hair feel more stiff and sturdy. But why does it say I need to blow dry my hair for it to work? Isn’t that damaging? I’ve also used the more affordable Tresemme “Volume & Lift” mousse, but I just don’t seem to get the same effect. Why not?

The Right Brain replies:
Lejla, good questions. Hopefully the following mousse manifesto will provide some helpful answers.

History of mousse

Like Champagne, mousse is an invention of the French. The fluffy foam was introduced in Europe (by L’Oreal) in the early 1980s and brought to the US a few years later by Tresemme. Over the last 20 years, mousse has grown to be one of the top styling forms along side hairspray and gel.

Types of mousse

There are many kinds of mousse but they all have one thing in common: foam. They may be formulated to provide hold or conditioning and they can be packaged in aerosol or nonaerosol containers. Traditionally, true mousses are aerosols while the nonaerosol type may go by other names like “foam stylers.” Mousses are used to give hair volume and they’re generally combined with some kind of finishing spray to lock the hair into place.

Ingredients

Solvents

Water and alcohol are used to disperse the other ingredients in the formula. (Many mousses are now alcohol free.)

Propellant

The gaseous stuff that pushes the product out of the can. This gas is also what causes the liquid mousse to turn all foamy. Only in aerosol mousses, like the Tresemme product you asked about have propellant. The Body Double product is a non-aerosol mousse that uses a pump to create foam instead of aerosol propellant. There’s no propellant to worry about but the foam is not as rich.

Hold and conditioning agents

These ingredients have the most effect on your hair. They’re a combination of hairspray-like polymers, oils, and other smoothing agents that coat the hair shaft.

For example, Sebastian’s Body Double uses VP/VA copolymer, cetrimonium chloride, polyquaternium-10, polyquaternium-37, and amodimethicone. On the other hand Tresemmé “Volume & Lift” uses these:
acrylates copolymer, VP/VA copolymer, polyquaternium-4, peg-12 dimethicone, amodimethicone, peg-40 hydrogenated castor oil, and cetrimonium chloride.

Control agents

Sets the pH, helps with product stability, and preserves against microbial bugs.

Fragrance

Pretty much what you’d expect - smells pretty.

How Mousse works

Mousse is usually worked through damp hair. As it dries, the polymers and other coating agents set up a film on your hair strands. Unlike hairsprays that “glue” different hair fibers together, mousse is meant to coat each fiber to give it some stiffness. As the film dries, each hair pushes out against the hair next to it so overall your hair is left with more volume. Depending on the type of mousse, your hair can feel very conditioned or stiff and crunchy. (That’s the kind of difference you see between Sebastian and Tresemme.)

Depending on the formula and the amount of hair you have, blow drying may be necessary to get the style that you like. And yes, blow drying can be damaging. It’s a sacrifice you may have to make to get your hair to look like you want it to.

Ally asks: I have heard that honey will make your hair shiny and add moisture. And that it is a good alternative to ‘cones in conditioners. Does it really moisturize?

The Right Brain responds:
Ally, we’ve blogged before about the beneficial antibacterial properties of honey for your skin. But what about honey for hair? Good question!

Honey honey

Honey is a humectant, which means that it holds on to water molecules. This is a desirable property in a moisturizer, especially for skin. But unlike skin, hair is not alive and it doesn’t need as much moisture. What it does need is something to smooth the cuticle so the hair feels soft and looks shiny.

Sugar sugar

Unfortunately honey is not a good lubricant, so it doesn’t make hair slippery and smooth. In fact, it’s the opposite of slippery– it’s sticky because it’s basically a sugary solution. (Rub some between your fingers and you’ll see!) So it will not smooth your cuticles or help a comb pass through your hair without damaging it. So any moisture-grabbing benefits that honey might give your hair are off set by it’s stickiness.

The Beauty Brains bottom line:

There are plenty of honey based hair care products on the market but we’ve never seen any that use honey at effective levels for moisturization. Silicones are better for that purpose, even though people think ‘cones are bad for hair.

What do YOU think? Is honey an effective natural shine agent or just more marketing hype?

Jillian’s jittery about Pantene:
well im doing a science fair project on this and pantene and this site is very helpful and im just saying never attemp using pantene cause this is what will happen Supposedly it coats your hair with plastic or wax to make your hair seem silky and smooth. It also makes your scalp itchy and it makes your hair fall out. If you know anything about reading ingredients. You know that the first 5-10 are the main ingredients and have the most impact on your hair. Well, panthenol and panthenyl are in the first 5-10. Which both of these ingredients are pure wax. That’s why if you use Pantene when u touch your hair your not really touching your hair. Your touching the half to in inch of waxy coating you have developed on you’re hair.well just saying hopefully this is helpful info and im 100% sure its correct cause i asked professionals and im only 13

Sarah Bellum says:
Thanks for checking in with the Beauty Brains about your science project. Lefty and Righty have answered questions about Pantene before and they say that the idea that it coats your hair with plastic is a myth started by stylists to keep you from buying salon products. (BTW, Pantene contains silicone, not plastic.)

And the notion that when you touch your hair you’re really feeling Pantene is bogus. I don’t know as much about formulation chemistry as Lefty but even I know that there’s NO WAY you’re leaving half inch to an inch of product on your hair. That would be a TON of gunk left behind! No conditioner leaves that much stuff on your hair.

We do get a bunch of comments from our readers about Pantene making their hair fall out, but I can’t find any evidence that shows Pantene is causing the problem. (I’m keeping an open mind on this one, however, since SO many people have complained about it. Maybe I can talk Lefty and Righty into revisiting that subject in a future post.)

One last thing: if you really want to be “100%” sure” you shouldn’t only talk to professional stylists. And you shouldn’t “only” listen to the Beauty Brains either. Do your own research on the web, read Paula Begoun’s Cosmetic Cop website, contact Pantene and ask them what they say about their products, check with the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. But whatever you do, open your mind and THINK for yourself. It’s hard to be 100% sure of anything.

Thanks for your email and best of luck on your project! Write back and let us know your grade.

Carrie’s curious: First, I must say your site is amazing. I’ve been looking for years for an evidence- and research-based beauty site. Brilliant. I’d like to know more about henna. You mention it very briefly in the
article about “organic” hair dyes but you don’t go much further than that. Can one of “The Brains” do a feature on henna, and any other plant-derived dyes (if there are any) out there?

The Right Brain’s response:
Ask, Carrie, and you shall receive. We found a great resource for henna information, and it’s heavily annotated with references. We’ll paraphrase some of the key information here to answer your question, but we recommend checking out the site for more details.

What is henna

Henna is a shrub (Lawsonia Inermis ) whose leaves contain a tannin dye molecule known as Lawsone. Lawsone is released when the leaves are pulverized, acidified and made into a paste. This paste can be applied to hair or skin to give it a deep, reddish brown stain.

What colors does henna come in?

Despite what you might have heard there is no such thing as black or blonde henna. True henna ONLY comes in reddish brown. Any black or blonde hair dyes that claim to be henna are mixing henna with other materials that could be either other plant dyes or synthetic chemicals.

Can I use henna instead of permanent hair colors?

Using real henna creates a dark stain will provide long lasting color. However, as noted above, you’re limited to a single color pallet. Also, it won’t bleach color out of your hair.

Is henna bad for my hair?

No, real henna is not damaging, since it only stains the keratin protein in your hair. But some of the compounded hair dyes use oxidative and metallic compounds which can be damaging to your hair.

Are there other natural hair dyes that give different colors?

There are other natural dyes that can stain hair but remember these won’t lift color. (Again, they won’t bleach your hair lighter.) Here are the colors of ten natural plant hair dyes listed by hair color. Click the reference links at the bottom for a full description of each.

1. Red/Brown

• Henna: Lawsonia Inermis
• Walnut: Juglans regia
• Catechu: Acacia catechu

2. Blondes/Yellows

• Cassia obovata: also called “neutral henna”
• Catechu: Ourouparia gambir
• Saffron: Crocus sativus L.
• Chamomile: Anthemis nobilis
• Rhubarb Root: Rheum rhapoticum

3. Blacks

• Vashma: partially fermented indigo
• Karchak: castor bean

4. Blues

• Indigo: Indigofera tinctoria
• Woad: Isatis tinctoria

The Beauty Brains bottom line

It’s cool how many natural hair dyes there are, even though they don’t work as well as the oxidative colors.

References:
http://www.uga.edu/fruit/walnut.htm
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/
http://www.botanical.com/
http://www.allfiberarts.com/
http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/
http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/

After reading the Left Brain’s post on the link between hair dye and cancer, I felt pretty good about coloring my hair. But then I saw this article from Cosmetics Design that says a new study shows hair dyes CAN cause cancer.

New data on hair dye?

According to Cosmetics Design:

A small but consistent risk of bladder cancer was reported in male hairdressers and barbers.

While the panel was agreed that regular occupational exposure to hair dye increased cancer risk they found data on personal use inconclusive.

The evidence was adjudged to be insufficient to make a definitive conclusion on the carcinogenicity of hair dye when exposure is limited to personal use.

Clarification or confusion?

I was anxious to find out if this study contradicted the Left’s earlier assessment, so I downloaded the full report. (You can find the hair dye report here.)

Now I’m no medical researcher, but I’m even more confused after reading this. Basically it says the panel evaluated 17 different chemicals and rated them by the following criteria:

• Exposure data (where/how used)
• Human carcinogenicity data (any proof it causes cancer in humans)
• Animal carcinogenicity data (any proof it causes cancer in animals)
• Other relevant data

The study evaluates whether or not there is sufficient data to indicate the chemical poses a risk of human or animal carcinogenicity. It also provides an overall assessment that states whether the chemical can be classified as not carcinogenic, possibly carcinogenic, or probably carcinogenic.

What does this all mean?

Of the 17 chemical reviewed:

• 10 were not classifiable as to their carcinogenicity
• 6 where possibly carcinogenic
• 1 was probably carcinogenic.

The one chemical that had any clear indication of human carcinogenicity was 4, 4′-Methylenebis (2-chlorobenzenamine) or MOCA for short. But based on the report, MOCA is not used in hair dyes (and in a quick web search, I couldn’t find any evidence of hair dyes that used MOCA either.)

Of the six chemicals that were rated as “possibly carcinogenic” none are listed as being used in hair dyes. (One of them HC Blue 1, was banned from hair dye use in the 1980s. The rest are used in textiles, leather, or wool and one was used in manufacture of pesticides and similar compounds.) So to summarize:

• The report says there’s no evidence of cancer risk for consumers who color their hair.
• The report says there is a risk for professional hairdressers and barbers.
• But looking at the details in the report, I only see risks associated with chemicals that are not used in hair dyes anymore.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

I’m not trying to come across as a defender of dangerous chemicals but based on this report it doesn’t seem to me that they’ve shown any link real between the dyes used in hair dyes and cancer. If anyone else has another take on this report (are there any medical research technicians reading this?) please leave a comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

–Mid Brain