There are several products for curly hair, but not all of them are good products. One way to narrow the list is to read the ingredients and see if the product is suitable for curly hair. Read on to learn how to choose the right products.
Steps
Step 1. Avoid sulfate shampoos
Sulfates are foamy cleaners found in many shampoos and dish detergents. They can dry out curly hair, so prefer sulfate-free shampoos (recognizable because they generally contain "sulfate", or "sulfate" in English, in the name). Be careful, however, because there are detergents that are as hard as sulfates but are not sulfates. In fact, it would be better to completely avoid the use of shampoo to keep the hair as damp as possible, but if you decide to use shampoo, at least avoid sulphates.
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Here is a list of "sulfates to 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
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Here is a list of "delicate cleansers to look for":
- Cocamidopropyl betaine
- Coco betaine
- Cocoamphoacetate
- Cocoamphodipropionate
- Disodium cocoamphodiacetate
- Disodium cocoamphodipropionate
- Lauroamphoacetate
- Sodium cocoyl isethionate
- Behentrimonium methosulfate
- Disodium lautreth sulfosuccinate
- Babassuamidopropyl betaine
Image Step 2. Avoid silicones, waxes, unnatural oils and any other non-soluble ingredients in your conditioner and styling products
This is the secret to preventing products from building up on your hair. By not using shampoo, many of the following ingredients build up on your hair over time. Remember that a silicone is any ingredient that ends with the suffix “–one”, “–conol” or “–xane”. Waxes are easily identifiable because they generally contain the term "cera", or "wax" in English, in their name.
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Here is a list of "silicones to avoid":
- Dimethicone
- Bis-aminopropyl dimethicone
- Cetearyl methicone
- Cetyl Dimethicone
- Cyclopentasiloxane
- Stearoxy Dimethicone
- Stearyl Dimethicone
- Trimethylsilylamodimethicone
- Amodimethicone
- Dimethicone
- Dimethiconol
- Behenoxy Dimethicone
- Phenyl trimethicone
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Here is a list of "unnatural waxes and oils to avoid":
- Mineral oil / paraffinum liquidum (liquid paraffin)
- Petrolatum (petrolatum)
- Waxes: beeswax, candelilla etc.
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Here is a list of ingredients that look like silicones or that are water-soluble silicones. These are the "okay exceptions":
- 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 ingredient with suffix "–cone" and prefix "PEG" (water soluble)
- Emulsifying wax
- PEG-Hydrogenated Castor Oil
- Natural oils: avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil etc.
- Benzophenone-2, (or 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) sunscreen
- Methychloroisothiazolinone, preservative
- Methylisothiazolinone, preservative
Image Step 3. Avoid alcohol that dries your hair if possible in your conditioner and styling products
Alcohols that dry hair are usually found in commercial conditioners, gels, mousses and hair sprays as fillers. This is not a major problem with products that are washed off, but products that are left on all day, or even several days, should not contain such alcohol. Be careful because there are also moisturizing or fatty alcohols that resemble hair-drying alcohols, but are different.
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Here is a list of "alcohol to avoid":
- Denatured alcohol (denatured alcohol)
- SD alcohol 40
- Witch hazel (witch hazel)
- Isopropanol
- Ethanol
- SD alcohol
- Propanol
- Propyl alcohol
- Isopropyl alcohol
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Here is a list of "alcohol moisturizers that are okay":
- Behenyl alcohol
- Cetearyl alcohol
- Cetyl alcohol
- Isocetyl alcohol
- Isostearyl alcohol
- Lauryl alcohol
- Myristyl alcohol
- Stearyl alcohol
- C30-50 Alcohol
- Lanolin alcohol
Image Step 4. Consider the effect that proteins in hair products can have
Most hair, especially damaged hair, needs a protein supply; however, normal, or protein sensitive hair does not always need large amounts of protein. If your hair is stiff, frizzy and dry, then it is getting too much protein.
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Here is a list of "proteins to avoid or look for", in relation to 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 (keratin)
- Potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
- TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
- TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein
Step 5. Write down the rules to follow to identify products suitable for curly hair on a piece of paper and take it with you when you go to buy hair products
Remember that sulphates are ingredients that contain the word "sulfate" or "sulfonate", silicones end in "-one", "-conol" or "-xane" but PEGs are accepted; waxes contain the word "wax" and harmful alcohols usually contain "propyl", "prop", "eth" or "denatured" in the name. Have fun shopping!
2ing shampoo Step 6. Go shopping and practice identifying products suitable for curly hair
After a while it will become child's play, like looking for allergens among food ingredients.
Advice
- Learning the names of all the ingredients can seem like a huge task. Take your time, section by section, and if you need to, print the list so you can check while looking for the right product.
- If you make a mistake and use a styling product, or conditioner, that isn't completely water-soluble, you don't need to start over with a sulfate shampoo. Simply use a sulfate-free shampoo and you should be able to remove any type of silicone.
