Your head of hair is a big part of your personality, so it is vital to protect it. With that in mind, so many of us try to create routines around this concept. We buy oils and gels to provide nutrients and shape our hair. We even use a variety of shampoos, conditioners, and soaps to help keep it healthy and looking great.
But what if I were to tell you that some of these products have ingredients that can damage your hair. Well, it is true and should be something you keep an eye out for. While any of these can have these damaging ingredients, the ones we will be looking at are the ones that are found in shampoo.
The funny thing is that many of these are not actually meant to damage the hair but instead help it. Because of this, it removes the idea that all shampoos are inherently bad for your hair. Instead, you have to look at the ingredients and the directions of your product and see what you need to use. Of course, there are a few that can be harmful and should be avoided whenever possible.
Sulfates that Can Cause More Harm than Good
So of the ingredients that we have on this list, sulfates are one of the more complicated ingredients for shampoos. This is because the point of sulfate is to help strip the oils and grime away from your hair to leave it clean and fresh. If you like it when your shampoo foams up, this is one of the chemicals that assists.
If sulfates can be so useful, what could make them harmful? And the answer is the same. While you might find that foamy feeling nice as it works away from the dirt and grime, it could also be working away at your hair itself. The thing about sulfates is that they will not distinguish between the dirt in your hair and the protective oils and essential proteins.
Over time the damage to these elements will damage the hair itself, and that might cause excessive hair loss. So a little Sulfate goes a long way with sulfates, so be careful how much you are exposing how much you are using it.
Sodium Chloride & How Salt Can be Harmful
So another thing that most people do not consider harmful for their body when taken in proper amounts is salt. They’re not wrong. Of course, as a little salt is important to your body, overexposure is a bad thing. So when a shampoo lists that it has sodium chloride, you should be aware of it.
The most adverse effect of this is that it will dry out your scalp. While at the base level, this will cause dandruff to develop on your head. If your scalp stays dried out, you can lose your hair.
Parabens & What They Do to Your Hair
So there are many different ingredients used in shampoo for all kinds of reasons, from thickening agents to scent creation chemicals are added to create what we use. But sometimes, we are just better off without the chemical, and Parabens are one of those. Used to keep shampoos from expiring, but the negative side effects have caused many to reconsider their use.
For one thing, they are known to mess with two things essential to your hair in the form of skin and hormones. It could cause dermatitis on your skin, affecting hair growth if you were to get on your scalp. On the other hand, hormones affect a lot in the body, including hair growth, so an upset could easily cause hair loss. These are only affected to your hair though as between these two Parabens can affect anything from pregnancy to diseases like cancer.
Alcohol & How It Affects Hair
Alcohol can be a part of any shampoo made in volume, and it is almost assured that it will have some form. While not all alcohols are a concern, and some will blend fine with your shampoo, there are a few that can damage your hair. The kind that you should most be concerned with are alcohols like isopropyl that have been known to cause damage.
This being said, though, do not discount a product just because it is listed as having an alcohol ingredient. Many alcohols have a great effect on the hair where they will help strengthen it and help it get nutrients.
The DEA & TEA of Hair
The last two ingredients that might be causing hair loss are the shampoo ingredients DEA and TEA. Not all will have these, so you should be sure to check and see if your shampoo does. If it does, you should stop using it. DEA stands for Diethanolamine, and TEA stands for Triethanolamine.
Despite the huge names, these two chemicals accomplish something very simple: to irritate the skin so it will absorb ingredients. Now irritating skin sounds bad for your hair, and it is, but these two chemicals have an additional side effect: they destroy keratin. Keratin is one of the fundamental components of hair, and if it is damaged, hair turns brittle and is destroyed.
