Gina just wants to know…I’ve been reading rave reviews of this Mixed Chicks product. Can you tell me how it’s different from Cantu Shea Butter, the leave in I use now?

The Right Brain replies:

For those of you not familiar with Mixed Chicks, it’s a line of hair care products designed for hair of biracial origin. Their website explains that the line is a “curl-defining system designed for “us” whether you’re black, white, asian, latin, mediterranean, or any glorious combination of the above.”

The Leave-in you asked about is described as a “patented formula penetrates the hair shaft, conditioning as it smoothes the follicle.” I hate to be nit-picky on this point, but the follicle is the tiny tube beneath your scalp that the hair grows from. You can’t “smooth” the follicle but you can smooth the cuticle which is the shingle-like outer most layer of hair. We don’t expect Mixed Chicks to be scientific experts but they should understand basic hair biology so they can explain how their products really work.

Mixed Chicks Leave in Conditioner Ingredients

How does Mixed Chicks compare to Cantu? Let’s take a look at the ingredients for these two products. First the Mixed Chicks leave in and then Cantu. To make it easier to read, we’re leaving out preservatives, colors and fragrance:

Water, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Emulsifying Wax, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein/pvp Crosspolymer, Stearalkonium Chloride, Methylguceth-20, Hydroxypopul Timonium Chloride, Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, Jojoba Oil, Safflower Oil, Primrose Oil, Wheat Amino Acid, Crosilk, Hydrolyzed Collagen (Marine)

(Note: this ingredient list came from Amazon.com and has several typos.)

Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Glycine Soja Oil (Soybean), Propylene Glycol, Polyquaternium 37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG 1 Trideceth 6, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Trimethylsilylamodimethicone, Panthenol, PPG 1 PEG 9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, Lanolin Oil, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Acrylamidopropyltrimonium Chloride/Acrylamide Copolymer, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein

Both are mixtures of water with oils and conditioning polymers. The big difference is that Cantu is based on shea butter and soybean oil while Mixed Chicks is high in glycerin and amodimethicone. Amodimethicone is an excellent conditioner and is one of the primary ingredients in Infusium 23, one of the classic leave in conditioners.   Both products should provide a high level of conditioning. We’d expect that Mixed Chicks would provide less greasy curl definition based on the lower concentration of  oily materials.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Both Mixed Chicks and Cantu appear to be highly moisturizing leave in conditioners but it’s impossible for us to say which one is better for you without knowing your hair type.  If you decide to try both, write back and let us know which one you liked best!

Does anyone in the Beauty Brains community have any curly conditioning tips for Gina? Leave a comment!

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.)

Cynical Girl sez…I have over-highlighted my hair and it’s fried. The salon recommended a Redken All Softconditioning treatment and another Redken protein treatment. Will any of these products really make a difference, or do I just need to cut off the damaged ends of my hair? Is it possible to add too much moisture or protein to my hair? Any risks?

The Right Brain replies:

Cynical Girl – it looks like you’ve committed the cardinal sin of chemically caring for your hair: you over-processed. But, rather than publicly berating you here on the Beauty Brains blog, we’ll give you some information that will help save your hair.

Is protein powerful?

Your stylist recommended a couple of Redkin products. There’s certainly nothing wrong with using those – the All Soft conditioner is a fine product that could mitigate some of the damage you’ve done to your hair. I’m not really sure you would necessarily need to use the protein treatment since protein aren’t typically a significant active ingredient in conditioner formulas. Although your hair is made of protein (keratin protein to be precise), protein delivered from a conditioner doesn’t really help that much. There are other conditioning and moisturizing agents that are more beneficial to your hair than proteins. Still, if you don’t mind spending the money on those Redkin products they’re certainly worth a shot.

You just need to be careful that you don’t over condition your hair or else you might end up with limp lifeless locks. Which leads us to the second part of your question. Can you add too much moisture or protein to your hair? The answer is: “Not exactly.” Let us explain.

Moisture is magic

One of the components of your hair is moisture – in fact your hair naturally contains between 8 and 14 percent water. But, and here is the tricky part, your hair naturally equilibrates to the humidity in your environment. In other words if it’s very dry outside you will have less moisture than 8 to 14 percent in your hair and if it’s very humid you’ll have more. Think about your hair after you wash it or after you’ve gone swimming. It doesn’t stay wet – it eventually does dry out.

On the other hand, you do need to watch out for adding too much moisturizer. A moisturizer is an ingredient that helps your hair hold onto moisture. Strictly speaking, moisture is water but moisturizers can be oils or silicones. And if you put too much of these materials on your hair you can get on build up or weigh down effect, which is not good, especially if you want your hair to look thick and full.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

We don’t discourage you from trying the Redken products, but you may find you don’t like them. If this happens, you’ll have to experiment with a few other conditioners to find one that gives you the right balance of moisture without weighdown. But at least now, hopefully we’ve given you have a better understanding of HOW your conditioner works. And by the way, don’t you dare wash your hair without conditioning – at least for the next few weeks. You’ve got to protect your fragile, over-processed strands.

What do YOU think? What are you favorite products for dealing with over-stressed tresses? Leave a comment and share your secrets with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

Mid Brain reports:

Here’s an interesting new product from Laboratorios Fisa in Venezuela: a combing cream that contains corn and wheat based active cereals to provide nutrition and protection to your hair. Grain extracts certainly aren’t bad for your hair (unless you have a gluten allergy!) but they also don’t do anything good for your hair either.

Combing cream formulas, on the other hand, can be good for your hair. They’re a special type of leave-in conditioner that makes the hair smooth and easy to style. They’re very popular in Latin America and this Beauty Brain is interested to see if this styling trend catches on in the US and UK as well. It’ll also be interesting to see if Active Cereals catch on!

Heidi’s comment: Shampoos like Pantene, Dove, and the like are using cheaper grade ingredients because…well?… they’re cheaper and they can… they are not different per say… just… cheaper… and larger in molecule size… Some are using the same kind of wax you put on an apple to make it shiney in the conditioner (you thought the shine was natural?)… Its food grade, edible, and naturally derived… Therefore? Legal and acceptable.

The Left Brain retorts:

For those of you who may have missed the discussion, Heidi’s comment appeared in our post on How Beauty Salons Lie to You. While I am appreciative off all the comments from the Beauty Brains community, I do feel compelled to correct inaccurate statements when I have the chance. And although Heidi raises some good points she’s perpetuating a myth when she says that conditioners contain “the same kind of wax you put on an apple.” This is the type of urban legend that has been used to bash non-salon conditioners for years and in reality it’s just not true.

An apple a day…

According to the apple experts (bestapples.com), the natural waxy coating that protects fresh apples from moisture loss is partially washed off when the apples are cleaned after harvesting. To ensure a longer shelf life, a different kind of natural wax is applied to the apples at very low levels.  This wax is usually carnauba or shellac, both of which provide a very durable coating that prevents moisture loss, enhances firmness retention and slows down the apple respiration rate.

(FYI, according to the website “some historians report wax has been used on produce since the early 1920s, but other experts say fruits and vegetables were waxed by housewives long before that to improve storage life.”)

On the other hand, supermarket and drug store conditioner brands like Pantene, Dove, and Tresemme use silicones and cationic polymers to smooth the hair shaft to make it more reflective. These ingredients do coat the hair but they are not like the tough waxy coatings used on fruit. I have NEVER seen a shampoo or conditioner that uses carnuaba or shellac to make the hair shiny.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

If you don’t like silicone containing conditioners because they weigh your hair down, thats your choice. But don’t believe scare tactics that simply aren’t true. Thanks to Heidi for giving me the chance to clear up this misconception (and to learn a little bit about apples!)