Why Is This Ingredient In My Conditioner?

©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

I’ve wanted to post this for a while, but it makes me feel a bit subversive because I’m going to tell you that what you think you’re doing with hair conditioner is a wee bit wrong. This is my "ingredient-based" perspective.
Not so many years ago, women washed their hair with bar soap. Many of them knew if they used water from their rain barrels (rainwater) that their hair would shine – because rainwater is soft water so there is less soap scum left on hair. People did not wash their hair often. Nor their bodies. Especially in winter.

Now that so many of us shower daily and have hundreds of soaps and shampoos to choose from, it’s easier to over-cleanse the hair. Enter the “cream rinse.” A cream rinse is the ancestor of modern conditioners. – in the U.S. it was Breck and Wella Balsam that led the pack with fairly simple formulas that helped detangle hair which was dried out from frequent shampooing or damaged by teasing or hairspray and a multitude of other hair “sins.” Wave your hand if you’re old enough to remember Breck and Wella Balsam (go ahead, we can’t see you).

Purple arrow: 18 MEA (larger than life) projecting
from the hair's epicuticle. Green arrow shows the
membrane epicuticle which covers the hair's cuticle
scales.

When we put lotion on our skin, we call it “moisturizer.” That’s a misnomer - though a useful one. Nobody is going to say, "hey, I just, coated my hair/skin with emollients and bonded it to conditioners for plasticity and hydrophobicity and lubrication." We use the jargon "moisturize" for that mouthful. In this post, I wrote about the ingredients in skin lotions and what they do for you if you'd like a far more complete list than I'm giving here. What is moisture? Water. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Your hair is designed by nature to grab water and keep as much as it needs or can hang on to. Anything that “grabs water” and holds it is  “hydrophilic” –  water-loving. The protein in your hair, the hydrophilic amino acids in the cuticle layers are designed to be water-loving, hydrophilic. Hair loses water if the air is dryer than the hair and especially if the hair is not coated with the proper hydrophobic (water-repelling) layer. Get it? A water-attracting inner layer covered by a water-repelling outer layer! It's like putting on a raincoat - keeps the rain off, but if you get sweaty inside, you'll stay wet in there. The 18-methyl eicosanoic acid that sits on the epicuticle (that outermost membrane-like layer of lipids and amino acids outside your hair’s cuticle), the cuticles themselves and the oils from your scalp do most of the work in keeping your hair hydrated. 18-methyl eicosanoic acid, or “18 MEA” is amazing stuff. It’s a lipid (fat) so it is hyrdophobic (water-repelling) and resistant to some chemicals and that’s good because when your hair gets saturated with water, it swells and swelling creates stress on the fibers. Healthy hair actually repels water by itself! This lipid layer is the absolute outermost covering between your hair and the environment – also called the “F-layer.” 18-MEA is a fatty acid in a chain-structure, sticking out from your hairs. It is covalently bound and cross-linked like “chain mail” armor, and is bonded to the proteins in the epicuticle (not just floating on top). This layer can be removed with peroxide or alkaline substances such as hair relaxers, chlorine (swimming pools, heavily chlorinated tap water). This is a very strong protection for your hair, indeed. Cosmetics suppliers are in the process of manufacturing synthetic 18-MEA, but keeping your own is better.

©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

If you strip off the outer layers of oils, your hair will tangle more easily, look dull and be more easily dehydrated. In addition, hair is subject to weathering, and damage from everyday activities. Cuticles can crack or break, leaving open spaces with little protection. So if we want our hair to look good and feel good, we try to support or mimic the natural protection of hair itself by providing humectants such as amino acids and emollients (occlusives) to prevent dehydration. These mimic the actions of the "ingredients" on the outer regions of our own hair, but do not replace hair's own natural components.©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

Sorry that was so chopped-up, but it establishes the background for the fun part. Ingredients are meant to be listed in order of greatest to least concentration. The first few ingredients are the most active. The rest are either “window dressing” or preservatives, colorings, fragrances and pH adjustors. Once you get past “fragrance” and preservatives, the ingredients included are at a very low concentration. I rarely put more than 6 or 7 ingredients in conditioners that I make.©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

This is the ingredient list from Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut conditioner – what is in it and what those ingredients “do:”

Water - Solvent. Without water, your conditioner would be a solid lump.

Cetearyl Alcohol – Fatty alcohol, but not like the alcohol you drink.  The raw material is a creamy, waxy solid which leaves a silky, powder-like feel on your skin of you rub it between your fingers. This ingredient gives hair a soft feel, may coat the hair shaft slightly but is unlikely to penetrate deeply. Thickens the conditioner, may be occlusive (emollient)

Cetrimonium Chloride – A “cationic conditioner”(quaternary cationic surfactant) which has a positive charge to bond to the more negatively-charged hair, especially where hair is damaged. This ingredient leaves behind a very thin layer of molecules to help hair resist friction that would make combing difficult and helps it resist tangles. Good detangler.

Potassium Chloride – a salt, used to thicken the formula

Fragrance

Distearyldimonium Chloride – Another cationic conditioner, not necessarily as good a detangler as the first

Disodium EDTA – anti-odixant, helps in preservation and stabilization of the formula, at high enough concentrations can help remove minerals from hard water build-up.

Glycerin - Humectant

2 Bromo 2 Nitropropane 3 - Preservative

Methylchloroisothiazolinone - Preservative

Methylisothiazolinone -  Preservative

Propylene Glycol – Humectant and solvent

Silk Amino Acid - Humectant

Honey/Mel – I assume this is a stabilized form of honey. Humectant

Nettle (Urtica Dioica) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract – Herbal extracts which have been stabilized and preserved. Very low concentration.

Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Extract – Uncertain, this may be coconut oil.

So you use this conditioner and you have the cationic conditioners and fatty alcohol acting as emollients/occlusives to help prevent dehydration. They also give that slippery feel that conditioners usually have and make your hair feel soft and pliable (plastic). Here is a post about plasticity.

The humectants and amino acids may help your hair hold on to moisture in the presence of the emollients. I loved this conditioner, but the 2 Bromo 2 Nitropropane is a formaldehyde-releasing preservative, and a not-uncommon irritant or allergen.

©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

What you’ve done is to try to mimic what your hair already has (or had when you were a kid) with a conditioner.

Let’s consider another formula – Yes To Carrots Pampering Conditioner:

Water - Solvent. Without water, your conditioner would be a solid lump.

Cetearyl Alcohol – Combination of 2 fatty alcohols, but not like the alcohol you drink. This ingredient gives hair a soft feel, may coat the hair shaft slightly but is unlikely to penetrate deeply. Thickens the conditioner, may be occlusive (emollient)

Behenalkonium Chloride - A “cationic conditioner” (quaternary cationic surfactant) which has a positive charge to bond to the more negatively-charged hair, especially where hair is damaged. This ingredient leaves behind a very thin layer of molecules to help hair resist friction that would make combing difficult and helps it resist tangles. Good detangler, adds some “bounce” to hair, helps emulsify the formula (so it doesn’t separate).

Cetyl Esters – Emulsifier which adds a silky, elegant feel and prevents separation of formula.

Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Juice – For color? 

Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil – Oil with some good qualities for skin and hair

Dead Sea Water (Maris Aqua) – Probably “Dead sea salt” to thicken the formula.

Maris Limus Silt Extract (Dead Sea Silt) – Silt is a soil particle which is fine and powdery. If they are adding real silt, it may be to give the formula a nice texture and feel because some clays and silts are used to thicken cosmetics with or without making them look opaque or become too thick or "gelled."

Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Oil – Chamomile oil (a daisy-like flower) – we’re now in the land of “low concentration” - which is usually where you want oils in a conditioner. Cross-allergen with ragweed.

Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil – olive oil, great for hair, emollient/occlusive.

Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Sweet Almond) – almond oil, another great oil for hair emollient/occlusive.

Calendula (Calendula Officinalis) Flower Seed Oil – Calendula (a daisy-like flower) oil, also potential cross-allergen.

Cucurbita Pepo Fruit Extract (Pumpkin) – In the land of “things added because they sound good” for the next 2 after this one.

Ipomoea Batatas Extract (Sweet Potato)

Cucumis Melo Fruit Extract (Melon)

Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil – a good oil for hair, but there is very little here, emollient/occlusive.

Triticum Vulgare (Wheat Germ) Oil – a good oil for hair, but there is very little here, emollient/occlusive.

Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract– For scent, possibly

Honey Extract - Humectant

Punica Granatum Extract (Pomegranate) – Perhaps because it sounds good

Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride – A Cationic-modified plant gum for mild detangling and de-frizzing

Fragrance

Sodium Hydroxide – raises pH

Sodium Benzoate - Preservative

Potassium Sorbate - Preservative

See how most of these ingredients are possibly redundant? The ones that matter most are the cationic conditioner, the emulsifier, and the oils. The Guar and Honey extract are a good addition.

©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

So what's your point?

So do these conditioners moisturize? No. Water moisturizes. The natural makeup of your hair self-moisturizes and self-protects if you treat it gently. Conditioner is a tool to help prevent dehydration and reduce friction and breakage. Like a lip balm. Or shoe polish. Or furniture oils and polishes. It's the gentle care you give your hair and the thoughtful choices you make in the products you use that put your hair in a well-moisturized state. The products and ingredients themselves are just tools; means to an end. A hammer does not put a nail in a board. A person uses a hammer to put a nail in a board using their strength and skills - you see? 

How does conditioner prevent frizz?  If your hair is dry and therefore looks rough, dull and frizzy, the added plasticity or flexibility from conditioner, the weight from conditioner, will help your hairs align with each other. The hair will retain the moisture necessary to be flexible and express its wave pattern. Because the conditioner occludes moisture, hair is less likely to frizz in high humidity (swell with water and lose definition) or in low humidity (losing moisture and definition).

If your hair is very frizzy, the weight of a lot of conditioner weighs down those hairs that always escape to give you that fuzzy look. But if your hair is fine and thin, a lot of conditioner will literally be a heavier load than your hair can carry and still wave or curl.©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

Am I splitting hairs? Maybe. I'm kind of nit-picky about "how things work" and because once I began making my own conditioner, I discovered just what these ingredients do and no not (do). Hair conditioners do not make hair healthy by themselves. It is our responsibility to protect our hair from damaging forces if we want lustrous hair. Conditioner is an aid, not a cure.

Take-Home Message:

Humectants attract moisture to hair: Aloe vera, amino acids, (and proteins) glycerin, honey are examples. These need the protection of emollients to prevent dehydration.

Emollients seal moisture in the hair and out when necessary: oils, “butters” like shea or cocoa, cetyl alcohol are examples.

Cationic conditionershelp detangle and reduce friction.
Here is a longer list of these ingredients (at the bottom of the page).

Source: Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair 

Robbins, 1994. 3^rd Ed. Springer-Verlag, New York

Rodney D Sinclair Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings (2007) 12, 2–5. doi:10.1038/sj.jidsymp.5650046 Healthy Hair: What Is it?

Department of Dermatology St Vincent's Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia