Bio Nerd Beautician--Hair 101: Shampoo

Hello!

Are you ready for some nerdiness? I hope you are because this is the first segment of Bio Nerd Beautician, The Hair 101 Series!
First up, shampoo.


There are about a bajillion different shampoos from different brands out there, so let's break it down.

Inside the Bottle

Just about every shampoo bottle you pick up will have four things: an acid, a base, a lather builder, and a thickening agent.

The base is a detergent of some kind, usually ammonium lauryl sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate. The most common acids are ascorbic acid and citric acid. (When life gives you lemons, make shampoo?) The amount of acid or base is dependent on what the shampoo is supposed to do. Detergents often make hair dull, so acid is added to make hair shinier. If your shampoo is supposed to have shine it will be more acidic. If it's clarifying it will be more alkaline (or basic).

Lather builders are very important in shampoo, they help to better clean the hair. The most commonly used lathering agents are cocamide mea or cocamidopropyl betaine. These chemical compounds help create the suds, which make the detergents work better by allowing more dirt to be lifted from the hair and washed away.

Thickening agents are used to insure a thick product with the right consistency, and are often used as fillers. The most often used thickeners are xanthan gum, cetyl alcohol, sodium chloride (salt), and stearyl alcohol. This is where some issues appear. Most of these compounds can be very drying. Especially the alcohols. The more inexpensive products usually have more alcohols, where as the more expensive have less.

Types of Shampoo

There are four basic categories of shampoo: Deep Cleansing Shampoos, Conditioning Shampoos, Baby Shampoos, and Anti-Dandruff Shampoos.

1) Deep Cleansing Shampoos


These types of shampoos are also known as oil control, balancing, clarifying, thickening, and volumizing.

These kinds of shampoos are made to cleanse your scalp and hair. If you produce a lot of oil these types are for you. For those who do not over-produce oil, its good to use a clarifying shampoo once a week or every two weeks to remove build-up. Especially if you use a lot of  product. If you have dry hair I would suggest steering clear of these altogether, unless you want even drier hair.
These types usually contain a higher amount of detergents such as ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate. (Both of which Cas is allergic to.)


2) Conditioning Shampoos

These shampoos are commonly labeled as smoothing, color care, anti-frizz, moisturizing,  hydrating, strengthening, and straightening.

These types of shampoos are all about moisturizing. They contain moisturizing agents like silicone or Polyquaternium 10. These agents smooth hair and help to straighten as well. These are for people with dry, damaged, or color-treated hair. Fine haired peeps should avoid, unless you are anti-volume.

These shampoos typically have less detergent than other types.

3) Anti-Dandruff Shampoos

Key words to identify these are: dry scalp, anti-itch, or flake control.

These shampoos are actually considered over-the-counter drugs, since they are medicated.

There are several ingredients that are common in most anti-dandruff shampoos: Coal Tar, Salicylic Acid and Sulfur, Ketoconazole, Selenium Sulfide, and Zinc Pyrithione. Different companies have one or more of these as the active ingredient in their anti-dandruff shampoos. For instance, Head & Shoulders uses Zinc Pyrithione, which works as an anti-fungal ingredient while also breaking down dead skin cells. It is also gentle enough for every day use.

Well, I hoped you liked the first of my Hair 101 series and the first of my soon-to-be regular Bio Nerd Beautician segment. If you have any questions or comments please let me know. 

With love,

Kat