Shampoo!

Recently I became a whole lot more aware of the sorts of shampoos I should and shouldn't be avoiding. This was in part due to a warning from my own hair- after a vicious seven month episode of TE, my poor scalp became too sensitive to cope, and, instead of the hair fall stopping, it increased! It was blocking the follicles or something. After a shampoo my scalp would be red raw and it would itch incredibly. It was pretty disgusting, if I touched my hair flakes would fall from it. As an already self concious 16 year old, after I'd lost a good third of my hair, this was the last thing I needed.

I knew about things like sodium laureth/ lauryl sulphate (laureth is the gentler version, but it's still pretty harsh. It's a detergent and it produces bubbles, which you don't need), but I hadn't really taken it all seriously. This time, I found myself up and down the shampoo aisle in Tesco, trying to find one free of SLS, parabens, propylene glycol, ammonium LS, colours, parfum, etc etc- there wasn't a single one! I checked all my shampoos at home, and I'm sad to say that I've had to abandon L'Oreal kids, Tresemme, Head and Shoulders (AGGRAVATES dandruff! Like pouring bleach onto an open wound! Nothing you put on your hair should smell that "nice"), Le Petit Marseillais, The Body Shop banana shampoo...everything had at least three or four "danger" chemicals. Even baby shampoos- they had some pretty nasty stuff too. People think that it's really mild, but it can actually be very tough on your hair and scalp, because it's used to remove cradle cap, and also it won't "clean properly" because it's still quite mild. I know it doesn't make sense. It's good for hair, bad for the scalp. I went to four different shops and pharmacies trying to find a completely clear shampoo. In Boots, I came across their expert range.

When I'd been a hair straightening addict, I'd used their protection spray. I hadn't noticed much of a difference, and it had a bloody long list of ingredients. I noticed they had a dandruff shampoo for sensitive scalps and checked the ingredient list. C'etait un miracle! NO SLS, ALS, colouring. There were parabens and parfum, but I decided to give it a go.

After shampooing (yesterday night), it itched a little, but not as much as before. My scalp was a nice normal scalp colour, which was a big point in its favour. Obviously it wouldn't work at once. It doesn't make your hair look all shiny and everything, and it can be a bit hard to wash out because it's quite thick. But that's to be expected if they've got milder chemicals. The next morning I felt some itching, but there were absolutely no hairs on my pillow! It's not like before it'd been covered, but there'd always been a few. So that was good...Now I just have to wait. But I'm impressed that it doesn't have SLS in it, because shampoos without them are very hard to find usually (even "clear, all natural" shampoos, like from Suma, still have SLS and other things like that in them).

Boots Expert anti Dandruff Shampoo for Sensitive Scalps ingredients:

(Lauryl means from coconut oil).
aqua (water), cocamidopropyl betaine (it's a much gentler version of SLS- it's what makes this shampoo lather up well, so not essential and can sometimes be an allergy trigger), PEG-18 glyceryl oleate/cocoate ("not to be used on damaged skin"), lauryl glucoside (a thickening agent), sodium cocoamphoacetate (lather and foam, so not essential), citric acid ( a weak acid which makes the hair scales lay flat, therefore making it smoother and acts against bacteria, so it can't be that mild), parfum (the shampoo doesn't smell of anything really), phenoxyethanol (a weak irritant which has been linked to cancer*, used in suncream for protection), piroctone olamine (has been linked to hair loss*, is well known to be anti dandruff, and is much milder than other anti dandruff agents), sodium methylparaben (parabens left for a long time on the skin can be absorbed into the blood stream and has been linked to breast cancer, methylparaben in particular has been linked to skin aging prematurely) sodium ethylparaben, dipropylene glycol (low toxicity, gentle on skin),Tetrasodium EDTA(another one which can be absorbed into the blood stream, it's a preservative and is an eye irritant). That's a lot less than some shampoos!

When I say it's been linked to cancer, I'm not saying it makes the shampoo canceregenous! Hamburgers have been linked to cancer, the sun's been linked to cancer, everything is these days. Hopefully no one's going to be drinking the shampoo. Same with hair loss- shampoos won't cause hair loss, they'll usually just make the hair weaker, and if they do cause hair fall afterall, it's because it's triggering an allergic reaction which is probably making your head an unhealthy enviroment for growing hairs (i.e. your scalp will produce excess sebum, which clogs your follicles, as in my case). Parabens won't cause an allergic reaction but with the bloodstream thing, I'd make sure to rinse thoroughly.

It's in a white, 400ml bottle and looks a bit like a supermarket 'value' range shampoo because it's a very simple design. It was £2.49 or thereabouts, which is definately reasonable, but then you can't expect it to be really expert or medicated.

Note that:

Hypoallergenic doesn't mean it's special. It just means that, on most people, it won't provoke a serious allergic reaction (which is wrong- I was 'allergic' to quite a few of those supposedly non-allergenic shampoos). So, in fact, most manufacturers could claim that. It's a big selling point and people fall for it.

Mild doesn't mean it's mild. Mild means they've probably added even more chemicals into it to make it smell "milder", look "milder" and act "milder" on your hair.
PH balanced doesn't matter. Your hair and skin and the water you'll use have their own PHs, which will change the shampoo's PH anyway once you use it. Plus what does "balanced" mean? Does it mean neutral or "acidically balanced"? It means nothing, it's a marketing tool.

"I have melon/ banana/ tea tree oil extract!"- it won't do anything! It'll probably be melon flavouring and it's not going to sink into the hair shaft or anything because the molecules are too large. Even if it is pure fruit extract, if that can sink into the hair, so can all of the other nasty ingredients. Same with biotin shampoo- it won't do anything because it won't go in. It's etremely rare for someone to have a biotin deficiency. Usually people who eat a lot of raw eggs have one.

No more tears means another load of chemicals. And anyway, that's a lie! They always do sting. No more tangles mean they've mixed in a good measure of conditioner and they haven't told you it's a 2in1, and they're expecting you not to rinse it all out because it's too thick for water to remove so that it'll coat the hair, making it more slippery and easier to comb.

2in1s, when they tell you, I used to really like, especially in summer, when you're in and out of the pool all the time. Make sure to choose a very light one and rinse it all out!

"I'll make your hair glossy/shiny/straighter/generally more socially acceptable"- every person's hair is different. My own hair is very picky because it's fine and very thick (or, at least, it used to be very thick!), which is a weird combination (fine refers to the diameter of the actual hair). Apart from the sensitive scalp, it'll go strawlike and flyaway if I don't use the right one. It'll never go sheetlike and there's not a whole lot of point in straightening it, since it's dead straight anyway (I can't stress how bad straightening is for your hair. You're not just burning the ends, but the whole length of your hair. The ends will let you know first, but it's just as bad for all of it).

Hydrating shampoos are a complete lie. It's just something to fill up the label. It doesn't hydrate your hair at all. It'll probably dry it out. Herbal also doesn't mean much. Rosemary is good for hair, but what are they using? Just because it says 'herbs', i.e. all-natural, doesn't mean it'd have any effect on hair, good or otherwise. And usually it's just parfum which smells of "herb" (don't trust herbal essences, even if they do smell amaaaaazing).

'Recommended by a salon'- maybe the brother of the cousin of the wife of the manufacturer's son worked in a beehive parlour somewhere and told him he used it on old Mrs Brown and it worked very nicely, thanks for the free sample, the blue tinge was especially appreciated. Or maybe Tony and Guy personally call all of their clients to recommend the product to them. Either way, it doesn't mean it's good for your hair. It means it makes it manageable and "clean". Hairdressers often don't know what's good for your hair. If they did, they wouldn't use all those sprays and serums and things while they're working on it.

Henna is great for your hair- at least, it doesn't do anything to it (except dry it out a little) and it makes it look fuller. It doesn't regrow hair or make it grow faster or anything, but it coats each hair and makes it stay shiny for longer. It's completely natural. Steer clear of "blonde" and "black" henna- they've had stuff added to them and probably have about 2% real henna plant in them. Henna marketed as 'neutral' is also not real- it's based on cassia obovata and it's known as 'neutral henna' because it doesn't leave colour deposit on your hair. Pure 100% cassia obovata isn't henna, it's another plant, but it's good for your hair. Real henna turns blonde hair ginger and gives dark hair a sort of auburn tint. If you want your light hair to go dark, you have to mix pure indigo with henna, don't just buy the 'black' henna, even if the box says 'ammonia free'.

Conditioner only is something I don't know much about, but conditioner is basically a watered down, emulsified version of shampoo. I imagine it takes a good while for your hair to adjust to CO, but I've heard rave reviews about it.

Using egg on your hair is very good, but make sure to use very very cold water when washing it out, or the egg white will actually cook on your hair, and it'll be an absolute bugger to get out. Yoghurt dries your hair out a bit but it's still good. Apple cider vinegar (ACV) and lemon juice are meant to give your hair shine, but they are very acidic and should be watered down a lot. What they do is strip the hair of its dull outer layer, revealing the new, shiny, vulnerable underlayer. It'll quickly become dull again, and it'll be very weak. So water it down and don't leave it on the hair (it probably won't have much effect anyway like that). Lemon juice also lightens the hair, and lots of people apply it in summer. Don't! It'll fry your hair! When the sun hits it, it'll be like a softer version of bleach. Using oil is difficult because you need a fload of shampoo to wash it out, which kind of defeats the purpose. It'll leave your hair feeling quite clean and the roots won't feel clumpy (you know after it's wet, it sort of all clumps together?) and they'll be separable, but it'll look greasy.

p.s. I couldn't be bothered making a new blog so I edited a post in this. I actually posted this on May 20th 2010, not 2007.