Questions Answered With The Power Of Science!
[ 8 February 2007 ]
Dear Gala Darling,I’ve been having hair trouble lately; I have a lot of broken strands of hair, that make my hair appear frizzy. What shampoos and conditioners can I use to make them stop standing up without weighing my hair down? I’m also skeptical on buying any hair product right now, because I heard a lot of the drug store brands carry silicone, which someone told me is bad for your hair. Is that true?
I’m not very wealthy, so I don’t know if I can even afford to buy anything that isn’t a drug-store brand… but is that what I’m going to have to end up doing?
Sincerely,
K.
Dear Ms. K.,
Unfortunately, this is a problem where I was absolutely stumped for an answer. Haircare is a source of great confusion to me, but at the same time, I wanted to find you an answer!
Thankfully the online fashion world is not all girls with a penchant for big shoes (cough, cough). There are also people with great knowledge which can be applied to beauty, like my friends over at The Beauty Brains. They are genius scientists who answer questions about tricky things like makeup, hair loss & how your favourite products work. Thankfully, they answered this question on my behalf! Here’s what they said:
“We’ve answered similar questions before. Here is a post we did on “are silicones bad for your hair?“ The bottom line is that NO silicones are not bad for your hair. In fact, silicones are some of the best conditioning ingredients available.
“And only some store brands contain silicones. The most popular products like Pantene, Fructis, Dove, and Herbalessences all contain silicones. But some products like Tresemme and some Vive formulas do not contain silicone. To figure out if something contains silicone or not look for ingredients like Dimethicone or Cyclomethicone. These are silicones (and great conditioning ingredients).
“As to the original question about what to do with your frizzy, broken hair, use a conditioner every time you shampoo! If you have fine, thin hair try a 2-in-1 shampoo like Pantene or a good moisturizing shampoo like Tresemme Vitamin E moisture shampoo. You absolutely do not need to spend a lot of money on Salon brand products. They DO NOT work better!! Please don’t waste your money.”
Hope this helps you!
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala 
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couldn’t have come at a better time for me, thanks for this! :D
A note about silicones…
They are good conditioning treatments that will work without improving the condition of your hair. Basically the silicones coat the outside of the hair shaft, making it very smooth and slippery. Your hair will feel soft and silky to the touch, and won’t be prone to tangles. Horsie-girls use silicone spray on the manes and tails of their horses to get the knots out. However, silicones won’t add any moisture to your dry hair, repair your damaged hair, or mend your split ends.
I’m still not convinced that I believe all the salon marketing hype, but my hair feels very different to the touch depending on which sort of conditioner I use. When I use a stupidly-expensive salon formula moisturising conditioner my hair feels moderately smooth, thick, and strong. It has great movement and body, it’s easier to style, and its natural wave and curl are enhanced. It does tend to tangle much easier.
In contrast, when I use a cheaper silicone-based conditioner my hair feels very very smooth, but also thin, and lank. It hangs limply and shapelessly, and is much more prone to oiliness.
So silicones are not bad at all, but they work by covering up the symptoms (tangled fly-away hair) without improving the cause (weak damaged hair shaft, dryness, split ends).
I have very long hair, and I’ve always thought that for long hair to look any good it needs to be in excellent condition. I’m not entirely sure how salon formula products do what they do, but I’m pleased with the results, so I prefer not to skimp on hair care products.
Thank you so much, Gala! I’m sorry I didn’t see this before.. Thank you for responding to my e-mail! Now I’m unafraid of conditioner again. :)
being a hairdresser i’m inclined to agree with Ritalin, products containing silicones don’t help to ‘mend’ the hair they add a coating over the hair shaft making it feel great for about 3-4 months then they start to build up. during my training we were taught to look for any sign of silicones in the hair (you can generally pick them easily) and ask lots of questions about what shampoo the client was using because in my short time (5 years) hairdressing i have seen many chemical reactions with a few supermarket brands mainly when bleaching or using perm solution. the hair basically gets very hot and melts off never a good thing. i think its like anything you get what you pay for and while salon products tend to be more expensive they usually last a lot longer then cheaper products and really do help to repair your hair from the inside out rather then masking the problem. one more point.. some salon brands do contain silicones however there shampoos are designed to remove it every time you wash rather then letting it build up. hope you find this info helpful.. ciao
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