As it is always said and told, to get a solution of any hair problem or problems arising by hair products, you need to dig a little deeper to find the root of that problem. That is where the solution lies mostly. So, if you know the problem you know you will find the solution.
Now the question arises how do you trust the solution, if it will work or not. One way is to get consultation from a certified doctor. But it should not always be the case for each and everybody. So lets find out what all we can dig.
Things to understand:
What should we normally ask about hair products?
When talking about the hair quality, it is better to always go as natural as possible because it eliminates the risk of side effects. We know we can find a solution for a hair problem if we understand the problem.
But what if the problem is not properly identified, or there is no natural solution to it. Should we not use any hair products if there is no visible problem? Do we need something to do for the maintenance of hair? What do the products do which we use for aesthetics. Which product to choose and what to know about when we choose?
While choosing hair products for your hair if it is for a disease or infection, you should only go for a consultation and get the prescription according to the situation.
But if we use hair products for day to day problems and just for maintenance, we should for some of the traits that are generic and will overall help you stay away from inviting more problems or escalate the existing ones.
The hair products used for aesthetics should be analysed carefully as to what it does to the physical structure of the hair. Carefully analyse the ingredients and learn about what suits you the most.
Necessary precautions to take while choosing hair products
As we discussed earlier, we don’t need product just to solve a problem, we also need them for regular maintenance and aesthetics of our hair. For that you can choose many hair products that are available in the market apart from the obvious natural solutions.
What precaution you should take or what pointer you need to keep in mind while choosing a product for yourself are listed below. They are very objective and were effective in big sample of population.
#1- ALCOHOLS
Choose the hair products which have minimal to zero alcohol content. Actually there are two types of alcohols present in the hair products. They can be classified both as good and bad. The good alcohols are the ones which are extracted from coconut oils, seeds, nuts, and other natural ingredients.
On the other hand, the bad alcohols are the ethanols and the methanols which are industrially produced and are mixed in soap for its appealing effects. There are obviously exceptions like phenoxyethanol.
It is a good ethanol which helps preserve the product. Besides that, the soap that seem translucent and are aesthetically pleasing are actually the ones ruining your tissue because for them to be so translucent they need to be treated with ethanols.
#2- SULPHATES
Look for Sulphates. You might have seen companies promoting their hair products with the taglines NO SULPHATES. Sulphates are the ones which forms bubbles and suds. Now it will come to you that isn’t that what we should go for. The answer is no. Although they form good bubbles, they are very hard cleaning agents. So hard that they wash off even the keratins and the essential oils, natural oils present in your hair which are very necessary for your hair growth. These sulphates are present in your product in basically 4 forms and this is how you identify them:
- SODIUM LAURYL SULPHATE also written as SLS
- SODIUM LAURETH SULPHATE also written as SLES
- AMMONIUM LAURYL SULPHATE also written as ALS
- AMMONIUM LAURETH SULPHATE also written as ALES
If you see them in any of your shampoos or conditioners, you might want to get rid of it. They make your hair frizzy, creates dandruff, creates split ends and make your hair extra dry.
#3- SILICONES
Like shampoos contain sulphates, most of the hair products like conditioners contain silicones. These are also used as a marketing strategy for companies that say NO SILICONES. Although they make your hair look shiny, the problem with silicones is they slowly and gradually start to build up and make reservoirs around the roots on the surface of scalp.
When the follicles are in resting phase these silicones clog the pores and don’t allow to follicles switch to anagen that is the growing phase. Read the article, what are the early signs of baldness to understand the stages of hair cycle.
To spot the product filled with silicones you need to look for the words that end with the word “cone”.But all silicones are not evil as we may think.
For eg: DimethiconeCopolyol – They are water soluble that means they are lightweight. They will not build up or easily wash away with water and give lusture to your hair.
On the other hand Amodimethicones are not water soluble. They are heavy and do not wash away from water. You will need extra good shampoo to wash it off to avoid clogging of pores.
#4- PARABENS
NO PARABENS. You might have heard them for the first time because not until recently it was discovered that the they can cause harm to hormones. So it doesn’t really harm our hair directly but being absorbed through hair, it can go inside the system and cause other damages.
Now a good alternative for that is the one we have talked about earlier that is PHENOXYETHANOL. It is under good alcohol and a better alternative for the preservation of our product.
In order to spot parabens on your hair products you actually need to look for compound words either starting or ending with the word ‘parabens’ in it.
#5- WAXES & GELS
For the boys out there, when you apply waxes, gels and other aesthetic products, take care of the area of product application. Do not apply anything like that to the roots of your hair. Instead if you are applying them to the hair in small amounts, it might be fine if you wash it off quickly.
#6- EQUIPMENTS
For the girls, keep your hair heat free as much as possible. If you keep your hair exposed to excessive heat on daily basis it will deform the structure and integrity of hair strands. Some people even use iron to get out of those curls. Constant and extreme heat will paralyse the strands of the hair. Always be careful with the temperature ranges your appliances keep your hair exposed to.
CONCLUSION
With detailed analysis and researches and experiments, number of them when we talk about, scientist have successfully come a long way to figure out what works best for which type of hair.
But on the other hand,these solutions might come at higher cost and cut down on companies’ margins. So, to save them their money they use the simple technique and use a cheaper formula.
Marketing strategies and promotions puts on a blind fabricated screen in front of our eyes to fall into the illusion and buy their products. It is for us to make an informed choice and take the best care of our hair.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] on hair products
Not all hair products are bad for our hair. It is for us to identify what our hair needs and choose the product accordingly with informed decisions and better understanding.
Firstly, not all cheap products are bad and not all expensive products are good. What matters is the ingredients and the quality of ingredients. Price parameter is different for different people. Something costly for one can be cheap for another.
It is recommended to go for natural hair product for most of the problems as they have little to no side effect. But some of the synthetic products are also good depending upon the requirement and the usage.
Baby products are a lot milder than adult products. They are easy on skin and have no chemicals. After a certain age, the product classification becomes purely on need basis.
It varies person to person. If you are allergic to any particular component, it might cause some irritation to you. So it is always recommended to test the product at the back of your ear once. Generally, natural hair products do not have side effects.
