If you visit any supermarket or salon, you’ll find aisles lined with shelves full of different hair care products. There’s a product to solve every problem – flat hair, oily hair, dull hair, fragile hair…the list goes on. Each product claims to contain the wonder ingredient to cure any hair woe. But with unclear ingredients lists it’s often hard to know what the long names on the back of the bottle actual mean for your client’s hair – and their health.
Products containing harmful chemicals are more readily available today than ever before. New research is being conducted every year, with new evidence warning consumers to stay away from synthetic products. There are two main health concerns when it comes to the use of synthetic haircare products: skin irritation and hair loss.
Skin irritation
Synthetic haircare products often include known allergens. As a result, excessive use can lead to symptoms like mild skin irritation or even evolve into full skin conditions such as eczema. Fragrances and alcohol used in haircare products are amongst the worst offenders, but we’ll look at this in more detail later on.
Hair loss
While most commonly associated with men, hair loss is actually very common amongst women, too. Roughly half of all women will experience hair loss to some degree at one point or another in their lives, and this is not helped by the amount of synthetic haircare products used by many today. As allergens can be found in many synthetic products this is only worsening the issue of hair loss in women – as this story illustrates.
While research is still ongoing, there has been speculation that chemicals found in some haircare products could lead to more serious issues, too. While all chemicals are considered bad for health in the long term, some are worse than others. Here are some of the most common you should try to avoid when buying new products.
Fragrance (AKA parfum)
We all like our skin and hair to smell gorgeous, but with artificial fragrances you could be paying a high price. Did you know that a single fragrance could contain more than 600 synthetic chemicals? If you experience reddened or dry skin, stinging eyes, and even acne it could all be as a result of fragrances.
Formaldehyde
You might be surprised to learn that the chemical formaldehyde is often used as a preservative in conditioner. It’s also been known to cause eczema, headaches, sinus infections, and even joint and chest pain.
Parabens
Also used to help conditioners last longer, parabens are known to disrupt hormone levels. In fact, they are classed as ‘hormone disruptors’, and are currently banned in Japan and Sweden, with further reviews taking place in other parts of the world, too.
Phthalates
Although phthalates are a known carcinogen, they are still used in some haircare products. They help to give products a feeling of softness, but also pose serious health risk if used over long periods of time. They have been linked to low sperm counts and even birth defects.
With this information in mind, you might be considering a move to organic haircare products. At M & R Ventures, we have a range of products for all health types, made with 100% organic ingredients and no harmful chemicals. Browse the full range here.