Content

• To step
• Tips
• Warnings

There are many products from which curly-haired people can choose, but not all of them are equally good. One way to choose from those options is to look at the ingredients to determine if the product is suitable for curly hair. Read on to learn how to choose the right products.

To step

1. Avoid sulfates in your shampoo. Sulfates are foaming agents found in many commercially available shampoos and cleaners. They can dry out curly hair, so choose a sulfate-free shampoo if you shampoo your hair. If there are sulfates in a shampoo, you will (usually) see the word "sulfate" in the ingredients list. Keep in mind that there are also cleaning agents that are just as harmful as sulfates, but are not sulfates. In fact, you shouldn't use shampoo at all if you want your hair to retain as much moisture as possible, but if you're using it, try to avoid sulfates.
   • Here's a list of sulfates that you should avoid:
     • Alkylbenzene sulfonate
     • Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate
     • Ammonium laureth sulfate
     • Ammonium lauryl sulfate
     • Ammonium Xylenesulfonate
     • Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
     • Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate
     • Sodium laureth sulfate
     • Sodium lauryl sulfate
     • Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
     • Sodium myreth sulfate
     • Sodium Xylenesulfonate
     • TEA dodecylbenzenesulfonate
     • Ethyl PEG-15 cocamine sulfate
     • Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate
   • Here's a list of milder cleansers that you can use:
     • Cocamidopropyl betaine
     • Coco betaine
     • Cocoamphoacetate
     • Cocoamphodipropionate
     • Disodium cocoamphodiacetate
     • Disodium cocoamphodipropionate
     • Lauroamphoacetate
     • Sodium cocoyl isethionate
     • behentrimonium methosulfate
     • disodium lautreth sulfosuccinate
     • babassuamidopropyl betaine
2. Avoid silicones, wax, non-natural oils, and other insoluble ingredients in your conditioners and styling products. This is very important if you don't want leftovers to build up in your hair. Without a chemical shampoo, the following ingredients will leave a film on your hair over time. Remember that silicones always end with -one, -conol or -xane. Wax is easy to recognize because (usually) the word "wax" appears in the ingredients list.
   • Here is a list of silicones that you should avoid
     • Dimethicone
     • Bis-aminopropyl dimethicone
     • Cetearyl methicone
     • Cetyl Dimethicone
     • Cyclopentasiloxane
     • Stearoxy Dimethicone
     • Stearyl Dimethicone
     • Trimethylsilylamodimethicone
     • Amodimethicone
     • Dimethicone
     • Dimethiconol
     • Behenoxy Dimethicone
     • Phenyl trimethicone
   • This is a list of wax and non-natural oil that you don't want in your hair product:
     • Mineral oil (paraffinum liquidum)
     • Petrolatum
     • Wax: bees wax, candelilla wax, etc.
   • Here is a list of ingredients similar to silicone, or water-soluble silicone.These are the exceptions that are not bad:
     • Lauryl methicone copolyol (water soluble)
     • Lauryl PEG / PPG-18/18 Methicone
     • Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane (water soluble)
     • Dimethicone Copolyol (water soluble)
     • PEG-Dimethicone, or any other -cone that "PEG-" stands for (water soluble)
     • Emulsifying Wax
     • PEG-Hydrogenated Castor Oil
     • Natural oil: Avocado oil, Olive oil, Coconut oil, etc.
     • Benzophenone-2, (or 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) - sunburn protection
     • Methychloroisothiazolinone - preservative
     • Methylisothiazolinone - preservative
3. Avoid drying alcohols in conditioners and styling products. Dehydrating alcohols are often found in conditioner, leave-in conditioner, gel, mousse, and hairspray as a filler. With products that you rinse, that's not so bad, but products that stay in your hair all day should not contain drying types of alcohol. However, there are also moisturizing or oily types of alcohol, which sound about the same, but you can use them.
   • Here is a list of dehydrating types of alcohol to avoid:
     • Denatured alcohol
     • SD alcohol 40
     • Witch hazel
     • Isopropanol
     • Ethanol
     • SD alcohol
     • Propanol
     • Propyl alcohol
     • Isopropyl alcohol
   • Here's a list of hydrating types of alcohol that you can use:
     • Behenyl alcohol
     • Cetearyl alcohol
     • Cetyl alcohol
     • Isocetyl alcohol
     • Isostearyl alcohol
     • Lauryl alcohol
     • Myristyl alcohol
     • Stearyl alcohol
     • C30-50 Alcohol
     • Lanolin alcohol
4. Think about the effect of proteins in your hair products on your hair. Most hair types require a certain amount of protein, especially damaged hair. However, normal hair or hair that is hypersensitive to proteins does not always need that much protein. If your hair feels stiff, frizzy and dry, it may be getting too much protein.
   • Here is a list of proteins that you should avoid or use depending on your hair type:
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed casein
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed collagen
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed hair keratin
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed keratin
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed rice protein
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed silk
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed soy protein
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed wheat protein
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl silk amino acids
     • Cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
     • Cocoyl hydrolyzed keratin
     • Hydrolyzed keratin
     • Hydrolyzed oat flour
     • Hydrolyzed silk
     • Hydrolyzed silk protein
     • Hydrolyzed soy protein
     • Hydrolyzed wheat protein
     • Hydrolyzed wheat protein
     • Keratin
     • Potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
     • TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
     • TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein
5. Write down the rules for identifying the right products for curly hair on a piece of paper and bring it with you when you go to the store. Remember that when there are sulfates in a product, it will always have ingredients with the word "sulfate" or "sulfonate" on it; silicones end in -one, -conol or -xane, but if it says PEG- you can use it; wax contains the word wax; and desiccant types of alcohol often include the word propyl, prop, eth or denatured. Happy Shopping!
6. Go to the store and practice identifying the right products for curly hair. After a while, it goes without saying, just like you recognize the ingredients on foods.

Tips

• It can seem like a challenge to learn all the ingredients on the list. Take it easy, part by part and feel free to print the lists when you go to the store.
• Switch to natural hair products! That's a healthier, easier, cheaper and more effective way to take care of your curls. Ingredients such as coconut oil, eggs, milk, olive oil, apple cider, etc. are already in your kitchen or can be bought at the supermarket. At least then you know exactly what you put in your hair.
• Go to organic stores such as Ekoplaza or Odin to buy products for your hair. You will find that they contain very different ingredients, and that they are no more expensive than the "luxury" hair products that are full of chemicals.
• If you accidentally bought a styling product or conditioner that isn't completely water soluble, you don't need to wash your hair with a sulfate shampoo. Simply use a sulfate-free shampoo to remove the silicone.

Warnings

• This is not a complete list of ingredients in hair products. If you are not sure if a particular ingredient is good, just type the name of the ingredient and "water soluble" or "water soluble" in a search engine, you will probably find whether the product is water soluble or not.