Say no to Sulfates

A sulfate is a cleansing agent and surfactant that can be found in household cleaners, detergents and shampoos. The two biggies that many shampoos contain are Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES). These and other sulfates create the lathering effect that removes dirt and oil from your hair and scalp. Sounds great, but these harsh sulfates can disrupt the moisture/protein balance by stripping the hair of it’s natural oils. Long-term daily use of a sulfate shampoo can create dry, frizzy and undefined curls. 

Say no to Silicones

Silicones are polymers that are meant to provide slip and shine while taming frizz. Wonderful, right? Unfortunately, these silicones can build up on the hair over time and create a residue barrier, which blocks moisture from reaching the hair shaft. The only way to remove silicones is with a sulfate shampoo, which can strip the hair. Endless cycle begins and no moisture/protein balance can be achieved. 

Always avoid both sulfates and silicones

Scenario 1: Sulfate shampoo followed by silicone conditioner and stylers. The shampoo strips the hair and the silicones block the moisture. This creates an endless cycle leaving you with dry, frizzy, lifeless hair.

Scenario 2: Sulfate-free shampoo followed by silicone conditioners and stylers. The sulfate free shampoo is not strong enough to remove the silicones from the hair. The silicones will eventually create an almost plastic-like barrier – no moisture can get in. Ugh … another formula for dry, frizzy lifeless hair.

Scenario 3: Sulfate-free shampoo and silicone free conditioner and stylers (otherwise known as the Curly Girl Method). Gentle cleansing or cowashing does not strip the hair of natural oils. Moisture can penetrate the hair shaft allowing the moisture/protein balance to thrive and curls become juicy and defined! Yay!

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You may have seen these ingredients in your favorite products and wondered what the heck is a polyquaternium? Sounds like it’s probably harmful to my hair … Well, these active ingredients are actually conditioning agents that provide lovely benefits, but could also have the potential to build up.

If you are using products that contain a lot of polyquats and are experiencing frequent build-up … it might be worth taking a second look at these ingredients.

What is a Polyquat?

For our purposes … Polyquats are cationic conditioning agents, which by definition are ingredients that improve the quality of another material. Benefits include improving shine and softness, while reducing frizz, fly aways, breakage and split-ends.

Fun Fact: The numbers are assigned in the order in which they are registered rather than their chemical structure.

Conditioning agents and build-up

According to the Science-y Hair Blog, all conditioning agents have the potential to build-up, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s hair will accumulate build-up.

Definitely check out that article, but an important takeaway from it is this amazing list of polyquats and their potential to build up. I summarized her list below and I hope this helps you decide which polyquats are right for you.

Higher Build-Up Potential

• Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride: Very good for detangling, especially detangling wet hair which is why it is used in shampoos.
• Polyquaternium-4: Has film-forming properties and is usually used to provide “hold” in styling products and also thicken a product.

Moderate Build-Up Potential

• Polyquaternium-7: Used to lessen the drying effect of detergents and add a “conditioned” feel to products so hair or skin feel soft. It helps detangle wet and dry hair and may help create shine.
• Polyquaternium -11: Often used in hair mousses because it provides light hold. This ingredient can give hair a tacky feel while on the hair and after rinsing.
• Polyquaternium-55 – An excellent heat protectant that helps hair retain dyed color longer. Has potential for “over-conditioning.”
• Hydroxypropyltrimonium When this term precedes an ingredient, it means it has been modified to have a cationic charge. These ingredients provide slip and softness and help reduce frizz, but will stick to your hair causing build-up.
• Polyquatermium-59 – This ingredient is UV light absorbing qualities, which means sun protection! This is added benefit of protection for your hair, so might not be a bad thing if you are in the sun a lot.

Lower Build-Up Potential

• Polyquaternium-10 – It is often used in shampoos for detangling and styling products to provide light hold. This may be removable with a polyquaternium-free, anionic (sulfate or olefin sulfonate) shampoo.
• Polyquaternium-69 – Weakly cationic film-former for hold in hair products. Likely to be removed after 1-2 shampooings.
• Polyquaternium-37 – Used for conditioning for limp, thin or “fine” hair. Reported to help improve volume and body in hair.
• Polyquaternium-44 – Used in some shampoos and was designed as an alternative to Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride and other more build-up provoking ingredients.
• Polyquaternium-87 – Created as an alternative to Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride used for detangling, creating a soft feel and frizz control. Will be removed after 1-2 shampoos.
• Polyquaternium-47 – An amphoteric conditioning ingredient used for detangling and softening hair.

Personal Journey

Early on in my curly hair journey, I swore off polyquats because I thought for sure it was the reason I wasn’t liking my results. So for a few years, I did not use polyquats at all and I did see some improvement over time.

However, I was recently looking for a new curl enhancer and had been wanting to try AG Re:Coil, but avoided it because it contains Polyquaternium-55 and Polyquaternium-10.

Well, I decided to give polyquats another chance and OMG! I absolutely love RE:Coil! It is a holy grail for me now.

So point being … it’s easy to get wrapped up in every little detail, ingredient and rule. Knowledge is power, so now that you know the deets, don’t be afraid to experiment and do what works best for you and your individual hair!

The post Not all Polyquats are created equal appeared first on Is it CG?.

Amazon, on the other hand, is not a credible source for ingredients. It is a great place to purchase (some) products and to read reviews, but I do not recommend copying the ingredients from that source. I have seen too many discrepancies with ingredients like the example below from their site.

Example: Ion Hardwater Shampoo (inconsistent ingredients bolded)

Amazon’s Ingredient List

WATER ,SODIUM C14-16 OLEFIN SULFONATE, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, COCAMIDE MEA, PPG/PEG-2/10 GLYCERYL COCOATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE, PEG-120 METHYL GLUCOSE DIOLEATE, FRAGRANCE, DISODIUM EDTA, WHEATGERMAMIDOPROPYL DIMETHYLAMINE HYDRO, PANTHENOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM GLUCONATE, METHYLPARABEN, GLUCOSE, PROPYLPARABEN, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ASCORBIC ACID , BLUE 1, YELLOW 5

Sally’s Beauty Ingredient List

WATER, SODIUM C14-16 OLEFIN SULFONATE, COCAMIDE DIPA, SODIUM CHLORIDE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, GLYCERIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, DISODIUM LAURETH SULFOSUCCINATE, DISODIUM EDTA, FRAGRANCE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE, SODIUM GLUCONATE, PEG-120 METHYL GLUCOSE DIOLEATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, PANTHENOL, CITRIC ACID, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, GLUCOSE, LINUM USITATISSIMUM (LINSEED) SEED EXTRA, BENZOIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID, BLUE 1, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, HEXYL CINNAMAL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL

Holy Moly! You can see from these examples that these ingredient lists are soooo different. Amazon’s list basically says it is not curly girl approved because it contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate. It also has a couple parabens, which is a deal breaker for some. These look like totally different products to me.

Here’s what the bottle says!

Looks like Sally’s Beauty has the correct ingredients and Amazon was way off.

Lesson learned! Always double check the ingredient lists. I would hate hate hate for anyone to purchase or not purchase a product because the ingredients that were entered into the app were incorrect. Please try to find the most accurate ingredients before using the app.

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