Choosing your Hair Products

In our quest for great hair, we are encouraged to try all sorts of products that swear to make your hair as good as gold. Lo and behold, many of these so-called miracle products contain ingredients that do more damage than good to your tresses.{{more}}

I went on a search to find some of the worst ingredients and I was shocked to find out that most product lines contain them. Let’s break down what they are and what they do.

ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL: Also known as rubbing alcohol, will dry your hair out and break it off and should be avoided at ALL costs.

MINERAL OIL and PETROLATUM: This commonly used petroleum ingredient coats the skin and hair just like plastic wrap and disrupts its ability to breathe and absorb the Natural Moisture Factor (moisture and nutrition).

PEG: Short for polyethylene glycol, which is used in making cleansers to dissolve oil and grease, as well as thicken products. PEGs contribute to stripping the Natural Moisture Factor, leaving the immune system vulnerable.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL (PG): There is no difference between the PG used in industry and the PG used in personal care products. It is used in industry to break down protein and cellular structure (what the skin is made of). It aids in causing frizz and dryness to hair, as it does not attract moisture very well.

SULFATES AND PARABENS: Used as a foaming agent and to increase shelf life respectively. These ingredients are known to dry your hair and strip it of its natural moisture. Parabens have many names, including: methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl.

If you are more concerned with ingredients that may harm your health, then look out for DEA (diethanolamine) MEA (momoethnanolamine) and TEA (triethanolamine), as these are hormone disrupting chemicals.

For any questions or comments contact me at onfleekthisweek@gmail.com