How sure are you about the quality and suitability of your current shampoo? Have you ever thought that maybe there are better shampoos for you on the store shelf? What is your definition of a good shampoo?
Different types of hair shampoos are among the products that we use all the time. For this reason, if our shampoo is not suitable for our hair, it will cause serious damage to our hair and scalp in the long run. There are different types of shampoos and the right shampoo should be prepared according to the type of hair and scalp.
Almost all of us know the characteristics of a good shampoo. A good shampoo removes grease and impurities, washes easily from the hair and gives hair shine, flexibility and elasticity. If we are to consider shampoo commercials, a good shampoo is one that attracts people to the beauty of your hair.
Of course, you should keep in mind that the best shampoo for you is different from the best shampoo for other people, and what shampoo is right for you depends on your hair type. Let’s not get involved in advertising and look for an achievable goal like having clean, healthy and manageable hair.
Many of us do not know which shampoo is suitable for our hair. For this reason, we might use a shampoo that made someone’s hair shiny and happy to get the same result and take a picture.
By reading this article, you will learn how to find the right shampoo just by looking at the shampoo bottle.
Is it necessary to wash hair with shampoo?
You should use soap or detergent to remove the oil from your hair. You should know that fat never mixes with water. Fat and oil do not dissolve in water and remain floating on water. Therefore, washing the hair with water and without detergents does not remove the fat.
Soap and detergent molecules have a dual nature. These molecules stick to fat molecules on one side and water molecules on the other side. Therefore, when we wash the hair with soap or detergent, the fat sticks to the detergent and is washed away with water.
Is soap or detergent better for washing hair?
It may seem that detergents are too strong to wash hair, but this is not true. According to experts, detergents (also known as surfactants) work better on hair than soap.
Soap solutions are alkaline and cause swelling of the cuticle cells (the outer layer of the hair) and make the hair rough and dull. In addition, soap leaves some calcium and magnesium (soap scum) on the hair and makes the hair duller.
Old beauty books suggested rinsing with lemon juice or vinegar after using soap to wash your hair. As the acid helps dissolve the soap scum, it closes the hair cuticle, protecting the middle layer of the hair (cortex) and making the hair soft and shiny. For this reason, most shampoos and conditioners are somewhat acidic.
Have you ever read the ingredients on a shampoo label?
Take a look at the list of ingredients written on the shampoo bottle. The list almost always starts with water. Because the most ingredient in shampoo is water.
After water, detergents are introduced which play the main role in making shampoo and are responsible for cleaning the scalp and hair.
Other ingredients include colors, fragrances, thickeners, and the chemical compound glycol distearate. The combination of glycol distearate causes the shell and matte state of shampoos.
At the end of the list of shampoo ingredients, there is a compound that is the main reason for shampoo foaming. Most shampoos contain ingredients that soften the hair and make it more manageable.
Let’s dispel a misconception about good shampoo!
The foam helps to distribute the detergent well on the head. However, more lather does not necessarily mean that your hair will be cleaned better.
Most people think that more foam means more cleanliness. For this reason, most shampoo manufacturers add more foaming agents to the shampoo ingredients so that the final product produces more foam.
But these substances are not harmless to hair. So don’t be upset if you choose a shampoo based on its ingredients and it doesn’t lather as well as you’d hoped (which is sometimes the case with shampoos for dry and damaged hair, color-treated hair, and baby shampoos).
Instead, pay attention to whether your hair condition improves after washing with this product or not. Does this shampoo make your hair fresh and healthy? If your answer is yes, your choice is correct.
What is the definition of good shampoo?
To answer this question, you must first ask who wants to use shampoo? Is that person’s hair dry or oily? Is it curly or straight? Is her hair thin or thick? Has she dyed her hair or used chemicals to straighten or curl her hair? Do you have hair loss or dandruff?
As expected, as with other individual needs, not everyone needs the same shampoo. To find the most suitable shampoo, it is better to take a look at the ingredients of the shampoos.
Shampoo base formulation
Basically, shampoos are liquid cleansers that are made from a combination of synthetic detergents to clean hair. Some shampoo ingredients include hair and scalp cleansers, and other ingredients are added to the shampoo to add beauty properties to it. These compounds are selected based on scientific principles in making a good shampoo.
How do different brands choose their detergents?
In principle, to obtain a good and ideal product, several detergents must be combined. On the shampoo label, after water, the first detergent listed is the main detergent and has the highest concentration. The second item mentioned is the secondary detergent, whose task is to remove the defects in the first detergent.
It is clear that the type of hair is very important in this matter; For example, detergents with high degreasing power are chosen to make shampoo for oily hair, while milder detergents are used to make shampoo for colored or curly hair so that the product has less degreasing.
Good shampoo for all hair types
A good shampoo is a shampoo in which detergents are used correctly. This shampoo should clean the scalp and at the same time beautify the hair.
It may seem that some hair types are not listed in Table 2, but this is not the case. For example, curly hair has a dry and brittle nature. Therefore, mild detergents for dry hair are also suitable for this type of hair.
Regarding dandruff, it should also be said that because dandruff is mainly caused by scalp fat, detergents suitable for oily hair are also suitable for this type of hair. Of course, other ingredients are added to anti-dandruff shampoo to fight other factors that cause dandruff. The guide to choosing the best shampoo for dandruff provides you with useful tips in this field.
Regarding straight hair, we should mention that if the hair strand is thin, because it gets greasy easily, detergents for oily hair are suitable, and if the hair strand is thick, normal hair and normal hair detergents are suitable.
Also, for people who suffer from hair loss, the types of detergents are different according to the cause of hair loss. For more information, you can read the guide to choosing the best shampoo for hair loss.
A note about oily hair
The formula of oily hair shampoo is such that it removes hair oil to a great extent. People with oily hair want to remove the oil from their scalp to increase the interval between bathing.
But the use of strong soaps and products that contain excessive sulfate disrupts the natural balance of sebum production (natural skin oil) in the hair follicle and scalp and causes an increase in oil production.
So, if you have oily hair and like to wash your hair every day, use shampoos that are made with natural ingredients that are good for hair health.
If you feel your hair needs a deeper wash every now and then, use clarifying shampoos with stronger detergents to remove impurities that mild shampoos can’t.
• Softeners
Conditioners are additives that increase the softness, beauty, volume, shine and manageability of hair.
With the advances made in the formulation of shampoos, the need to use conditioners has increased. Because with the use of new shampoos, the natural fat created by the scalp glands along with other impurities is better removed from the scalp and hair.
This natural oil of the skin, which is actually a natural softener, should be replaced again and a suitable synthetic oil should be added to the shampoos instead. This artificial fat as a softener reduces the static electricity of the hair, increases the shine, increases the volume of the hair and improves the condition of the hair.
Also, conditioners are suitable for hair that has been straightened, curled and dyed using chemicals or damaged by physical methods such as hair dryers.
How to choose a good shampoo with proper softening properties?
Some emollients, such as jojoba oil, are mild and safe. Therefore, they can be used for almost all hair types. However, some other conditioners should be chosen based on the hair type. For example, for oily hair that needs less conditioner than dry hair, an ingredient like olive oil, which is a strong conditioner, is not a good choice.
Straight and curly hair have different reactions to different conditioners. For example, since silicones are heavy ingredients, they don’t work well on curly or thin hair and weigh it down, but are great for straight or thick hair and help add shine to that type of hair. In addition to using products containing silicone, clarifying shampoos should be used every 2 to 4 weeks to remove build-up on the scalp.
For thin and curly hair, instead of synthetic oils such as silicone, it is better to use natural light oils such as grape seed oil or jojoba oil.
A good shampoo should not contain what ingredients?
Aside from detergents and conditioners (explained in detail earlier), the main ingredients in shampoos are foaming agents, thickeners, and matting agents.
These ingredients have nothing to do with the performance of the shampoo in terms of cleaning the hair.
To choose a good shampoo, you don’t need to know all the ingredients of the shampoo, unless it is proven to be harmful and you should look for its absence in the shampoo.
The most important of these harmful substances are listed below:
Paraben (look for a word that ends in paraben, such as butylparaben, ethylparaben, or methylparaben)
Polyethylene glycols (PEG): although this substance has been introduced as a safe substance by the US Food and Drug Administration up to a certain percentage, but due to the presence of impurities that can cause cancer, it is better than using it altogether. be avoided
Formaldehyde (look for Quaternium-15)
Artificial colors and fragrances (look for a number after the words FD&C or D&C)
Triclosan
Retinyl palmitate
Result
Shampoos are the main cleansers of the scalp and have a great impact on the health of the hair and scalp and their beauty. Anyone who is concerned about the beauty and health of their hair should know their hair type and look for a suitable shampoo that will not harm their hair.
Many shampoos are marketed based on the type of hair they are designed for. Shampoos for oily hair have a stronger cleansing effect, while shampoos for colored, straight, curly, chemically treated, bleached or dry hair, as well as sulfate-free shampoos, have milder surfactants to reduce oiliness.
Since advertising cannot be trusted, increasing awareness and education on how to find the best product is the solution. Reading the label of a product before buying is not that time-consuming, but if you do, you can guarantee the health and beauty of your hair to a great extent.
In this article, we tried to introduce you the ways to choose a good shampoo. You also share your experiences in the field of using different shampoos with us.