Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

There are many products for the curly hair (or guy) to choose from, but not all of these are great. To shorten the list, you should read through the ingredients and see if the product is "for curly hair". For more information on shampoo-free hair care, see How to Use Shampoo-Free Hair Care for curly hair. The following article will guide you on how to choose the right products for this method.

Steps

1. 

   Avoid sulfate in shampoo. Sulfate is a foaming agent found in many shampoos and dishwashers. They can dry out frizzy hair, so if you want to use shampoo, choose a sulfate-free one. Sulfates (usually) contain the word "sulfate" in the ingredient name. Also, note that there are some strong shampoos that are similar to sulfate but not sulfate. Basically, you should avoid using all types of shampoos to keep the optimal moisture in your hair. However, if you want to use shampoo, you should avoid sulfate for the best.
   • Below is the list Sulfates should be avoided:
     • Alkylbenzene sulfonates (alkylbenzene sulfonates)
     • 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 Xyylenesulfonate
     • TEA-dodecylbenzenesulfonate
     • Ethyl PEG-15 cocamine sulfate
     • Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate
   • Below is the list Gentle cleaning ingredients that you should be looking for:
     • Cocamidopropyl betaine
     • Coco betaine
     • Cocoamphoacetate
     • Cocoamphodipropionate
     • Disodium cocoamphodiacetate
     • Disodium cocoamphodipropionate
     • Lauroamphoacetate
     • Sodium cocoyl isethionate
     • Behentrimonium methosulfate
     • Disodium lautreth sulfosuccinate
     • Babassuamidopropyl betaine

2. 

   
   
   Avoid silicones, waxes, non-natural oils or any other insoluble ingredients in conditioner and hair styling products. This is important step to make sure the hair care products do not build up in the hair. If you don't use shampoo, many of the ingredients below will eventually build up in your hair. Remember silicon is any ingredient that ends with the -one, -conol, or -xane suffixes. Waxes are easy to identify because they (often) have the word "wax" in the ingredient name.
   • Below is the list Silicone substances should be avoided:
     • Dimethicone
     • Bis-aminopropyl dimethicone
     • Cetearyl methicone
     • Cetyl dimethicone
     • Cyclopentasiloxane
     • Stearoxy dimethicone
     • Stearyl dimethicone
     • Trimethylsilylamodimethicone
     • Amodimethicone
     • Dimethicone
     • Dimethiconol
     • Behenoxy dimethicone
     • Phenyl trimethicone
   • Below is the list Non-natural waxes and oils should be avoided:
     • Mineral oil (paraffinum liquidum)
     • Petrolatum
     • Types of wax: beeswax, candelilla wax, ...
   • Below is a list of ingredients that resemble silicon or water-soluble silicon. These ingredients are exceptions you shouldn't avoid:
     • Lauryl methicone copolyol (water soluble)
     • Lauryl PEG / PPG-18/18 methicone
     • Hydrolyzed wheat protein hydroxypropyl polysiloxane (hydroxypropyl polysiloxane hydrolyzed wheat protein) (water soluble)
     • Dimethicone copolyol (water soluble)
     • PEG-Dimethicone or any 'cone' cone with the prefix "PEG-" (soluble in water)
     • Emulsified wax
     • PEG-hydrogenated castor oil (emulsified castor oil)
     • Natural oils: avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, ...
     • Benzophenone-2 (or 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) - sunscreen
     • Methychloroisothiazolinone - preservative
     • Methylisothiazolinone - preservative

3. 

   
   
   
   
   If possible, avoid dry alcohol in conditioner and styling products. Dry alcohol is often used as a filler in conditioner, dry conditioner, gel, foam and hair spray. For products that you will be rinsing it should not be a problem. However, products that have remained on hair all day or for days should not contain dry alcohol. On the other hand, there are also hydrating or fatty alcohols that sound similar, so make sure you don't mix it up with dry alcohol.
   • Below is the list Dry alcohols should be avoided:
     • Denatured alcohol (alcohol denat or denatured alcohol)
     • SD alcohol 40
     • Hazelnut juice
     • Isopropanol
     • Ethanol
     • SD alcohol
     • Propanol
     • Propyl alcohol
     • Isopropyl alcohol (isopropyl alcohol)
   • Below is the list the hydrating alcohol you need to look for:
     • Behenyl alcohol
     • Cetearyl alcohol
     • Cetyl alcohol
     • Isocetyl alcohol
     • Isostearyl alcohol
     • Lauryl alcohol
     • Myristyl alcohol
     • Stearyl alcohol
     • C30-50 alcohol mixture
     • Lanolin alcohol

4. 

   
   
   
   
   Consider the effect of protein in your hair care products on your hair. Most hairs require a little bit of magnetic protein diet, especially damaged hair. However, normal hair or hair that is sensitive to protein does not always require a large amount of protein. Hard, ruffled, and dry hair is a sign that your hair is getting too much protein.
   • Below is the list proteins that you can avoid or look for, depending on hair type:
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed casein (hydrolyzed cocodimonium hydroxypropyl casein)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed collagen (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl collagen hydrolyzate)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed hair keratin (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl keratin hydrolyzed hair)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed keratin (hydrolyzed cocodimonium hydroxypropyl keratin)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed rice protein (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed rice protein)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed silk (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed silk)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed soy protein (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed soy protein)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed wheat protein (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed wheat protein)
     • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl silk amino acids (cocodimonium hydroxypropyl amino acids in silk)
     • Cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen (cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen)
     • Cocoyl hydrolyzed keratin (cocoyl keratin hydrolyzed)
     • Hydrolyzed keratin
     • Hydrolyzed oatmeal
     • Silk hydrolyzed
     • Silk protein hydrolyzed
     • Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
     • Hydrolyzed wheat protein
     • Hydrolyzed wheat protein
     • Keratin
     • Potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen (potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen)
     • TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen (TEA-cocoyl collagen hydrolyzate)
     • TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein (TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein)
5. Write down the rules that define products for curly hair on a piece of paper and take them with you when shopping for hair care products. Remember that sulfalates are ingredients with the word "sulfate" or "sulfonate"; silicon ending with -one, -conol or -xane but PEG-modified silicon is acceptable; waxes containing the word "wax"; Dry alcohol usually comes from propyl, prop, eth or denat in the name. Wish you a happy shopping!

6. 

   
   
   Go shopping and practice identifying products for curly hair. After a while, this habit becomes second nature, just like when you look for an allergen in a food ingredient list. advertisement

Advice

• Learning the entire ingredient name can be frustrating. You just need to learn slowly, part by piece, and feel free to print the list on paper to check when looking to buy hair care products.
• Switch to natural hair care products. This is a simpler, less expensive, healthier and more effective way to take care of curly hair. Ingredients such as coconut oil, eggs, milk, olive oil, apple cider vinegar ... are available in the kitchen or sold at the grocery store. This way, you can know exactly what is in contact with the hair.
• Shop at organic supermarkets or organic stores to find hair care products. You will see the difference in the ingredients of a product that is much cheaper than the "premium" product but still contains a hair-damaging ingredient that costs at least twice as much.
• If you carelessly and accidentally use a styling product or conditioner that is not completely water-soluble, you don't need to rinse with a sulfate-based shampoo. Just using a non-sulfate shampoo is enough to remove any silicon.

Warning

• This is not a complete list of ingredients in hair products. If you are unsure about an item, just type "ingredient name "water soluble" go to a search engine. You'll find information pages that help determine whether the ingredients are water soluble (and for curly hair).