Beauty corner: What's wrong with the silicone in shampoos?

A couple of months ago, I purchased a shampoo, not the usual type I used to be faithful too, and noticed a special mention about the absence of silicone. Not familiar with the issue, I decided to do a bit of research and clarify the problem.

What I discovered during a short online investigation. The latest studies and researches consider that silicone has a negative influence on the hair health. As it is no water soluble, the hair should be cleaned a lot of time before it goes out. The first consequence is the split hair. Used in excess, it prevents oils and moisture from penetrating into the hair. It brings more damage than a regular use of the hair drier. 

Its scientific name is dimenthicone, a class that comprises several types of derivates, with various degrees of danger for the hair. The usual endings of silicones are: - ane, - cone, - corol, - col. For instance, among the most dangerous are: cetyle dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane, stearyl dimenthicone. It is used as ingredient for smoothing products, as it makes hair looking less fizzy, conditioners and moisturising masks.    

A little bit afraid about the effects of those substances, I paid a visit to the Rossmann store nearby in order to check the main shampoos available. Some of the big companies do have both with or without silicone products. Dove, for instance, which I used to try for short periods of time, includes silicone in the Oil care, as it does the Panthene Pro and Oil conditioner from the same company. The Liquid Silk from Gliss Kur, does it too, as it does Head and Shoulders too. Citrus Pure, from Garnier, as well as Herbal Essences, Isana Totes Meer, Alterra, Swiss O-Par, Lavera are free of such ingredients. In a cosmetic shop I discovered new silicone free shampoos from Anemarie Borling, Schoenenberger, Henna Shampoo, Extracta Hair. 

Even though many of the usual shampoos, with a high concentration of silicone, are usually less expensive than those from the second category, there are many affordable variants too, as for instance Alterra and Isana Totes Meer, who are under 3 Euro.

As in the case of the food, is always very important to know what we are using, and to make the right informed decisions.