Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Should you change your shampoo every month?

I feel I need to write about hair shampoo. I can no longer keep quiet.

Many people wonder what the best hair shampoo is. They think that a shampoo can do all        sorts of wonderful things to their hair forgetting that the function of a shampoo is to cleanse  hair. How have we come to expect these benefits? It is the result of advertising which has      raised our expectations.

Years ago many of us were led to believe that we need to change our shampoo once a month to avoid “build up” and to keep our hair healthy. This was the advertising campaign of a particular company that sold shampoo. Was this based on scientific evidence? No, because there isn’t any. But consumers bought this hype lock stock and barrel.

People started to believe that they had “build up”. Build up of what? Apparently, build up of shampoo, conditioners and hair spray. (Impossible nowadays even hair spray is water soluble).

Advertising tells us that there is “build up” and the way to remove it is to change shampoos. (Does this make any sense?). This is a contradiction because what shampoos do is remove dirt and oil particles from the scalp and hair which cannot be done by water alone.

It’s amazing what we think shampoos can do for our hair. Today we can buy shampoos that claim to be the best shampoo for curly hair, the best shampoo for dry hair, the best thinning hair shampoo, best hair thickening shampoo, etc. Besides suggesting switching your shampoo manufacturers have decided to solve your hair problems (and imagined hair problems) with shampoos that can:

Make your hair healthy

Make your hair shiny

Change your hair

Detoxify your hair

Remove build-up

Give your hair body

Condition your hair

Add moisture to your hair

Stop hair loss

Make your hair thicker

Define curls

Protect against everyday environmental stresses

Make your hair less frizzy

Make your hair less poufy

Help regrow hair

Prevent hair color from fading

Protect hair from the sun

Conversely, some people think shampoos can:

Dry out your hair

Make your hair fall out

Cause breakage

Make your hair dull

Shampoos have become an obsession for some people. They have become “shampooholics”. There is even a “Shampoo Club” and some people suffer from “shampoo burnout”.

• “I can’t remember where I heard this but I thought that you should have at least two different shampoo’s in your shower. You’re supposed to switch from one brand to another every so often so you don’t get buildup or something”.

• “I have heard that your hair gets “used to” to whatever shampoo or conditioner that you are using regularly. I am not sure I believe that but that does not stop me from rotating shampoos and conditioners every few days….”

• “I try to switch my shamoo& conditioner up pretty often. I get bored and always want to try something new. It’s good for your hair, so there’s less buildup. Like the other said, using a clarifying shampoo (1x per week at least) will remove buildup”.

• “I try to switch out my shampoos often. If I don’t I get a lot of buildup. Also, my hair will get too used to one shampoo and that shampoo will not work in getting my hair clean. It also dries my hair out to use the same shampoo for too long”.

• “My roommate says you’re supposed to cycle your shampoo–use a different kind each day for a few days and then start over. My best friend says it’s bad for your hair and makes you have scalp issues”.

• “My idea was to change every time i finish a bottle. So i would finish this batch of Dove, go buy some other brand, when thats done, go back to the dove that I already have. I usually use the same shampoo so im not sure if it will even work”.

·        Would you change your shampoo for love?

“My girlfriend once told me that she loved the smell of Head & Shoulders 2 in 1. I considered switching over to make myself irresistible – despite hating combo cleansers – but we broke up before my Herbal Essence ran out. Would you make the compromise? How important is stability in a relationship when deciding to depart from a product?”

“Sorry for all the shower-time questions. Apparently I have nothing else to think about”.

Some people advocate against using shampoo completely. Why? Because they believe it’s “damaging” to your hair. This is also not based on scientific evidence.

Hair shampoo commercials have been and are still extremely successful. We seem to believe everything we are told. We even believe we can see and feel it in our hair.

The upside is that it’s good for business, and it’s good for the economy. But is it good for your pocket book and how will you feel when you realize that it’s not true?

One thing you have to consider is that cosmetic companies seem to be able to make claims without providing scientific evidence while other companies making false product claims risk being punished by the law.

Now, let’s look at the scientific facts. Every shampoo consists of three main ingredients. Water, anionic surfactants and a sudsing agent. Anionic surfactants what do they do? They are instrumental in removing dirt and keeping it emulsified, suspended and dispersed. They prevent re-depositing the dirt. Each surfactant molecule has a hydrophilic (water-loving) head that is attracted to water molecules and a hydrophobic (water-hating) tail that repels water and simultaneously attaches itself to oil and dirt. Those opposing forces loosen the dirt and force it away from the surface of the hair. The dirt particles can now get rinsed off the hair.

This process of removing dirt particles cannot take place with water alone or by adding “organic” substances to water such as wheat germ, etc.

The lathering helps you evenly distribute the shampoo on your head.

Shampoo is also slightly acidic. Its pH value is below 7 (6.5) and therefore does not dry out your hair.

So, regardless what shampoo you buy, in a drug store or hair salon, inexpensive or expensive, it has the same basic ingredients. It is designed to lift and remove dirt particles from your hair and that is all it does and can do.

It’s a wonderful invention, easy to use compared to times when people washed their hair with soap. The alkaline in the soap mixed with the calcium in the water left behind a film that made hair look dull. In those days a vinegar rinse was used to remove the film from the hair – the acidity neutralized the alkaline and removed the film.

So go ahead and buy any shampoo you want and as many as you want and pay as much as you want. Buy it because you want clean hair, you like the smell, how it suds and how it rinses out but not because it is supposed to make your hair thicker, prevent hair loss, de-frizz your hair, condition your hair, moisterize your hair, etc. Just buy it for what it is designed to do and that is to cleanse your scalp and your hair. That’s all you should expect from a shampoo and it does this very well.

Filed under Hair Care