Glitterati’s restoration question: What is the deal with “restructuring” treatments for hair? I mean, I get that the vague concept is to “restore proteins” to your hair or some gobbledy-gook, but isn’t hair essentially dead? Can a restructuring treatment really force-feed amino acids or whatever into our manes?

The Left Brain’s restructured response:
By the tone of your question, a certain level of skepticism on your part is evident. We here at the Beauty Brains love that!

Marketing hype

The idea of being able to slather on a hair restructuring treatment to actually re-form hair is ridiculous. True, hair is made of amino acids and putting them on hair may provide some minor benefit. But it won’t restructure, restore or rebuild the hair. This would be a bit like trying to repair a weather-worn Kate Spade bag by pouring a basket of thread and fabric on it. Sure, the stylish sack is made of thread and fabric but you can’t just randomly put them on and expect to get a new purse.

It’s the same way with hair and amino acids. To really restructure the hair, the amino acids would have to be chemically arranged in a specific way. This arrangement can only be done in the hair follicle when the hair is growing. After that, nothing can be done except coat the hair with a good conditioner that mitigates some of the signs of damage.

Rinse out restructuring

So, what are these restructuring treatments? In essence, they are just glorified rinse-out conditioners. Just take a look at the ingredients. Here is Tricomin Restructuring Conditioner

Purified Water, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Cetyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Stearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Triamino Copper Nutritional Complex, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Panthenol, Aloe Vera Gel, Soydimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA, Propylparaben, Peppermint Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Cholecalciferol, Retinyl Palmitate, Vegetable Oil, FD&C Blue 1, D&C Red 33

The rules of cosmetic labeling require that ingredients are listed in order of concentration above 1%. In general, the more of an ingredient in the formula, the more impact it has on the product. The ingredients near the end of the list are just put in there to make a nice marketing story or are color, fragrance or preservatives.

In the Tricomin formula, some of the main working ingredients are Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, and Dimethicone. But then take a look at a “regular” rinse-out conditioner. Say Pantene Pro-V Conditioner, Smooth and Sleek: Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Glutamic Acid, Dimethicone, Benzyl Alcohol, Fragrance, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, EDTA, Panthenol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

Notice any similarities?? The main working ingredients here are Stearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, and Dimethicone.

Both of these are good conditioners. But the Restructuring Conditioner will not rebuild your hair any better than a standard rinse-out formula. And it certainly won’t rebuild your hair better than thread and fabric would rebuild a worn out Kate Spade.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Restructuring, revitalizing, restoring, are all marketing terms that describe the same basic conditioning function, so don’t fall for all the hype.

What do YOU think? Are you a sucker for any particular marketing claims or gimmicks? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

Ligirl217 says: I use Rusk’s smoother shampoo and calm conditioner. I would not buy my hair products at a drug store because they are loaded with stuff that makes you feel like your hair is silkier but it actually does nothing to solve the problem with keeping your hair in good condition. I use a deep conditioner by the brand Italy which makes hair dye and is sold at my salon…this thing is god sent because my hair is AMAZING after I use it (once a week). Here’s a trick: when shopping for both shampoo and conditioner, make sure to read the ingredients and look for silk or wheat proteins…it’s the key to healthy hair!

The Right Brain Responds:
We’d love to find out exactly which “Italy” deep conditioner you’re using, we’re not very familiar with that brand. However, we are very familiar with conditioner formulations so here’s the real scoop. First of all, from a scientific standpoint, there’s nothing inherently different about drug store conditioners. It is NOT true that they use ingredients that are very different than most of the salon or department store brands. There are good and bad products in drug stores and there are good and bad products in salons. Where you buy the product doesn’t tell you ANYTHING about how good it is!

Protein power

Now let’s address your second point about looking for silk or wheat proteins because they are the key to healthy hair. Although your hair is made of protein, protein doesn’t do much when added to your hair from shampoo or conditioner. That’s because to be made soluble, proteins have to be broken up into tiny pieces (called hydrolized proteins). These little protein fragments are not very effective and forming the kind of films your hair needs to more conditioned. Therefore, it’s the other conditioning agents in the formula that are really smoothing the cuticle and protecting your hair from damage.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

There’s nothing wrong with using expensive salon brands and looking for ingredients that you like. But just remember, there’s a lot of advertising hype in this industry so be careful. The more you know the truth about your products, the better shopper you’ll be!

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.

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.

Cheryl’s optimistic about Alterna: I was wondering if you could help me justify spending $60 a bottle on Shampoo and conditioner for the Alterna “ten” products? I have used them and like them, but am I getting my money’s worth?

The Right Brain replies:
Cheryl, you certainly are NOT getting your money’s worth. Alterna seems to specialize in selling over-priced hair care products. In this case, they’ve created a monster of a conditioner with over 90 (!) ingredients. Based on looking at the ingredient list, it appears that the first few chemicals, like Behentrimonium chloride, silicone derivatives, and fatty esters, make this a pretty good conditioner. But the next several dozen plant extracts and enzymes have no demonstrated benefit on hair. We’re talking about things like African Cacao Extract, White Truffle Oil, Champagne Grape Seed Oil, Bulgarian Evening Primrose, Arabian Frankincense, Moroccan Quillaia Bark and Arnica Flower.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Can we help you justify spending that kind of money? Well, if you like the way Alterna makes your hair feel and you can afford the $60, then there’s certainly nothing wrong with splurging on yourself occasionally. But it seems ridiculous to us to use such an expensive conditioner on a daily basis considering there’s no special science behind it.

Has anyone else tried Alterna 10? Leave a comment and share your experience with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

Lauren’s on the lookout: I’ve been wanting to try Kerastase hair products for quite some time now, but they are so overpriced. What about these products make it so such more expensive than most others? Are there any cheaper shampoos, conditioner and masks that perform similarly but for a cheaper price?

The Right Brain responds:
In case you haven’t read our post on “Who’s Who in the Cosmetic Industry,” Kerastase is owned by cosmetic giant L’Oreal who markets a variety of brands at different prices. Like many large companies, L’Oreal spends a lot resources developing the best possible formulas and then use those formulas across different brands. Why is Kerastase so expensive? Can you say “brand image?” You’re paying for a different fragrance, packaging and advertising but not necessarily a different formula.

High Cost

For example, look at Kerastase Nutritive Oleo-Relax Smoothing Hair Masque. A 5 ounce jar sells for $50.00 and it contains the following ingredients:

Water, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Potato Starch Modified, Cetyl Esters, Isopropyl Alcohol, Elaeis Guinneensis Oil, Shorea Robusta / Shorea Robusta Seed Butter, prevervatives, fragrance, blah blah blah.

Low Cost

Now consider L’Oreal Vive Pro Smooth Intense Conditioning Treatment. A 6.8 ounce tube will set you back $4.99. The ingredients are remarkable similar:

Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Potato Starch Modified, Cetyl Esters, Isopropyl Alcohol, and more blah blah blah.

Chemically speaking, these are nearly identical. They’re based on the same fatty alcohol blend and rely on behentrimonium chloride and amodimethicone for conditioning. And the potato starch is an interesting choice of thickener/emulsifier. Functionally speaking, we’d be amazed if a consumer could tell any difference between these two products.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Does this mean ALL Kerastase formulas are the same as the cheaper L’Oreal versions? Not necessarily, but we’d take a close look at each product before spending that much cash.

Jacy’s fruity request: What is Biosilk Fruit Cocktail?

The Right Brain’s silky response:
According to Farouk Systems, the company that makes Biosilk, it’s an “advanced reconstructing treatment that builds volume and strength, restores softness and smoothness.” It supposedly “restores moisture and softness, improves elasticity and strengthens the hair.”

Boring

Wow. Those are some of the most boring claims I’ve ever heard of for a hair care product. But we give them a lot of credit for being truthful. Any decent conditioner will do all those things to your hair – at least to some extent. What about the fruit cocktail? Their website doesn’t mention it specifically, so let’s try to find it on the ingredient list.

Biosilk ingredients

The first ingredient listed is Rosewater, which is a little disturbing. Not because rosewater is a bad thing – in fact in terms of hair conditioning, it’s no different than regular water – but what’s disturbing is that Farouk isn’t following the proper regulations for cosmetic labeling. If you’re adding water to the product you have to list WATER on the ingredients. We hate it when companies do that!

The next several ingredients are Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Trimethylsilyamodimethicone, with some Dimethicone thrown in. These are all pretty effective conditioners. We’d expect this product would do a pretty good job of smoothing hair.

Show me the fruit

Toward the end of the ingredient list we see things like Chamomile, Rosemary, Nettle, Passion Flower, Lemon, Grape and Pineapple Extract listed. We suppose lemon, grape and pineapple extract qualify as a “fruit cocktail” but it’s not really much of a story. And they certainly don’t do anything for your hair! If you want to see a more interesting way to execute fruit based ingredients, take a look at what Fructis did with fruit acids. At least they’re a little more snazzy about it!

The Beauty Brains bottom line

What is Biosilk Fruit Cocktail? It’s a pretty good, albeit pretty normal, hair conditioner. Unfortunately, at $15.00 per bottle it’s also pretty over-priced in our opinion. You can buy Biosilk if you’re brave but, as we always say, let the buyer beware.

The Beauty Brains Forum Member Judy reviews Prive Herbal Blend Shampoo and Conditioner.

Judy says: I have to confess to being wantonly promiscuous when it comes to shampoo and conditioner. I just can’t stay with any one product for very long before I get bored and want to move on to something…more exciting…more aromatic…or just plain different. Loyalty to any brand is just not my style. I’m always looking for the next newly formulated product that will offer a new thrill…or at least something that will temporarily give me some Great Hair Days!

Because I have color-treated hair I do use shampoo and conditioner that is specially formulated but I have used everything from Suave to Goldwell and have never seen a great difference between products.

The Basics

Once you have water, sodium laureth sulfate, glycerin, proteins, and some color and fragrance you’ve got a basic cleansing shampoo. Same thing with daily conditioners…water, cetearyl alcohol, proteins, parabens, color and fragrance are the usual ingredients that help you to moisturize your hair after cleansing and make it easier to style. Depending on your hair type other ingredients are added to work on different hair types’ special needs.

OK…I admit it…despite my constant need for the next big thing in hair care my budget doesn’t allow for any obscenely expensive prestige salon products so I may not be as much of a thrill seeker as I like to think.

However when I was offered the opportunity to try Privé hair products created by French celebrity stylist Laurent Dufourg I cried “mais oui!” With this line of herbal hair products Monsieur Dufourg promises to bring quality products to those of us not fortunate enough to be able to afford his personal service.

Luxurious but too herby

I tried Herbal Blend #6 Reparative Shampoo which is described by Privé as enriched with aloe vera and orchid to deliver softness and shine to chemically damaged hair. I found this to be a luxuriously rich shampoo that lathered well without stripping my hair. However, I didn’t care for the fragrance, which seemed to be to more like kitchen herbs than orchid.

I followed my shampoo with Herbal Blend #14 Reparative Conditioner which has ginseng and rose hips and is said to provide “intense conditioning” for dry or chemically treated hair. Again, the fragrance reminded me of Fines (Italian) Herbs that I use in cooking. This too was nice and rich and did leave my hair feeling pleasantly soft and conditioned when I went to style it.

My products were packaged in a handy Jet Set Travel Kit that consisted of: 1 Reparative Shampoo 2oz. 1 Reparative Conditioner 2oz. 1 Firm Hold Hair Spray55 3oz. 1 Jet Setter Gift Bag and sells on Amazon for $24.

I probably won’t be able to remain faithful to Monsieur Dufourg forever but at the moment I am enjoying the fling and the excitement of being pampered by my own celebrity stylist and his Privé line.

What do YOU think about Prive products? Leave a comment and let us know. Or, you can start a thread and talk to Judy directly in the Beauty Brains Forum. And if you’re interested in getting free goodies of your own, join the Forum now and show us you’ve got what it takes to be a Beauty Brainiac!

Curly’s question: Are phyto products more effective at reducing frizz or this is just another example fooling us into paying twice the price for the same product? I am particularly interested in the effectiveness of Phytodefrisant, which I’m hoping will tame my long, thick, curly hair.

The Right Brain’s response:
Good question, Curly. Many so called “phyto” or natural products are bogus because they are basically shampoo or conditioner formulas with a plant extract thrown. (For an example, see our previous post on Phytospecific.) But Phytodefrisant is a bit more phyto-ish. (Is that a word?)

How is Phytodefrisant different?

If you take a look at the ingredient list you’ll see that it doesn’t contain any of the chemicals typically found in conditioners. There are no silicones, quaternium compounds, fatty alcohols, or oils. Instead, you see a long list of plant extracts followed by a few chemical preservatives.

So how does it work?

The primary ingredient in Phytodefrisant is Althea Officinalis Root Extract (also known as Marsh Mallow). This extract contains a chemical known as mucilage, which is a thick gooey substance produced by many plants. Mucilage consists of exopolysaccharides, polymers that are made of sugar molecules. (Hey imagine that - a natural ingredient is really a chemical! Wow, who would have known!?!) Because of its polymeric structure mucilage is an effective film former and can even have some mild adhesive properties. So, if you put enough of this on your hair, and leave it there, it can theoretically help smooth frizzies.

Better than store brands?

Does this mean that Phyto is better than regular conditioners that use all those “nasty” chemicals? Not necessarily. It’s an interesting approach but not necessarily more effective than traditional conditioners. And remember, it has to be left in the hair to be effective (in other words, it won’t stick to your hair if you rinse it out.) Because of its sticky nature, it may also make your hair feel weighed down. But if you’re trying to tame very frizzy, curly hair that’s not always a bad thing.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

If you’re looking for a leave in conditioner to calm frizzy hair AND you don’t want to use traditional ingredients like silicones, AND you can afford the $26 bucks, then this product might be an interesting alternative to try. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can buy Phytodefrisant here.

How do YOU feel about taking gamble on new hair care products? Do you take chances or do you play it safe? Leave a comment and share your hair strategy with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

By the way, if you’re reading this through an RSS feed you really should click through the link so you can see the animation on the Mona Lisa picture. It’s hilarious!