What are Plastic Resins, Waxes, and Silicones Doing in my Shampoos and Conditioners?
Beautiful, luxurious, and hydrated hair full of volume and shine. That is what the commercials tell you. Oh, let’s throw in that gorgeous celebrity with hair to die for. As if we really believe they are using the products they’re endorsing… Yeah right!
What you need to know is that these very products are loaded with chemicals like resins, plastics, waxes and silicones that are derived from petroleum by-products that are formulated to cosmetically coat your hair shaft. All it’s really doing, however, is laying on the surface to create that beautiful, luxurious, and hydrated hair fair full of volume and shine.
What’s worse is that over time, these very ingredients build up on your hair shaft making it dull, lifeless, frizzy, and unmanageable. Ah, the reason you tend to switch shampoos. We call it rotating the 10/40 weight!
These same ingredients are also found in styling products and even in the hot new hair oils and serums that are claiming to be all natural. For example, many serums that claim to be loaded with argan oil contain less than .05% of the oil ingredient they are glamorizing! You have to wonder why these companies do not list all the ingredients on their web sites.
Ingredient Alert! Avoid hair products with these ingredients.
Be on the lookout for the any hair care product or cosmetic with these ingredients:
- Dimethacon
- Cyclomethicone
- Acrylates
- Copolymers
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone
- Methylisothiazolinone
- Paraffin Waxes
All the above ingredients tend to be used in high percentages to enhance performance.
Warning: these ingredients can be found in products that claim to be completely natural and organic.
Wonderful alternatives are ingredients from plant extracts such as shea, eucalyptus, and aloe. These ingredients add hydration, moisture, and volume without coating your hair, making it lifeless.
Honey and beeswax, which come from bee farms that operate with high ethical and sustainable standards, add shine & volume and act as a natural resin. Seed oils also play a key role in adding hydration, moisture, and shine without weighting down your hair. These include Tamanu, baobab, and avocado seed oils.
Look past the marketing claims, beautiful pictures, and celebrity endorsements. Instead, read the ingredients panel on the back of the product you are looking to purchase. Keep yourself informed by supporting the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and using the Think Dirty app. It’s just that simple, and you’ll be making healthy choices for you, and your family, too!
19 Comments
The curly girl method says to avoid beeswax as well so is all products beeswax saying or are they different how is it different in innersense than it is in other hair products?
Hi Ginger,
Thanks for your question! If we are understanding you question correctly you are wondering how Innersense Organic Beauty hair care incorporates beeswax within it’s products that are still friendly for curly girls? If so, we can say that plenty of curl girls following the curly girl method use Innersense, even the products containing beeswax. The beeswax we use is water soluble and does not build up on the scalp and hair shaft.
Thank You!
Ok What about the Denatured alcohol in your ICF. Is it processed differently than conventional products? Is it a drying alcohol like the CGM list claims or is it just in cheaper products that its drying?
Hi Ginger!
Great question! Denatured alcohol is used for drying, which is especially important for a hair spray! We use rice grain alcohol. This emollient acts as a drying agent and as a carrier for our fixatives. Unlike other alcohols, rice grain alcohol is non-astringent, meaning it doesn’t strip the hair of natural oils or moisture. We encourage you to visit I Create Finish on the Think Dirty app. Our hair spray is independently clean rated 0, which is the best possible score. Hope this helps! Sending you lots of hair love!!
I have a question about the bottles that the products come in. Are they made with recyclable or biodegradable plastics?
Hi Mo,
Thanks for reaching out! Our bottles are recyclable, but they are not made of biodegradable plastics. While there is biodegradable advancements out there, there really isn’t an option for hair care at this time. Also, with the oils we utilize in our products, biodegradable packaging can not withstand stability testing we put our product through to ensure safety and longevity. We are currently exploring sustainable packaging options that we can move into and continue to adopts as the technology becomes available and compatible with our clean hair care.
Thank You!
One of the ingredients listed to avoid is copolymers. However, one of your products, I create hold, has maltodextrin copolymer. How is this different from copolymers found in other products?
Hi Agnes!
Thank you so much for reaching out. Most brands use polyquaterniums, which lead to build up and do not clarify as easily. We use maltodextrin because it does not share these qualities and is a holding agent that absorbs water and fights against humidity.
Sending you lots of happy hair love!
I understand polyquaterniums are bad and you don’t use them. You do use cetrimonium chloride which is a quaternium ammonium compound. What’s the difference between polyquats and quaternium ammonium compounds? Why do you avoid quaternium ammonium compounds but not cetrimonium chloride which is a quaternium ammonium compound?
You also use sebacic acid which is not very water soluble and will lead to build up like polyquats. How Is the sebacic acid copolymer you use different? How is this copolymer different from the copolymers you say we should avoid?
Hi Tanya!
Thank you so much for your comment and all great questions! If you can email [email protected] we can help you get these questions answered in full. Feel free to take a look at our ingredients page (https://innersensebeauty.com/ingredients/) where we list all the ingredient in our products – what they are and why we use them. Transparency is one of our top priorities, we always use clean ingredients and in the purest form. I would also recommend looking at the app ThinkDirty – where we rate a clean 0 and breaks down all ingredients and how clean or dirty they are. Hope this helps and gives a little more context. Sending you lots of hair love!
Is there any way to get rid of the products coating my hair shaft?
Hi Sydnee,
Yes! Switching over to Innersense Organic Beauty clean hair care will be the solution. The core of hair health and “detoxing” the build up, residue and coating ingredients off of the hair shaft is with our hairbaths and conditioners. Be sure to select the collection best suited for your hair texture. If you need a personal hair consultation feel free to give us a call at 1-877-254-7385.
Thank You!
What shampoos do u recommend ? I’m 61, mixed blonde color, white / gray at roots come in , need to go color them !!!!! I try not to wash hair often , use little products , only use hair dryer . I like volume items , I use sulfate free , products . I do see scalp thinning
Hi Donna! We would recommend starting off with our Color Awakening Hairbath and Color Radiance Daily Conditioner followed by our Sweet Spirit Leave In Conditioner. For styling, we would recommend our volume inducing I Create Lift Volumizing Foam. Sending you lots of happy hair love!
Why did you change the formulation of I create hold? I preferred the one with protein rather than the one with Copolymers.
Hi Andrea,
I Create Hold is the same formula you know and love! The same formulation we’ve had for many years has not changed.However, you may have noticed an update to our ingredient list for I Create Hold on bottle and on our website. During our launch into the European Union (EU), we identified irregularities in the way ingredients were listed. Coupled with the incidentals required by the EU, the I Create Hold bottle and product web page revisions may have given the impression the I Create Hold formulation changed. The I Create Hold formula is indeed the same and no changes were made. All ingredients in the I Create Hold formula are properly disclosed and comply with EU requirements. If you have any more questions feel free to email us at [email protected]. Sending you lots of hair love!
Hello, what kind of product do you recommend for my hair? I have thinning on top of head. Fine, limp hair. I dont use much products, and I don’t blow dry. I try to keep hair as natural as possible. But I do use hair oils, Pantene serum and one that claims to have argon oil but was listed in your do not use list. If I stop using the oil, how do I fight frizzy hair, while helping my thinning hair?
Hi Sandy! Thank you for your comment! Checking out our 14-Day Detox Page is a great place to start! Focusing on hair health will help combat frizz and dryness, as well as using our Sweet Spirit Leave In Conditioner! Our Pure Harmony Hairbath and Pure Inspiration Daily Conditioner are great for adding hydration to fine hair. Sending you lots of happy healthy hair love!