Compare Silicone Sponge To Silicone Foam
It’s no secret we’re not big fans of silicones and we have multiple reasons why. We believe silicones provide a false sense of hair health, they’re controversial in regards to their impact on the environment, and we personally don’t care for the way they feel in our hair. According to a recent publication by Dow Corning, 82% of new hair care products introduced in the USA contain silicones.
MOST OF THE TIME WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WE ARE USING THEM.
The most common types of silicones silicone rainbow are: Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Amodimethicone, Cyclomethicone, and Cyclopentasiloxane. Go and grab your favorite hair potions and turn the bottle around. You might get a little surprise when you find out the main ingredient is a silicone.
Now, if you have a head of ridiculously gorgeous curls, than you may be all too happy to slather those silicones on. But for the rest of us with fine to normal, straight, and wavy hair, there has to be an alternative!
REASON #1 – WE BELIEVE SILICONES PROVIDE A FALSE SENSE OF HAIR HEALTH.
Have you noticed you’re heading to the salon a little more frequently to snip off those dry, brittle, split ends? Does your hair seem “dry” all the time? It could be the silicones! A silicone’s job is to “coat” the hair and create smoothness, silkiness and shine-to fill in the potholes so-to-speak. And they do! At least for awhile.
BUT OUR HAIR HAS A PROBLEM. IT’S BECOME ADDICTED TO SILICONES.
For a visual effect, let’s picture silicones as a soft, bendable, plastic film that attaches to and surrounds each hair strand.
We want healthy, smooth, soft, silky hair with a beautiful shimmer, just like those sexy models have in the TV commercials and magazine ads.
We use a (silicone based) product claiming to give us what we desire and see/feel immediate results.
Then, one of two things happen…
SCENARIO 1:
Because the most common silicones are NOT water soluble, they require a harsh surfactant* to be effectively removed from the hair-which means-we need to use a sulfate-based shampoo every time we wash. Harsh sulfates strip the natural oils from the hair, requiring you to use more products to achieve moisture balance. Now, we’re all aware by now that sulfates produce formaldehyde and have been linked to cancer so limiting our exposure is a really good idea. Because of this, many of us have opted for a “co-wash”or “no-poo” option, sometimes going several days (weeks!) without shampooing to reduce our toxin exposure. But the crazy thing about this method is that we think we are eliminating the use of surfactants, but in reality, these formulas also contain a surfactant-but creatively combine it with a silicone that is somewhat water soluble-which actually just brings you to Scenario 2 below.
