Did you know that in an average bottle of shampoo there are around twenty (20) additives? Water is the main ingredient, at close to 80% of the total, and the first five or six are the most active in the product. So what are these mysterious hard to pronounce additives? And is it true that certain additives in shampoo are cancer causing agents? We’ll get to that later. Let’s first decipher what these additives are.
1. Water. Up to 80 percent of shampoo is this basic element. Without enough water, the shampoo wouldn’t pour from the bottle!
2. Surfactant. Basically a detergent, this additive does the cleaning work. Surfactants work by surrounding dirt and oil in hair so that water can rinse them away. Additives like ammonium lauryl sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate are easier on sensitive scalps than sodium lauryl sulfate. While surfactants can be irritating, most shampoos shouldn’t be harmful to your hair as they contain conditioners that compensate for the stripping qualities of surfactants, so you can wash daily without worrying about hair damage.
3. Foaming agents. Additives like cocamide or cocamidopropyl betaine provide the lathering suds that complete the hair-washing experience. Lather however, is purely aesthetic. It doesn’t have anything to do with how well a shampoo works. Manufacturers put lathering agents in shampoos because it’s what consumers expect. If it’s not sudsy it’s not clean right?
4. An acidic ingredient. Additives like sodium citrate or citric acid are added to keep shampoo at the right pH level. The acidic pH interacts with the outer layer of the hair to maintain a smooth, flat surface. Hence, no frizzies.
5. Silicones like dimethicone, or anything ending in “one.” These are polymers that deposit a lightweight coating on the hair. They help create smoothness and add shine.
6. Polyquaternium. Very similar to fabric softener, this additive helps to make hair more manageable by depositing a fatty conditioner and fighting static. It also thickens the shampoo formula so it’s easier to pour. Nobody likes it when the shampoo run rights off your palm!
7. Panthenol, fatty alcohols, and nut oils. These common additives moisturize and lock in hydration.
8. Midazolidinyl urea, iodopropynyl, isothiazolinone, and sodium benzoate. Since many of the additives found in shampoo are made from organic materials, they can grow mold and bacteria. These additives keep your shampoo from turning into something out of a science fiction movie.
So now that we’ve de-mystified the names of these additives, let’s tackle the good and the bad.
Peformance: Most often, additives lower down on the list aren’t present in high enough concentrations to have any impact on the shampoo’s performance. Natural extracts and other additives that manufacturers add in don’t do much for your hair, but they do make the product more enjoyable by adding a little color or fragrance. Of course, we can all agree that fragrance is a big part of the shampoo equation because we want our hair products to smell good right?!
Price: So if all of these additives are basically the same, why are some shampoos more expensive? Good question. Price rarely is an indicator of performance. There’s no reason at all to pay gobs of money for a bottle of shampoo. In fact, when Consumer Reports tested 1,700 ponytail samples by washing them in a range of shampoos, the expensive shampoos didn’t produce any better results than the drugstore brands. You won’t see 10 times better results with a $30 bottle compared to a $3 bottle. The only real way to find out if a shampoo will work for you is by using it. Nothing on the bottle, including the price tag, can tell you if you’re really going to like the results. If you rely on an expensive brand to ensure a good hair day, you might be rinsing your money down the drain. Instead of shopping by price, find the best formula for your hair; your shampoo should treat your scalp, so choose according to your hair’s needs. Dry, buy a conditioning shampoo. Oily, buy one that removes the grease.
Safety: The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a website called Skin Deep. I love this site! It is a great resource for consumers in that it lists thousands of personal care products in an organized way and rates them on how safe their additives are. The Skin Deep website reviews additives in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Skin Deep has evaluated over 1500 shampoos on its website. Shampoos are scored from 1 – 10, with 0-2 as a Low Hazard, 3-6 as a Moderate Hazard and 7 -10 as a High Hazard based on toxicity. Each item’s score is explained in detail and safer options are given.
Now, back to the reports that state certain additives in shampoo products are cancer causing agents. After a lot of research, I can only conclude that many groups, like the EWG, state you should choose shampoos that do not contain fragrance, PEGs, such as ceteareths and polyethylene, Parabens such as propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, or DMDM hydantoin. They warn that these additives are suspected cancer causing contaminants and advise people to stay away from shampoos with these additives. I have also found however, that many groups say there is no evidence that these additives are carcinogensare and therefore, are safe to use. Go figure. Since there is no FDA regulation on testing cosmetics, we are left to judge for ourselves. If you can afford to, switch to a natural organic shampoo or at the very least, investigate those labels and choose carefully.
Check back with me as we demystify what’s in other products used in our daily lives.
1. Water. Up to 80 percent of shampoo is this basic element. Without enough water, the shampoo wouldn’t pour from the bottle!
2. Surfactant. Basically a detergent, this additive does the cleaning work. Surfactants work by surrounding dirt and oil in hair so that water can rinse them away. Additives like ammonium lauryl sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate are easier on sensitive scalps than sodium lauryl sulfate. While surfactants can be irritating, most shampoos shouldn’t be harmful to your hair as they contain conditioners that compensate for the stripping qualities of surfactants, so you can wash daily without worrying about hair damage.
3. Foaming agents. Additives like cocamide or cocamidopropyl betaine provide the lathering suds that complete the hair-washing experience. Lather however, is purely aesthetic. It doesn’t have anything to do with how well a shampoo works. Manufacturers put lathering agents in shampoos because it’s what consumers expect. If it’s not sudsy it’s not clean right?
4. An acidic ingredient. Additives like sodium citrate or citric acid are added to keep shampoo at the right pH level. The acidic pH interacts with the outer layer of the hair to maintain a smooth, flat surface. Hence, no frizzies.
5. Silicones like dimethicone, or anything ending in “one.” These are polymers that deposit a lightweight coating on the hair. They help create smoothness and add shine.
6. Polyquaternium. Very similar to fabric softener, this additive helps to make hair more manageable by depositing a fatty conditioner and fighting static. It also thickens the shampoo formula so it’s easier to pour. Nobody likes it when the shampoo run rights off your palm!
7. Panthenol, fatty alcohols, and nut oils. These common additives moisturize and lock in hydration.
8. Midazolidinyl urea, iodopropynyl, isothiazolinone, and sodium benzoate. Since many of the additives found in shampoo are made from organic materials, they can grow mold and bacteria. These additives keep your shampoo from turning into something out of a science fiction movie.
So now that we’ve de-mystified the names of these additives, let’s tackle the good and the bad.
Peformance: Most often, additives lower down on the list aren’t present in high enough concentrations to have any impact on the shampoo’s performance. Natural extracts and other additives that manufacturers add in don’t do much for your hair, but they do make the product more enjoyable by adding a little color or fragrance. Of course, we can all agree that fragrance is a big part of the shampoo equation because we want our hair products to smell good right?!
Price: So if all of these additives are basically the same, why are some shampoos more expensive? Good question. Price rarely is an indicator of performance. There’s no reason at all to pay gobs of money for a bottle of shampoo. In fact, when Consumer Reports tested 1,700 ponytail samples by washing them in a range of shampoos, the expensive shampoos didn’t produce any better results than the drugstore brands. You won’t see 10 times better results with a $30 bottle compared to a $3 bottle. The only real way to find out if a shampoo will work for you is by using it. Nothing on the bottle, including the price tag, can tell you if you’re really going to like the results. If you rely on an expensive brand to ensure a good hair day, you might be rinsing your money down the drain. Instead of shopping by price, find the best formula for your hair; your shampoo should treat your scalp, so choose according to your hair’s needs. Dry, buy a conditioning shampoo. Oily, buy one that removes the grease.
Safety: The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a website called Skin Deep. I love this site! It is a great resource for consumers in that it lists thousands of personal care products in an organized way and rates them on how safe their additives are. The Skin Deep website reviews additives in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Skin Deep has evaluated over 1500 shampoos on its website. Shampoos are scored from 1 – 10, with 0-2 as a Low Hazard, 3-6 as a Moderate Hazard and 7 -10 as a High Hazard based on toxicity. Each item’s score is explained in detail and safer options are given.
Now, back to the reports that state certain additives in shampoo products are cancer causing agents. After a lot of research, I can only conclude that many groups, like the EWG, state you should choose shampoos that do not contain fragrance, PEGs, such as ceteareths and polyethylene, Parabens such as propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, or DMDM hydantoin. They warn that these additives are suspected cancer causing contaminants and advise people to stay away from shampoos with these additives. I have also found however, that many groups say there is no evidence that these additives are carcinogensare and therefore, are safe to use. Go figure. Since there is no FDA regulation on testing cosmetics, we are left to judge for ourselves. If you can afford to, switch to a natural organic shampoo or at the very least, investigate those labels and choose carefully.
Check back with me as we demystify what’s in other products used in our daily lives.
