Sarahb asks…Is there a place that i can view a list of ingredients in hair products that could dry out the hair?

The Left Brain replies:
I’ve never seen a comprehensive list of which ingredients could dry out hair.  It would be very difficult to create an accurate list because the effect of ingredients on hair partially depends on the formulas the ingredients are delivered from.

Ingredient effect depends on context

For example, in the Forum we recently discussed a hair conditioning mask that contains a relatively high level of Lauramide MEA, a surfactant. Lauramide MEA  would typically not dry out hair because it’s most commonly used in lower amounts in shampoos to boost foam and viscosity.  But if left on the hair in mask form it could cause drying.

Similarly a little alcohol is fine on your hair from an aerosolized product like a hairspray because the droplets are very small and will evaporate quickly. But you wouldn’t want alcohol in a leave-in conditioner where it could saturate your hair and scalp  and potentially cause dryness. (I’m talking about ethanol, not cetyl or stearyl alcohol)

The Beauty Brains bottom line

You have to look at each ingredient in the context of the formula it is in to understand what the ingredient function it serves and whether or not it will dry out your hair.

Image credit: Thespokesman.com

Lilypad  asks…I’m transitioning from relaxed to natural hair and a lot of blogs and video bloggers tout grape seed oil as a heat protectant when blowdrying or flat ironing hair because it has a high smoke point (about 420 °F).  Is there any truth to this claim?  The smoke point refers to the oil’s use in cooking but does it apply to hair as well?

The Right Brain responds:

We’ve blogged before about how to protect your hair from heat damage and there’s more to it than just the how much heat the ingredients can take.

What to look for in a good heat protectant

Heat tolerance (in this case measured by smoke point of the oil) is only one factor to consider.  You also need to look at how the product lubricates hair.  You can experiment with oils if you want DIY heat protection but be careful: oils alone can create drag which could slow down the flat iron as it passes through your hair so it could end up doing MORE damage.

Good heat protectants should also help offset the drying effects of heat. Ideally you want a combination of  glycerine or other moisturizers to lock in water and a low molecular weight polymer that can penetrate and help prevent heat from cracking the cuticles. (See the link above more more discussion and scientific references.)

Which oils can stand a lot of heat

But back to your question about smoke point. This site lists grape seed at 485F with soy bean oil at 495F, safflower oil at 510F,  and avocado oil at a startling 520F!  Wikipedia lists slightly different values:  Cottonseed and virgin olive oil are in the same range as grape seed while almond, peanut, sunflower, and our cold friend coconut oil are higher.  We’re not sure which values are more accurate, but either way it looks like you have some options to try that offer an even higher smoke point than grape seeds.
If any one wants to try Tresemme Heat Tamer you can buy it here and support the Beauty Brains. 

Image credit: www.healthandadvices.com

Havoctheory says…I heard that conditioners contain ingredients such as polymers with reflective qualities to coat hair strands. They reflect light and therefore makes your hair shiny. Is this true? What kind of chemicals would also produce this effect?

The Left Brain responds: 

This question comes from our Forum where Pufff added this comment: “Hey! I actually was just thinking about this the other day! I was reading the ingredients on some of the old gel I have and saw it used a polymer which surprised me cause isn’t that plastic??? The gel did make my hair look shiny soooo who knows.”

Polymer does not equal “plastic”

It’s true that polymers are used to make plastic. But that doesn’t mean that every polymer IS plastic.  A polymer is simply any chemical compound made up by a number of small repeating units which are called monomers. Depending on the type of monomer (or monomers) chosen,  polymers with different properties can be created.  For example, when propylene monomers are strung together in a long chain the result is polypropylene, a common plastic used to make a variety of packaging materials.  On the other hand when acrylamide and diallyldimethylammonium chloride monomers are combined the result is Polyquaternium-7,  a common air-conditioning agent. These materials are both polymers but they have very different physiochemical properties.

How do conditioners make hair shiny?

You have the right idea when you say that polymer ingredients reflect light to make hair shiny. Actually what happens is the ingredients smooth the cuticle of the hair. (Remember the cuticle is made of tiny shingle-like structures like the ones you find on your roof.)  When these “shingles” become loose and start to stick up they cause light to reflect unevenly from your hair. This uneven reflection makes your hair look dull. Smoothing the cuticles allows light to reflect evenly which makes it look shiny.

Which ingredients increase shine?

The shine increasing ingredients are the ones that do the best job of smoothing the cuticle.  Here are few types of ingredients to look for:

Silicones
These are are excellent conditioners even though they receive a lot of bad press. Dimethicone is one of the best for smoothing the cuticle. Look for ingredients that end in “-cone” or check this list of Silicone Ingredients Used In Hair Care Products for more details.

Oils
Mineral oil, meadow foam seed oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, are good shine enhancers.  These work best from leave in products because the oils are not chemically modified to stay on your hair after rinsing.

Image credit: www.barbieimages.com

Fitz asks…I love the Nexxus products. I really love the conditioner Humectress….. but to me it’s a bit costly. Does anyone know a site where I can order my own chemicals to make my own conditioners & shampoos. I want to save money and maybe make some!

The Left Brain responds:

As our Forum members were quick to point out, making your own Humectress may not be such a great money saving idea.

Problems with Home Made Humectress

1. Ingredient expense

It’s difficult (maybe impossible?) to get the ingredients you need at a low cost without buying large quantities. Cosmetic companies enjoy low costs that the average person could never achieve because they buy TONS of chemicals. Plus, some ingredients are not even available for sale to the general public in any quantity or cost.

2. Puzzling percentages

While you can tell the ingredients from the back of the bottle, you don’t know the right percentages at which to add blend them. You might be able to figure it out through a long trial and error process but unless you’re an experienced cosmetic formulator you’re likely to end up wasting a lot of time (and chemicals) trying to get the formula right.

3. Mixing madness

To properly make a batch of conditioner you’ll need the right equipment. At the very least you’d need to buy an impeller mixer, a hotplate, and some glass or stainless steel mixing vessels. This will probably set you back a few hundred dollars. You’ll also need a way to check the pH of the final product – but you could get by with some relatively inexpensive litmus paper.

4. Dollars and scents

No matter how much you spend, you won’t be able to duplicate the Humectress fragrance. Cosmetic companies hire expert companies (called “Fragrance Houses”) to  create just the right scent. So even if you get the functional formula right you’ll still be missing some of the Humectress experience.

What else can you do?

You can look for other products made by the same company as Nexxus. Often times big companies will use the same basic formula across different brands. Nexxus is made by Alberto Culver so you could look at their other brands like Tresemme and VO5. (Just a warning: In this case, this approach may not work because I’ve looked at all the Alberto Culver products and I haven’t seen any ingredient lists that look like Humectress.)

Looking for cheap Humectress? Buy a big bottle
for only $.29/ounce.
or
Want to save money but not ready to splurge on all that conditioner? Then download our FREE guide on how to save money on beauty products.

Gregori is gregarious…You are great! Carry on with all you do! And here is my question. What do you think about this hair conditioner. It’s Bulgarian and they’ve made it for 30 years now. “Impression” Antistatic conditioner.

Contains cationic surfactant that soften the hair and gives silky brilliance. The conditioner has an antistatic action. It makes combing easier and hair more manageable.

After shampooing, apply to wet hair. Leave on for 5 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water.

Ingredients: Aqua, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Bulylcarbamate, Parfum, Citric Acid, CI 19140, CI 42051.

And please, excuse my English.

The Right Brain responds:
Gregori – no need to apologize for your English. We thank you for providing our first Bulgarian question! You guys are really making us feel international! And here’s your answer. The product you described appears to be a very basic, very inexpensive conditioner. The only conditioning ingredient in this formula is the cetrimonium chloride which is a very simple cationic conditioning agent. It will provide some light detangling and help with flyaway hair, but it won’t do much else. We’d expect this product to be good for hair that’s not very damaged but for hair that needs greater conditioning, you should look for a formula with several types on conditioning agents, and probably at least one silicone derivative.

It’s also interesting to note that the directions instruct you to leave the product on your hair for 5 minutes. In a previous post we discussed that you don’t need to leave conditioner on your hair for 5 minutes because regular conditioners work almost instantly.