As some of you might know, I'm on a mission to get my hair to a healthy, happy, shiny place.
With all the experiments and excessive bleaching (never again, so she said), I need the best products on the market.
So, I do take my hair products seriously. And from now on, I read the labels.
As I ran out of hair oil, I was on a search for a new one. And at first, I just wanted to buy Kérastase or Ouai, but boy, I was wrong. I read the ingredients and realized I wasn't gonna do that. Then I Google searched "Hair Oil" and got like 50 options. Some were as pricey as 100$ per small bottle, which was insane! And yet, the ingredients failed.
After spending hours and checking out every ingredient, I concluded that roughly 80% of all hair oils on the market have more or less the same composition. And it didn't matter if the oil was 30$ or over 100$ they all were kinda the same.
So, I am listing down below the most common ingredients and suggest you checking your hair oil if you use any.
P.S. Not all of these ingredients are bad, but some can cause allergic reactions and product build-up, something to keep in mind before spending your hard-earned money.
P.S.S. At the end I managed to find the hair oil without all the yucky stuff, stay tuned, I am testing it now and will review in a week or so.
Dimethicone
Probably the most common silicone of all. Widely used in skincare and haircare. As for hair care, it is a non-volatile silicone meaning that it stays on the hair rather than evaporates from it and smoothes the hair like no other thing. Depending on your hair type, it can be difficult to wash out and might cause some build-up.
Dimethiconol
A thick, high molecular weight silicone is usually diluted in another, lighter silicone fluid (like dimethicone or cyclopentasiloxane). The dimethiconol containing silicone blends leave a silky smooth, non-greasy film on the skin or hair.
Cyclopentasiloxane
A super commonly used cyclic structured silicone is water-thin and does not stay on the skin but evaporates from it (called volatile silicone). Similar to other silicones, it gives skin and hair a silky, smooth feel.
It's often combined with the non-volatile (i.e., stays on the skin) dimethicone as the two form a water-resistant, breathable protective barrier on the skin or hair without a negative tacky feel.
Cyclomethicone
Cyclomethicone is a mixture of silicones. Cyclomethicone and Cyclopentasiloxane are not the same, but Cyclopentasiloxane is part of the mix that makes up Cyclomethicone.
All the silicones in the Cyclomethicone mixture are volatile, meaning they evaporate from the skin or hair rather than stay. This means that Cyclomethicone has a light skin feel with none-to-minimal after-feel. It also makes the formulas easy to spread and has excellent emollient properties.
Isohexadecane
It's often used in makeup or hair products mixed with silicones to provide shine and slip to the product.
Linalool, Limonene
Linalool is a super common fragrance ingredient. It can be found in 90-95% of prestige perfumes on the market.
The problem with linalool is that just like limonene it oxidizes on air and becomes allergenic. That's why a product containing linalool opened for several months is more likely to be allergenic than a fresh one.
Oxidized limonene can cause allergic contact dermatitis and counts as a frequent skin sensitizer.
Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Hydroxycitronellal (all these are fragrances)
Common fragrance ingredients.
All of them are one of the "EU 26 fragrances" that has to be labeled separately (and cannot be simply included in the term "fragrance/perfume" on the label) because of allergen potential. Best to avoid if your skin is sensitive.
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