With all the care you’ve taken of your hair, would it surprise you to know that even if you don’t have overt signs that your hair is in fact damaged? And the longer your hair is, the more damage it has sustained?

Damage can be defined as any condition where one or more of the hair structures – the cuticle, cortex, medulla, etc. – are physically or chemically altered so much that they are unable to return to their original state. Cuticles can become cracked and frayed, the hair shaft can become cracked damaging the cortex and medulla, and the hair fiber can be exposed and unprotected in extreme cases.

The question is, to what extent is your hair damaged?

Main Causes of Damage

Common causes of hair damage include that from regular hair care practices such as mechanical manipulation, to extreme processes like chemical altering.

Mechanical damage includes damage from friction and tension. Friction occurs when the hair strands rub against each other. In some hair types and textures this can lead to a build up of static electricity and flyaways. This is rarely the case for textured hair. What we tend to experience is the rising of the cuticles and tangling. Causes of friction include combing, brushing, manipulation of the hair with our fingers, shampooing and conditioning the hair.

Tension is another culprit when it comes to damaging the hair. A common example of this is traction alopecia which results in hair loss along the hairline. It’s caused primarily by pulling forces being applied to the hair, and occurs commonly from tight ponytails, puffs or braids.

Heat styling is a major source of damage especially when the hair is being manipulated with a brush while being styled. These tools can deplete the hair of moisture resulting in dryness.

Shampoos that have a pH higher than 5.5 can cause a pH imbalance and affect the cuticle. If it contains harsh surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate the hair can be stripped of its natural oils located in the epicuticle, or the outermost cuticle layer. This can result in mechanical damage due to combing and styling. In addition, the intercellular “glue” which binds the fibers of the cortex together can be dissolved by repeated shampoos with a high pH and harsh detergents. This can lead to damage to the cortex (which accounts for the hair’s strength).

Lastly, hair can be damaged from modifying its chemistry through the application of chemical relaxers, texturizers and permanent colours. When the hair is damaged in this way, the fatty acids cuticle are stripped away leading to an increase in the porosity of the hair. More water will enter the hair shaft causing it to swell. A swollen hair shaft can result in a lifted cuticle, more friction, tangles and damage.

The reality is that the longer your hair is, the more exposure it’s had to physical manipulation. The hair towards the end of your hair is the oldest and most susceptible to being damaged from combing, brushing, exposure to UV rays, manipulation, friction, etc.

So what is “Healthy” Hair?

In her book “Hair Care Rehab: The Ultimate Hair Repair & Reconditioning Manual”, Audrey Davis-Sivasothy describes healthy hair as “damaged hair that is well-maintained”.

Characteristics of healthy hair or hair that is in good condition include the appropriate balance of the following properties:

1. Elasticity – the ability of the hair to be stretched or manipulated without breaking.
2. Porosity – the ability of the hair to absorb moisture.
3. Strength – The ability of the hair to resist breakage with manipulation.

Healthy textured hair should:

• Have minimal breakage;
• Feel soft to the touch;
• Appear shiny or possess sheen;
• Have the ability to properly retain moisture;
• Have a fairly uniform curl pattern from the base of the hair to the ends;
• Return back to its original position after being stretched.

Once hair has been damaged there is no way to repair it. The only way to rid the hair of damaged areas is by cutting. Companies market products as having the ability to “repair the hair” but this is not entirely true. What the products can do is temporarily improve the state of the hair to make it look, feel and perform like hair that is healthier, as well as prevent future damage.

How Damaged Is Your Hair?

To assess how damaged your hair is, answer the following questions:

1. Do you have a loss of elasticity to your hair? Curly and kinky hair should be able to stretch to about 50% of its length before breaking. If it can’t be stretched to this degree without breaking then it has lost some elasticity and tensile strength.
2. Is your hair breaking? This is related to loss of elasticity. Minimal breakage is normal but patches of broken hairs signify more extensive damage.
3. Does your hair have shine or sheen or does it look dull? While lack of shine or sheen may be a characteristic of healthy hair of some curly hair types on healthy hair a tight cuticle layer reflects light.
4. Is your hair dry and brittle? Hair becomes brittle when it has lost moisture. Damage to the cuticle and cortex are the main reasons for this brittleness.
5. Is your hair highly porous? Porosity assess how easily the hair accepts and releases moisture and other substances. Porosity and moisture loss are due to cuticle damage. The cuticle is no longer tightly aligned and providing proper coverage to the hair shaft.
   
6. Do you have split ends? Split ends are ruptures that travel up the hair shaft that expose the inner structures of the hair.
7. Does your hair tangle a lot? Excessive tangling can be due to frayed hair fibers.

If you answered “yes” to two or more of these questions then your hair is need of some TLC. Stay tuned for repair strategies in next week’s post!

I’m not a person that does what others are doing just because. I need to understand the reasoning behind a specific practice and this methodology of conditioner washing had a cult-like following. People were swearing by it and how it made such a difference in the health and management of their hair. My inquiring mind wanted to know more about what it was all about, and if it there was any merit to its claims.

The “No-Poo” Method

Lorraine Massey who revolutionized caring for curly hair popularized the “no shampoo” method. She wrote the book “Curly Girl” which details how to properly care for curly and coily hair types. When she was a stylish living in Hong Kong at 19, one day she didn’t wash her hair with shampoo and realized how great her hair looked:

I’d skip a shampoo and then notice that it looked better,” she says. “And then I’d wait longer and longer and my hair would look even better and then I’d think, Oh my God! What am I doing? This is gross! And I’d use shampoo again and my hair would freak out and look terrible. Eventually, I realized that my hair looked best without shampoo and the harshness of Sodium Laurel Sulfate found in all shampoos. The curls would lie nicely on top of each other. They had a shine. The cuticle was moist. The outside world around me noticed and everyone would say, ‘I love your hair’

For those of you who are not aware, the no-poo method, prompted by Lorraine Massey and now popularized by Chaz Dean with his Wen haircare line is essentially eliminating or reducing the use of shampoo on the hair and “cleansing” it with conditioner. Any type of conditioner is good for the hair and it doesn’t need to be expensive in order for it to “cleanse” the hair. However the question I had when I first heard about co-washing is this: when you are co-washing your hair are you cleansing it or conditioning it?

How Shampoos Work

Shampoos contain surfactants. Chemically, surfactants are polar molecules meaning they have a water-soluble end, and an oil-soluble end. In other words one end is attracted to water and the other to oil. This structure gives surfactants the unique ability to combine oil and water and it also allows them to create foam as well. When the shampoo is applied to the hair the surfactants surround the dirt and debris and lift it off your hair and keep it suspended in the rinse water so it goes down the drain, not back on your hair.

Detergents seem to work a few ways.

• Roll-up mechanism: Causes a rapid detachment of oils from your hair, scalp, body, and/or clothes, which are displaced by the surfactant.
• Micellular solubilization mechanism: The soils are solubilized into the micelles and washed away. The oils in the hair and scalp are dislodged with the detergent solution.
• Dispersion and emulsification: Soil particles are emulsified into the solution. Sebum might actually help this process.

The way the “no-poo” method works may be by the two latter methods – micellular solubilization, and dispersion and emulsification. There are no detergents in conditioners, or very low levels in some specially formulated cleansing conditioners. Therefore the first mechanism (the roll-up mechanism) doesn’t really work with conditioning emulsifiers or cationic quaternary compounds. One thing that these ingredients do very well is emulsify so they will do this to some extent to the oils on your hair so they can be rinsed away.

Is there something legitimate to Conditioner Washing?

Lorraine Massey found harsh surfactants like sodium laurel sulfate to be the primary concern with her using shampoos. Cosmetic science has come a long way in the development of surfactants that don’t strip the hair. Additionally, with the demand for less harsh shampoos companies are formulating products that offer extra conditioning with the cleansing benefits of detergents.

Does it work? Well there are thousands of curlies who have used it and swear by it for improving the integrity of their hair. While there have been no scientific studies on the validity of this method, anecdotal reports are enough to make people consider adding it to their hair care regime. It’s a beneficial method for individuals with dry, textured hair; however for someone with oily hair it may not do such a good job or removing sebum and buildup.

The decision to conditioner wash is entirely personal. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve done it, not because I’m against the practice, but because the shampoo I use doesn’t contain harsh detergents but tons of conditioning ingredients that make my hair feel extremely soft after it’s washed. I also use oils and butters on my hair that require more than conditioner to be removed.

If co-washing there are a couple of things to consider:

1. Any conditioner will do. You don’t need to use expensive “cleansing conditioners” to achieve the desired results. While these products typically contain other ingredients to pimp the product such as botanicals, if they are water-soluble ingredients and don’t penetrate into the hair shaft in any appreciable amount then they, like your money, can be washed down the drain. The primary conditioning ingredient in these products is the cationic quaternary compounds such as behentrimonium methosulfate, cetrimonium bromide or similar ingredient. I’ll also mention that some of these specially formulated cleansing conditioners contain low concentrations of surfactants such as cocamidopropyl betaine. This is a synthetic surfactant derived from coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine. I don’t suggest breaking your budget on your co-washing conditioner. Find an inexpensive one that does the job. Where you’ll want to invest (perhaps) is in your moisturizing product because it’s actually left in the hair and not rinsed out.

2. If you use a lot of oils on your hair such as heavy pomades, butters or sealing moisturizers, co-washing all of the time may not be enough to remove these oils, sebum and product build-up from the hair. You’ll need to shampoo at least once a month in order to remove the product residues. I’ve seen women discuss on various blogs that certain products aren’t “working” anymore. This is likely less to do with the product and more to do with the build up of product on the hair which can leave the hair with a coated feeling. Additionally, other products can lose their effectiveness when the buildup affects the cuticles. Shampoos won’t lather properly and conditioners don’t work effectively to soften and detangle the hair. Washing the hair monthly with a sulfate-based shampoo (yes, a sulfate based shampoo!) can effectively remove product build-up and give you a clean slate to work with. Of course you would always follow this up with a conditioner and moisturizer. Bi-weekly cleansing with moisturizing shampoos that don’t contain harsh surfactants can also be effective at gently removing product build-up and residue without stripping the hair.

Do you co-wash? If so, how often and how does YOUR hair feel compared to using sulfate-free shampoos?

Conditioners formulated for textured hair will typically contain emollients and oils in a fairly high amount. This is because curly and coily hair tends to be drier than other hair types. Now when it comes to conditioners, there are so many types available, and each one has its specific attributes and benefits to the hair. For the purpose of this discussion I’ll refer to moisturizing conditioners since this is the type of conditioner most curlies will be using. Moisturizing conditioners typically increase the moisture content of the hair, improve elasticity and manageability. They work to add and retain moisture in the hair. Now when we talk about your hair needing extra moisture that doesn’t mean oil. Hydration is a main characteristic of water so increasing water really means replenishing water to the hair, and preventing or minimizing it’s escape into the surrounding environment. So anything that is going to help improve water retention in the hair is ideal for dry textured hair. There are many ingredients that will help and emollients and oils are among them.

There are several opinions about which oils are best for hair and it’s really up to you which oils will work best for YOUR hair. However, there are some oils that seem to work better than others. Some oils with low molecular weights or shorter fatty acid chains can penetrate the hair cuticle. These oils include coconut oil, murumuru butter and babassu oil. Other oils may be too long to penetrate into the cuticle, and sit on top of the hair coating it increasing slip, improving softness and manageability, and adding shine to the hair. Additionally, using oils in conditioners can help nourish the scalp. All of these benefits can remain even when the conditioner is rinsed from the hair.

For dry hair, oils are important for another reason. Porosity is a key factor in the ability of your hair to maintain moisture. The more porous your hair is the more water it can absorb. Seems like a great thing but there is a flip side to this – it will lose a lot of moisture over time as well. Overly porous hair can be corrected with specific steps. Additionally, conditioners that contain oils can help seal moisture into the hair strand better than those without and this is important for help to keep moisture in the hair.

So what are some great oils for hair? The two oils that are commonly used are coconut oil and Shea butter. Coconut oil is fantastic and there is a lot of science behind its benefits to the hair. Some people have expressed that their often feels drier and tangled from coconut oil and the Natural Haven has this comment to make about this experience:

The straw like feel some people find with coconut oil is usually related to using too much product because coconut oil is not as viscous as other oils . Hardening of the hair is related usually to temperature because coconut oil solidifies at a fairly low temperature so a cold winter breeze can stiffen hair very fast.

I personally have no issues with using coconut oil in my hair, especially when it’s used with other conditioning ingredients in a formula. My hair is extremely soft, flexible and moisturized. If you’ve played around with coconut oil and have found no benefit to your hair then leave it out or try fractionated coconut oil instead. It’s coconut oil that’s had a number of fatty chains removed resulting in a very light weight oil that still offers great moisturization to the hair.

Shea butter helps to moisturize your scalp. It may be able to penetrate the hair shaft to offer moisturizing and can create a light occlusive layer to prevent further damage. It also contains allantoin that will help with reducing inflammation and increasing cell regeneration on your scalp.

Other oils that are beneficial include jojoba, avocado, macadamia nut, olive oil, etc.

The key to using conditioners with oils is really knowing why they are in the product and how they will benefit your hair. They are there to improve the condition of your hair, not make it worse.

How do using conditioners with oils affect your hair? Do you love them or loathe them?

In a previous post we discussed the importance of conditioners to your hair care regimen. It is, in my opinion, the most important part. Given the role this product has in maintaining the health of our hair, we need to examine what we’ll likely find in conditioners that make them so important.

The main conditioning agent in conditioner is what’s called a cationic surfactant. Cations are positively charged particles and they are attracted to our negatively charged strands. They adsorb onto our hair meaning that they sit on our hair; they don’t penetrate. Additionally, they resist being washed off by water alone. They improve the hair’s softness, aid in detangling, help to seal the cuticle and make the hair more manageable. Other cationic ingredients include the polymers. A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. A cationic polymer therefore is a positively charged polymer used in skincare and haircare to increase conditioning and softness. Due to the positive charge these types of polymers will adsorb to our skin and hair, forming films and resulting in the following to the hair after the product is rinsed from the hair:

• Increased moisture
• Enhanced softness
• More flattened (as opposed to lifted) cuticles
• Increased shine

Common cationic surfactants include:
• Behentrimonium methosulfate
• Cetrimonium chloride
• Cetrimonium bromide
• Stearalkonium Chloride

Some cationic polymers are:
• Polyquaternium 7
• Polyquaternium 10
• Polyquaternium 4
• Polyquat 44
• Honeyquat

Do any of the conditioners you use contain any of the above ingredients?
If so, how does your hair look and feel after you use them?

• Restore lost moisture
• Seal the cuticle
• Provide emollients and oils
• Soften the hair
• Make it easier to comb
• Improve manageability
• Strengthen the hair

How Conditioners Work

This section is a little technical but it’s important. Conditioning agents are typically cationic quaternary compounds. A cation is a positively charged molecule. This is important when it comes to conditioners because it is attracted to the negatively charged hair fiber and adsorbs (not absorbs) to the surface of the hair. Conditioners don’t penetrate into the hair but sit on the surface of the hair. Once the conditioner is on our hair, it’s not going anywhere. It’s resistant to being rinsed off by just water alone. Natural, unprocessed hair typically has an acidic pH and is negatively charged. The more damaged or chemically treated, the higher the pH and the more negatively charged it is. As a result, conditioners will cling to hair that is more damaged and in need of condition and repair, than healthier strands.

Conditioners play the most important role in maintaining the delicate balance between protein and moisture in the hair.

Deconstructing Conditioners

Textured hair requires adequate conditioning regularly and we need to invest in a high quality (and not necessarily a high cost) conditioner. The main types of conditioner agents used in products for curly hair are cationic surfactants and polymers. They work together to improve hair softness and manageability, enhance shine and seal the cuticle. You may also find silicones (another topic for another day), emollients and oils that may either penetrate into the hair shaft and add “slip” to the hair, proteins, vitamins and botanicals that improve the health of the hair. We’ll examine these ingredients in more detail in subsequent posts.

A great conditioner should leave your hair feeling soft, detangled and moisturized. That feeling should remain well after the conditioner is washed off and while the hair is styled.

How does your hair feel after it’s conditioned?

by Tonya McKay of Naturally Curly via Curly Nikki

Most of us with curly hair are pretty well-versed now in the need for our hair to be very well hydrated and conditioned. But what exactly does this mean? There are so many products on the market that claim to be the solution for our dry, frizzy tresses, but which do we really need? Plentiful also are the words used by marketers and hair care experts when telling us what we need for our hair to be healthy and beautiful. Among these are humectant, moisturizer, emollient, detangler,
reconstruct/repair, and color protecting. What do these terms really mean, and what ingredients should we be looking for if we desire some of these properties?

There are numerous types of conditioners available in the marketplace, so we will examine some of the more common categories. My hope is to aid the consumer in understanding what the proposed benefit of a particular type of conditioner is and also what ingredients can be expected to help achieve the desired outcome.

Types of Conditioners

Moisturizing
Moisturizing conditioners are ones that help retain and/or add moisture, i.e. water, to hair. These types of conditioners rely heavily upon the properties of ingredients such as humectants, fatty alcohols, light oils such as aloe or jojoba, and frequently vitamins such as panthenol (which also act as humectants). Oils or polymers that form an occlusive film on the surface of the hair are also often found in these products, as they aid in moisture retention in the interior of the hair shaft.

Some ingredients you might see in a moisturizing conditioner:

• glycerol
• propylene glycol
• panthenol
• erithritol
• sodium PCA
• hyaluronic acid
• sorbitol
• fructose
• fatty alcohols
• polyquaternium polymers
• cationic surfactants (cetrimonium chloride, dicetyldimonium chloride)

Deep Conditioners
Deep conditioners, repairing conditioners, and reconstructors all generally have a few properties in common. They contain significant amounts of proteins, hydrolyzed proteins, and amino acids, which can penetrate through the cuticle and absorb into the hair where they can add strength to the existing complex protein-based composite inside the hair shaft. These ingredients can also adhere to the surface of the hair and act as patches over areas that have been depleted of protein.
Well-formulated deep conditioners also contain oils, esters, or fatty acids, called emollients. These ingredients help to soften the hair and add elasticity to it. This is especially important when proteins are being used, as they can make hair very hard and brittle.
Hot oil treatments contain only or mostly oils, which penetrate into the hair after topical application by placing the client under heat. Some people enjoy the result they get from treatments such as these. However, the use of heat on hair should always be undertaken with caution, in my opinion.

Key ingredients in deep conditioning products:

• Proteins
• Hydrolyzed proteins
• Amino acids
• Plant oils
• Mineral oil
• Silicones (dimethicone and derivatives)
• Esters (glyceryl stearate, isopropyl palmitate)
• Fatty acids (coconut fatty acid, stearic acid, lauric acid)

*Acidifying
Acidifying conditioners have a pH in the range of 3.0 – 4.0, rendering them slightly more acidic than most other conditioners (which are typically formulated to have a pH in the range of 4.0-5.0). These types of conditioners have a few benefits. Acidifying rinses or conditioners lower the pH of hair to or slightly below its isoelectric point (estimated to be at a pH between 3.0-3.7), which is its ideal state. At the isoelectric point the cuticle is tightly sealed, the keratin proteins possess no residual electrostatic charge, and the hair shaft is thought to be harder and in the state most protected from the environment.

• Behentrimonium chloride
• Stearalkonium chloride
• Amine oxides
• Cetrimonium chloride
• Citric acid
• Ascorbates
• Citrus extracts

*Detanglers and Leave-in Conditioners

Detanglers and leave-in conditioners work by depositing small amounts of materials on the surface of the hair that act in a variety of ways to minimize friction when combing. Humectants are often used in these formulations for their moisture attraction and retention properties. Other ingredients are selected because they neutralize residual negative charge at the surface of the hair (cationic polymers, cationic surfactants). Some of the ingredients are included because they form a smooth film on the surface that provides lubrication and eases the force required for combing through the wet hair (dimethicone, amodimethicone, fatty alcohols). Silicones have an added benefit of leaving a smooth, highly reflective film on the surface of the hair, which imparts a high amount of gloss and shine.

Typical ingredients found in detanglers and leave-in conditioner:

• Amodimethicone
• Cyclomethicone
• Propylene glycol
• Panthenol
• Botanical extracts
• Glycerin
• Glucose/sucrose
• Panthenol
• Cetrimonium chloride
• Polyquaternium-11
• Fatty alcohols

*Color Protecting
Color protection conditioners typically will contain moisturizing agents, protein (or derivatives thereof) for filling in gaps left by damage from the coloring process, oils or fatty alcohols, and compounds that act as UV absorbers. Both UVA and UVB radiation can cause damage to hair and loss of color, so many products will try to include ingredients that can absorb in both regions. UVA protection is critical for those with chemically colored hair, especially red hues, as it is most susceptible to these rays.

• Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate
• Benzophenone
• Polymers, such as Polyamide-2
• Salicylates
• PABA
• Dimethylparamidopropyl laurdimonium tosylate

*Thermal Protection
Some conditioners are designed to protect hair from heat damage that can occur when blow drying or styling with flat irons and curling irons. These products almost always rely upon the thermal insulating properties of silicone polymers.

• Dimethicone
• Dimethiconol
• Amodimethicone
• Cyclomethicone

Many conditioners will combine different categories of ingredients, in order to have multiple attributes. Many leave-in conditioners will have sunscreen additives in them. Color protection conditioners may also contain silicones meant to impart gloss and also provide added protection against heat damage. Daily conditioners may include proteins or protein derivatives in order to combat day-to-day damage. So, when choosing a product, really look at the label and determine what the major components are and what you can expect the primary function of that product to be.

The role of conditioning agents, emollients, moisturizers, humectants, and proteins are to fill in the gaps where structural damage has occurred to the surface and interior of the hair, to bring moisture into the hair or to increase moisture retention, to impart suppleness and elasticity, and to provide lubrication along the hair shaft. All of these functions help to minimize mechanical and environmental damage that occurs through daily combing, styling, washing, and exposure to the elements. Thus, conditioners are powerful and essential products that make the hair more attractive, softer and more manageable, and less likely to incur new damage. As the hair is protected by daily use, new hair can grow in and remain healthy and strong, so while conditioners may not be able to truly repair and reconstruct a damaged hair strand, they do indeed provide much benefit.

Before discussing what may be the most important step in your hair care regime, I want to touch on an important practice that could make a huge difference in how your hair looks and feel after it’s washed and conditioned. The reality is that if you want to have beautiful natural hair, you need to invest the time upfront to do what is necessary to take care of it. Your hair cleansing and conditioning process is not to be done hurriedly and without attention. You do need to make time for this because if it’s not done properly, dry brittle hair with resulting breakage could ensue.

Every time we shampoo and condition our hair or even add significant amounts of water to our hair the hair shaft needs to expand in order to accommodate the extra water. When our hair dries to opposite occurs – the hair contracts as it dries. Repeating this process over and over again can create damage to the hair cuticle initially because it can be chipped off. Subsequent damage can be caused to the hair fiber leading to split ends and breakage. Black hair tends to absorb more water during this process than other hair types and is therefore more susceptible to damage. This contraction and expansion of the hair fiber is known as hygral fatigue.

Textured hair needs moisture; it thrives on it to ensure proper hydration. Additionally, when cleansing your hair water is pretty much a requirement if it’s to be done properly. So how can we minimize or prevent this damage that occurs from wetting our hair? Research has shown that using specific oils can protect the hair fiber against hygral fatigue. Not every oil has this ability but a well-researched oil is good old coconut oil. How does this work? When coconut oil is applied to the hair as a pre-shampoo or pre-wetting treatment a small amount of the oil can be absorbed into the hair and can penetrate under the cuticle when the hair fiber swells. Coconut oil has a strong affinity for hair proteins and can protect the hair by binding to these proteins. This reduces the protein’s ability to bind to water molecules resulting in less swelling, less contracting and less trauma.

Try using coconut oil as a pre-shampoo treatment the next time you cleanse your hair. Coconut oil is typically solid at room temperature so you’ll need to heat it to liquefy it.

How to Pre-poo:

1. Apply coconut oil to the hair in sections.
2. Place a plastic cap over the hair and allow the oil to penetrate into the hair shaft for at least 30 minutes.
3. Shampoo and condition as usual!

Pre-shampooing my hair with this treatment has improved my hair’s ability to maintain moisture, adding shine and softness to my styled hair. It’s made a huge difference.

What about you? Do you pre-poo? If so what are the results?

Sodium bicarbonate or baking soda is becoming a popular cleansing method among naturalistas. A few tablespoons of baking soda are usually diluted in water and applied to the hair. Some women report that their hair and soft after cleansing with baking soda. But how does this work and why would anyone want to use baking soda? In a previous post on shampoo it was discussed that ingredients other than surfactants or cleansing agents are often not enough to remove dirt, debris and build up from the hair.

Baking soda is gritty and abrasive which can be damaging to the hair; it can scratch the cuticle.

Additionally, the pH of baking sodium is alkaline. In the post on pH it was discussed that alkaline substances cause the cuticles to lift and the hair shaft to swell and open. While hair fiber swelling is a normal part of the cleansing process, baking soda washing can significantly increase the amount of hair swelling that occurs. This can result in dry looking tangled hair that doesn’t hold moisture well. Lifted cuticle scales can expose the cortex, which can weaken the hair and lead to damage.

Even though you may be looking for other ways to cleanse your hair I recommend keeping the baking soda in the kitchen and using it for what is does best – making your culinary creations light and fluffy, not your hair.

When it comes to the topic of cleansing our natural hair there are many different philosophies and opinions. Naturalistas have tried different types of regimens and have documented what has and hasn’t worked for them. The consensus seems to be the shampoos are “bad” and we are to NEVER use these types of products on our hair. EVER! If you do you’ll end up bald and your hair will NEVER grow back. Really? Was it really that serious? My inquiring mind wanted to know what this whole set of negativity was around using shampoo to cleanse our hair and whether or not it was actually warranted.

Why do we want to wash our hair in the first place? Well the answer is obvious – it gets dirty. But from what? One of the ways is from the production of sebum from the sebaceous glands. These glands secrete natural oils that make the hair feel greasy. Another contributor is styling products, as well as sweat and perspiration, pollution and other environmental agents. So a question arises: why can’t we just use water to get rid of this stuff? Well this build up is not water-soluble meaning that is doesn’t dissolve in water, and using this agent as a cleanser wouldn’t remove a lot of the gook from our hair. This is where a detergent or surfactant is needed.

Chemically, surfactants are polar molecules meaning they have a water-soluble end, and an oil-soluble end. In other words one end is attracted to water and the other to oil. This structure gives surfactants the unique ability to combine oil and water and it also allows them to create foam as well. When the shampoo is applied to the hair the surfactants surround the dirt and debris and lift it off your hair and keep it suspended in the rinse water so it goes down the drain, not back on your hair.

What’s the REAL Concern with Shampoos?

When using a shampoo as a cleansing agent, anywhere between 20-40% of the shampoo is made up of surfactants. The rest is water and other ingredients that can benefit the hair. There are several surfactants available in shampoos and each one has its unique benefits and uses.

The most common and widely used surfactant is sodium laureth sulfate. It’s excellent at lifting product residue and oils from the hair and scalp, which is also one of its drawbacks. This ability to successfully remove oils from the hair has resulted in sulfates being known as harsh detergents. This is because they can cause the hair to be stripped of precious oils the hair needs to remain healthy.

Frequent use of sulfate-containing shampoos can result in hair that is dry, brittle and prone to breakage. Ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate are two of the harshest surfactants and they also tend to do the best job at cleansing.

The Bottom Line

So do you need a shampoo or not? If you tend to use a lot of oils on your hair and have quite a bit of product build up then a gentle shampoo would be ideal to ensure build up is properly removed from the hair. Choosing a moisturizing and conditioning shampoo is great for WEEKLY cleansing since a good shampoo of this kind will contain ingredients that help to soften the hair and mild cleansing agents. These shampoos won’t strip the hair of oils resulting in dryness.

If product buildup is a major problem due to the heavy use of oils and pomades, a moisturizing shampoo may not adequately remove this stuff. If this is the case then a MONTHLY clarifying shampoo may be needed in order to lift heavy product residue from the hair fiber. Why is product buildup a problem? If left on the hair shaft it can leave the hair with a coated feeling and other products can lose their effectiveness when the buildup affects the cuticles. Shampoos won’t lather properly and conditioners don’t work effectively to soften and detangle the hair.

So are some women entirely wrong when the recommend never using shampoos? I think that with any regimen or when selecting products it’s extremely important to do what works for your hair. If your hair responds extremely well to no shampoo then continue with that. It’s my opinion that proper cleansing is an important part of a proper hair care program as this, along with conditioning are extremely important to ensure proper moisture retention in the hair. The key is to know what type of shampoo to use when and how the product will benefit your hair.

Have you ever heard of something called the acid mantle? It’s a thin, slightly acidic film on the skin that acts as a barrier to bacteria and bacteria and other contaminants that could penetrate the skin. It results from the production of amino acids and lactic acid that settles on our skin. We don’t want to mess with this mantle and therefore we need to use products that are within a specific pH range. Hair also has an acid mantle and maintaining it can contribute to the health of the hair.

What is pH?

In chemistry pH – or potential hydrogen – is a measure of how acid or alkaline a solution is. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline. Pure water is neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at 25 °C.

High pH (alkaline) substances cause the cuticles to lift and the hair shaft to swell and open. This can result in dry looking tangled hair that doesn’t hold moisture well. Lifted cuticle scales can expose the cortex, which can weaken the hair and lead to damage. Recall that the cortex is comprised of keratins that coil around each other and form the basic structure of the hair and that its strength and elasticity originate from the cortex. Therefore protection this layer of hair is vitally important to the overall health of your hair. Examples of alkaline products for hair are chemical relaxers, permanent hair colours, baking soda and seawater.

Low pH (acidic) substances can cause the cuticles to lie flat against each other resulting in their closure. This minimizes friction between hair strands allowing the hair to move freely against each other. The closed cuticles better reflect light causing hair to appear shiny and healthy looking. Lastly and most importantly, The cortex of the hair is protected from damage when the cuticle scales are lying flat. Acidic substances include neutralizing shampoos, lemon juice and vinegar. This is one of the reasons that apple cider vinegar rinses are so popular with many naturalistas. As a final rinse at the end of a shampoo and/or conditioning regime it can help to close the cuticle and maintain proper moisture in the hair.

Normalizing the pH of the hair is important to ensure its overall health and to minimize damage. The pH range should be around 4 to 5.5 and products that maintain it at that level are ideal. Shampoos and conditioners are very important in helping to regulate the hair’s pH. Shampoos are generally formulated to be acidic (4-6) and conditioners are typically at a lower pH. (3-5). This lower conditioner pH helps to seal the cuticle to prevent moisture loss.

Time to Test

How do you know the pH of your products? A relatively inexpensive way to do this is with litmus or pH paper, which you can get from drug stores. The paper changes colour once submerged in the substance you’re testing, and indicates the pH. Many strips are designed to give a result within 30-60 seconds so the test is relatively quick. While a great way to get a general sense of the pH of your products the strips are not 100% accurate and readings may be off.

In general most hair care products are formulated to normalize the pH of the hair. The time when it’s important to really test your products is if you are formulating your own hair and body products from scratch, or if you are mixing different finished products together to create a cocktail specifically for your hair. It’s important if and when you are doing this that you understand the ingredients contained in your products and whether or not they are acidic or alkaline and what effect they will have in your final mixture.