My experience with selection of hair care products

When I look back, there have been very interesting reasons for me to select a shampoo. When I selected my first shampoo the criteria was that my elder brother was using it. When I made my second choice, it was because it claimed to have herbal extracts. Next time, I was influenced by the promise to give dandruff-free hair with a smooth texture. Lastly, when I was earning well, it was recommended by the leading trichology centre of the country.

TV advertisements are designed to exaggerate a small piece of the product, to create a perception that the product will do wonders to your hair, and they use plenty of computer graphics to blow this perception out of proportion. Sometimes, hair care products are positioned as herbal ones by making large visuals of herbs, on the packaging & in promotions, whereas those herbs are a small portion of the ingredients & they remain silent about the harsh chemicals used in the preparations. Similarly, other products position themselves as anti-dandruff because they have an anti-fungal ingredient, even though their use in the long run causes dryness & inflammation, which increases dandruff further. On the other hand, there are few clinics who claim to be experts in hair care but their advice is biased towards selling their own products. At times, these expensive inhouse products sold by these clinics carry more harmful chemicals than the ones available in the market.

Therefore, whether my criteria was a naive one or based on so-called experts' opinions, I always ended up with dry hairs and itchy-skin on my scalp. The condition of my hair continued to deteriorate as I moved from my 30s to 40s. It was then I started researching on health-related topics. That’s when I found out that my hair shampoo, which I have been using for 10 years contains sulphates and my hair conditioning serum which I have been using for the last 2 years has silicones. No surprise that my hairs were turning dry & difficult to manage year-on-year and it has been a common thing to have acne eruption on my dry scalp. To learn about my journey from identifying my dandruff problem & solving it, refer to my blog here. To learn about my experience of solving my hairloss problem, refer to my blog here

So finally, I switched to a shampoo with following ingredients: Harad, Coconut, Shikakai, Nagarmotha, Brahmi, Neem, Bawachi, Amla, Arjun, Bhringraj, Rose, Jamun Chal, Bahera, Belpatra, Balchar, Anantmool, Methi, Tulsi, Reetha (foaming agent), Sodium Benzoate (preservative).

and a hair conditioner with the following ingredients: Indian water lily, Gotukola, Bhringraj ext., Vibhitaki ext., Mulethi ext., Mustaka, Indian sarsaparilla, Aloe vera leaf juice, Cold pressed wheat germ oil, Cold pressed jojoba oil, Aqua, coconut oil derivatives, Cold pressed moringa seed oil, Cetearyl Olivate, Cold pressed avocado oil, Vegetable glycerine, Octyldodecanol, Sorbitan olivate, Shea butter, Caprylyl glycol, Potassium sorbate, Gluconolactone, Sodium gluconate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Natural preservative blend of herbs and essential oils.

I have been using these two sulfate-free & silicone-free products for the last 2 years along with a healthy diet and finally I believe I have good manageable healthy hair and an inflammation-free scalp.

You will be surprised to know that all the leading shampoos and conditioners have several harmful chemicals. Making the right choice depends on your awareness level and the right choice may not be an expensive one. Do take a look at the list of the ingredients of a hair care product before purchasing one. One can easily find the ingredients on internet by searching for the name of the product. To have details about why these chemicals are used and why they are harmful, you can refer to the other article here.