Alcohols
Using products very often containing certain Alcohols can contribute to dry hair. We can find these products in some leave ins, foams, creams, gels or even deep conditioners.
Let’s say you are currently not using any Sulfates and Silicones, making regular deep conditioning masks, moisturizing and nourishing your hair as best as possible… and then, after washing, you finish the process with a product containing an aggressive alcohol. You’ve just ruined all your progress.
What Alcohols do is basically absorb all the moisture from your hair whilst they’re drying.
As a result, hair gets dry, dull and very fragile, which can lead to hair loss.
So Alcohol is bad for hair?
Yes and no! – There are different types of Alcohols.
Although there are some aggressive Alcohols for the hair, there are other good Alcohols that do the opposite: they help to hydrate and nourish, leading to an healthy hair.
These good Alcohols are often considered emollients and have lubricating properties.
As it happens Chemically:
The different compounds from alcohol have different molecular structures with different carbon bonds.
The most important thing to know is that there are two major types of alcohols in hair products:
What is the problem of short-chain alcohols?
These are the ones that do worst to your hair. They have low molecular weight (only have two carbons) and evaporate very quickly.
For this reason, it’s typically used in finishing hair products to help the hair to dry faster.
Now the problem is, Alcohol also absorbs water from the hair and scalp whilst it’s drying, which leads to dehydration.
So, if you use products with these types of Alcohols in its composition, in the long-term it’s likely your hair will get dry, brittle, frizzy and dull.
This alcohol is even more dangerous if your hair is naturally drier, as it happens with curly hair.
And the long chain fatty Alcohols?
Many hair products say they have Alcohols that do not dry the hair, but in fact they do more than that!
These long chain fatty Alcohols come from plants and natural oils.
Usually they are used as thickeners and emulsifiers (ingredients that help oil and water to stick together), but they have other benefits for your hair.
They are great to hydrate, nourish and detangle hair, making it stronger, healthier and softer.
It is very important not to confuse both Alcohols, so:
NOT APPROVED ALCOHOLS
- denatured alcohol
- ethanol
- isopropanol
- isopropyl alcohol
- propanol
- propyl alcohol
- SD alcohol 40
- SD alcohol
- SD alcohol 40 B
- SD alcohol 38B
- SD alcohol 39B
- SD alcohol 40-2
- alcohol Denat
- ethyl Alcohol
- -alchohol
APPROVED ALCOHOLS
- cetearyl alcohol
- cetyl alcohol
- cetearyl alcohol
- isocetyl alcohol
- isostearyl alcohol
- stearyl alcohol
- lauryl alcohol
- myristyl alcohol
- behenyl alcohol
- c30-50 alcohols
- lanolin alcohol
- oleyl alcohol
- c12-16 alcohol