Silicones And Hair Products.

So as you now all know from my last blog post, I have been shampoo free for almost two years. For about 20 months my hair has been washed with conditioner only. I have really had no negative ramifications at all from that once I got through the first few weeks of a disgusting greasy mess. But........ I have been trying recently to conserve my favorite hair product as its no longer available here, and in the process I noticed A BIG build up in my hair. I was just no longer getting it clean!

After a lot of research I realized that the issue I was having was a silicone build up. Now I am not going to get in to an in depth post about what silicones are or if they are bad or good for you. I really have no opinion on if YOU should use them or not.

But silicone in general are used to coat the hair and give the appearance of thicker, healthier fuller hair.  I say they give the appearance because they really do NOTHING to alter or fix the composition of your hair and have ZERO benefit to the hair over time. They simply make your hair look better when you are putting them in your hair.

For a very good in depth post all about silicones in hair products, I suggest checking out the blog post the Pink Sith did just last week. FOUND HERE, the post gives a very good overview without getting TOO technical. But basically, the point I need to explain to you all is that there are two types of silicones. Those that dissolve in water, and those that don't. For those that do, water alone can break them down. For those that are NOT water soluble, you need sulfates to break them down. Can you see the problem here? For anyone who uses sulfate free shampoos, or those like me who use conditioner only (which has much less sulfates and in much lower concentrations) it can lead to a nasty build up.

As it turns out,  my normal go to hair product that I loved so much was silicone free by chance. So when I stopped using it (saving it up) I ended up using a LOT more silicones in my hair than ever before.

Water Soluble Silicones:
Any Silicone with PEG as a prefix
Dimethicone Copolyol
Hydrolyzed wheat protein (Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane)
Lauryl Methicone Copolyol

Here is a list of some Non Soluble (not water soluble) Silicones:
Amodimethicone
Behenoxy Dimethicone
Cetearyl Methicone
Cetyl Dimethicone
Cyclopentasiloxane
Dimethicone
Dimethiconol
Phenyl Trimethicone
Stearoxy Dimethicone
Stearyl Dimethicone
Trimethylsilylamodimetheicone

Now there is also a silicone called Cyclomethicone. This one is a little different and as such I am leaving it on its own. This one is NOT water soluble, but it does evaporate in the air.

Now I am by NO MEANS saying you should go silicone free. I highly recommend checking out the link to the blog post by Pink Sith and make your own decisions. For me, I will use cyclomethicone as well as any of the ones that are water soluble.

So I had to go through my stash.

Non-soluble silicone containing products to be thrown out (given away as much as possible):

Quick note about this one. I JUST bought it a few weeks ago and I would have been TRASHING it regardless of if it contained silicone or not. I used it once and it worked well but I thought it smelled like bathroom cleaner. I wasn't sure if I was crazy or not, I took it to my dad, said smell this, and he said "why do I need to smell the toilet bowl cleaner?" And he was serious! So beware! Smell before buying! And then get a different heat protecter!

AND NOW FOR THE CHEATING:
This one DOES contain non water soluble silicone but it is just too amazing to toss. I will keep it for special occasions when I need that PERFECT curl and body. And then I will NOT repurchase! Its probably already 80% gone. But SHH! Don't tell anyone!

And then what I am left with!

And the go to product of mine that I am almost out of and that I can not replace. The twisted sista works just as well, but the texture is not quite as easy to work with. But it contains silicone. So I will need to find a replacement.