Shampoo & conditioners

• Hairdressing
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Shampoo & Conditioners 

Shampoo

There are many varieties of shampoos on the market

Shampoos start as a soapless base product but have additives placed in them to make them unique

Eg argon oils for dry hair, lemon for oily hair or tea tree for scalp issues

A good professional shampoo should have good quality products which are sulphate and paraben free

Sulfates are chemicals used as cleansing agents. They're found in household cleaners, detergents, and even shampoo. Two main types of sulfates are used in shampoo: sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. The purpose of these sulfates is to create a lathering effect to remove oil and dirt from your hair.

Sulfates help a shampoo to strip oil and dirt away from the hair. However, the hair needs to retain a bit of its natural moisture and oils to stay healthy. Sulfates may strip away too much moisture, leaving the hair dry and unhealthy. They may also make the scalp dry and prone to irritation.

What do you think happens to coloured hair?

Parabens 

In order to preserve the shelf life of many shampoos, parabens are used. A paraben is a preservative and it is used to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungus in shampoos. There are many different types of parabens, namely,

 butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben and isobutylparaben.

Conditioners 

Conditioners come in many forms

Surface conditioners

Intensive treatments

Leave in sprays/creams

A good quality conditioner should be silicone free

Silicones 

Over time, silicone can also build up on your hair, resulting in a dry feel and dull appearance. You may even notice that your hair becomes weaker and more prone to breakage. And if you're using a form of silicone that isn't water-soluble, it can be really hard to remove it with a regular wash creating a plastic coating.

dimethicone, cetyl dimethicone, cetearyl methicone, dimethiconol, stearyl dimethicone, cyclomethicone, amodimethicone, trimethylsilylamodimethicone, and cyclopentasiloxane) are the ones that are not water-soluble

What do surface conditioners do to the hair?

Surface conditioners help maintain the hairs natural condition, and help restore the hair after a chemical service

They help smooth the cuticle, reducing tangling and making the hair shiny

They restore the pH balance to keep hair healthy, especially after a chemical  service

leave in 

Can come in a spray or cream form

Used for extra protection

Spray good on finer hair

There are a variety of intensive treatments which include:-

Reconstructurants – these tend to be protein based and repair the hair from within

Moisturisers – add additional moisture

Bond building treatments eg Olaplex, fibreplex etc are used either in conjunction with chemicals or as a stand alone treatment work on the internal structure rebuilding the bonds as they are broken down to allow hair to be more aggressively handled