What’s in your hair products? Pt. 1
By: Oak Systems
Tags: Hair, Hair Care, Product, Black Women

What’s in your hair products? Pt. 1

At oak, we’re all about how the chemicals in your hair products interact with each other and with your hair. We wanted to create a short series to help you break down the ingredient labels on your favorite products. Each ingredient in a hair product falls into a specific category related to its function. Different types of hair products are made by mixing these standard ingredient categories in different ways. Understanding these different categories will help you better understand the long chemical names that might scare you away from certain products even if they are harmless!

This article will discuss the ingredient types you are most likely to find in a shampoo and what each ingredient type does. It is important to note that different ingredients within the same category can do the same job, but they might do it in different ways.

Surfactants (cleansers):

These are the ingredients that take the oil, product build up, and dirt out of your hair. They do so by having an oil-loving head and a water-loving tail. The oil-loving head will pick up oils in your hair and the water-loving tail will bind to the water when you rinse your hair to wash the oils away. Sulfates are probably the most well-recognized type of cleanser due to their strong cleansing properties, but there are many other types that are more mild.

Common cleansing ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionates, Shea ButterAmidopropyl Betaine

Emulsifiers (mixers):

Emulsifiers help mix the different ingredients in a hair product. Hair products are made mostly of water, but they also contain lots of oils. Because water and oil do not mix, you need emulsifiers to create one cohesive product. Emulsifiers are similar to cleansers in that they have an oil-loving head and a water-loving tail, and therefore, they can sometimes act as a more mild, secondary cleanser.

Common emulsifiers: Emulsifying wax, cetearyl alcohol, ceteareth 20, glyceryl stearate, polysorbate 20

Foam boosters and thickeners:

Foam boosters and thickening agents are all about making a hair product feel better to apply. Washing your hair should be a luxurious, self-care experience and your shampoo ingredients should reflect that. Foam boosters help create more foam when you lather your shampoo. Thickeners help create a thicker consistency in a hair product.

Common foam boosters and thickeners: Cocamide MEA, Cocamide MIPA, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl isethionate, methylcellulose, sodium chloride, Sucrose Laurate

Sienna Naturals’ H.A.P.I. Shampoo does not have sulfates or parabens.

Miscellaneous:

The miscellaneous ingredients can include certain extracts, essential oils, fragrance, and more. We’ve grouped all of these ingredients together because they are often in extremely small quantities and add slight enhancements to the main composition and function of shampoo. These ingredients will be highly variable between different product brands and are often used to help differentiate products on the shelf.

Common miscellaneous ingredients: Peppermint oil, tea tree oil, rosemary oil, Nettle extract, Lavender oil, Vanilla extract, Horsetail Extract

Preservatives:

Preservatives keep your hair products free from mold and bacteria. Hair products typically use a combination of 2–3 preservatives to provide full-spectrum protection from pathogen growth. Parabens are the most recognizable preservative ingredients due to claims they may be hazardous, but there are many safer alternatives that the majority of brands use now. Preservatives are typically at the end of the ingredient list and only included in products in small amounts.

Common preservatives: DMDM Hydantoin, Benzyl alcohol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sorbic Acid, Caprylhydroxamic Acid

Next time you go to read the back of an ingredient list, you can reference these groups to help break down all the crazy chemical names you’re seeing. Your oak system will already take into account how these different ingredient types will affect your hair in case you aren’t up to the research.