Most of us are making the condition of our hair worse every time we wash and style it – without even knowing. This is because we are washing, conditioning and styling our hair with products containing silicones.
Using silicone on your hair
Silicones are oils, rubbers and resins and are added to personal care products, including skin care and make-up, to give a smooth and silky feel. If your hair is a bit dry or frizzy you probably reach straight for a conditioning hair mask. You think your hair feels much better after using it and no longer looks dry and frizzy. The silicone coats each hair strand with an invisible film, helping to de-tangle the hair, smooth the cuticle and prevent against heat damage. The downside is that it is merely a fake, cosmetic look. The silicone is actually acting like cling film on each hair strand, sealing it totally and stopping any moisture from getting in. Over a period of time this will dehydrate your hair further causing it to become brittle, frizzy and weak.
How do I know if my hair care products have silicone in?
If you look on your hair care product ingredients list, ingredients that are silicone based will probably have the letters ‘one’ at the end. For instance dimethicone, amodimethicone or cyclomethicone. They may have ‘siloxane’ at the end as in cyclohexasiloxane. 95% of main stream hair care products contain a silicone ingredient.
Silicone build up on hair
Most hair products such as conditioners, mousses, gels, waxes, hair protection and hair sprays contain silicone. If you use these products on a regular basis you may get a silicone build up on your hair. You will know if you have this because your hair will start to look dull, flat and possibly a little greasy with a complete lack of volume and condition. It will be dry, fragile and probably break easily.
How to get great hair
Just ditch hair products containing silicone! Just washing your hair with a silicone free shampoo and conditioner will start to remove the build-up. Hair volume can be much better after just one wash in silicone free shampoo, but a big build up may take a few weeks to clear and hair condition needs a little longer to improve. Try to avoid using any products on your hair that contain sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) as this is a cheap but harsh cleansing agent which will strip the oils out of already damaged and dry hair.
For top of the range silicone and SLS free hair care products try Michael Van Clarke (vanclarke.com), in particular their Lifesaver Pre-Wash Treatment which is nothing short of miraculous. Also try Green People’s great range of shampoos and conditioners (they also have a range for children). Their Quinoa & Artichoke Shampoo and Conditioner gives great volume with a high shine .
The final secret weapons for great hair
The final secret weapons for fabulous hair are a professional bristle brush and a saw cut tooth comb. A professional hair brush will be hand-made, the bristles will be evenly spaced out over the brush to give the correct tension when you blow dry your hair and they will also be smooth to glide over your hair cuticle preventing damage to the hair shaft.
Most cheap plastic combs (and some expensive ones!) will have ragged sharp edges that cut the hair cuticle causing wear and damage. Buy yourself a saw cut tooth comb which will glide over the hair shaft protecting the cuticle. Kent make a good range of saw cut tooth combs.
Just by adopting these small changes to your hair care routine you can see massive benefits. Why not give my tips for great hair a go? You’ve nothing to lose and a whole lot of volume and condition to gain!
Sally Moores, aka The Happy Sage, is a skincare, natural health and well-being expert who has been testing and researching natural therapies, remedies, products and healing for over forty years. She has been a qualified 2nd degree Reiki practitioner for over 18 years and also survived an aggressive stage iv blood cancer, which only enhanced her passion for learning more about healing the mind, body and spirit.
Sally previously researched, developed and produced a range of organic skincare products, winning four industry awards. She now runs a website, thehappysage.co.uk, helping others set up and run their own natural skincare business, as well as reviewing natural skincare products.
