In this insightful conversation with Mrs. Medha Singh – an adept aesthetician, nutritionist, herbal beauty expert, and CEO of the popular herbal beauty brand “Juvena Herbals”; we uncover 4 prevalent shampoo myths, and dive deep into the do’s and don’ts of shampooing.
I pay my thanks to shampoo for refreshing me always because you know #GoodHairDay is not for nothing.
All of us have a place for shampoo in our daily life. The real question is how to judge your shampoo and find the best one for your beautiful, shiny and long hair? To judge it the best way is to clear all confusions regarding it and expect only what a shampoo is capable of performing. To me, busting these FOUR MYTHS stand out as most important:
1- Can a shampoo cure all hair problems like hair fall, dandruff, dry hair, oily scalp, scalp build up and alike?
No. Absolutely no! All shampoos in the world stay over the scalp for 1.5 to 2 minutes. If you are habitual of rinsing with it twice, then it stays over your scalp for 3 minutes. The purpose of shampoo is to clean all the debris over the scalp and dirt over the hair. For a shampoo to solve all hair related issues it will have to stay over the scalp for more than 18-20 minutes each time you shampoo your hair. Even then it cannot solve any of the hair problems, rather its detergent will damage the scalp and hair health. Scalp is skin. To cure hair problems the nutrients from your hair tonic, hair packs, masks need to sit over the scalp for 20 or more minutes to seep in, in minimum quantity with each application. So, expectation from your shampoo is limited to cleansing the scalp and hair without depleting its moisture.
2- SulphateMyths: –
Sulphate free shampoos – This is getting quite popular and leading to more confusion while selecting a shampoo. There are two shampoo detergents: –
● Sodium Lauryl Sulphate – SLS
● Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate – SLES
SLS – It is a harsh detergent. It has been identified as a skin irritant. It can affect the keratin production in hair follicles. So, it can weaken each hair and cause hair fall. Prolonged use of SLS based shampoos can cause hair loss too. Shampoo made from SLS is always transparent i.e., see through.
SLES – SLS is transformed to SLES through a procedure called ethoxylation. For this transformation ethylene oxide is taken help of. So SLES becomes safe to use as it becomes a very soft detergent without any negativity. SLES is a gentle detergent when added to other emulsifying ingredients. It compliments them by giving a soft end result. It does not deplete the moisture over the scalp in spite of being a detergent. The shampoos made by SLES with emollients and emulsifiers are opaque. Now you can select your best shampoo as you have become Shampoo Wise!
3- When my shampoo is 2 in 1 i.e., shampoo + conditioner why should I go for a post shampoo conditioner?
Shampoo is a detergent. Any detergent in the world if put over hair can make them dry. Scalp is alive but the hair is dead. Scalp immediately secretes its moisture after shampoo but hair cannot. 2 in 1 shampoos are best to go for, if you do not want your hair to get dry after each shampoo. Moreover a 2 in 1 shampoo restores scalp’s Ph immediately unlike non 2 in ones.
There are only a rare few amongst us who apply/spray sunscreen over our scalp. But they also cannot apply sunscreen over their hair. UV radiations (A & B) damage hair and scalp health by depleting moisture, damaging colour cells and drying protein in each hair. The outermost protective covering of each hair is cuticle which gets uplifted when exposed to Sun causing mid length breakage, split ends, thin hair. Emollients from post shampoo conditioners stick to hair even after rinsing the post shampoo conditioners well. But this does not make hair oily; rather this leaves a protective covering of non-oily moisture over each hair which serves as sunscreen for a good 24 hours. You can rinse with Post shampoo conditioners daily without shampoo.
So, both 2 in 1 and post shampoo conditioners have two different functions. You cannot compromise even over one.
Frequency:
Do not shampoo daily as your scalp and hair are not strong enough to cure even a little dryness your shampoo might be causing. Shampooing daily is attracting many problems. Once in 3-4 days is the best interval. If you have dandruff and you are recommended to shampoo daily then it’s a biggest myth and mistake. Malasez fungus which causes dandruff does not subside with any shampoo. It just gets dormant for 20-24 hours post shampoo. Cure it with good anti-fungal packs rather than managing it with shampoo.
4- ReethaShikakai- Herbal Shampoo:
A big myth is that ReethaShikakai are Phyto soap warts. Using them in place of shampoo can dry up the scalp, hair and entangle hair as they do not have even an iota of moisture in them. Using them frequently is as good as exposing your hair to harsh UV rays continuously. Even Shampoo with ReethaShikakai should have double the quantity of emollients than the normal shampoos to cater to extreme drying properties Reetha and shikakai have.
Now that your outlook towards shampoo has taken a U-Turn after knowing almost everything about them. You can start your hair care afresh with shampoo + conditioner and Post shampoo conditioner, Pre shampoo conditioner. All the best because you know the gateway to Good Hair Day!