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Did you ever use a shampoo and find that it set your skin on fire? Most shampoos contain a host of ingredients that are associated with that symptom, and more the pity if it gets in your eyes or you ingest some of it – it might lead to nausea or diarrhoea.
Switching to ‘herbal’ or ‘natural’ shampoos may not necessarily be a healthier option. I just read some labels for herbal shampoos where the herbal extracts are the last two items mentioned in the list of ingredients. This means their share of the total composition is the lowest, given that the ingredients are – or should be – mentioned in descending order of quantity used. The rest of the ingredients on the bottle were all chemical.
Two of the ingredients on shampoo labels that get the worst rap are sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulphate (SLES). They are the compounds in shampoo that remove oil and dirt. They are surfactants that are used to clean a range of products, from hair to teeth to engines and garage floors, but of course, at different strengths. They are proven causes of skin allergies but not carcinogens as they were reputed to be. They probably get a bad rap because in the 1970s some shampoos used ethanolamine lauryl sulfates which contained nitrosamines, which are proven carcinogens.
The US FDA allows their use in confectionery too. The reputation attributed to SLS and SLES is now believed to be the handiwork of marketers selling sulphate-free/ ‘natural’ shampoos.
Other surfactants that are used in shampoos are TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, cocamidopropyl betaine, ammonium lauryl and ammonium laureth sulfates, cocamide DEA/MEA/TEA.
Dimethiconol is a silicone-based product. There are a few other such products, such as cyclomethicone, dimethicone copolyol, and amodimethicones whose purpose is to make hair appear less frizzy, fuller and straighter.
Glycol distearate makes the shampoo flow freely from the bottle. It is also added to products to retain their potency and effectiveness.
Panthenol is a substance that helps hair retain moisture. It gives hair gloss as it enters the hair cuticle to give it body. EWG.org rates the hazards of this and glycol distearate as ‘low’.
Sources: cosmeticsinfo.org, ewg.org, snopes.com
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