Marina | March 11, 2014 | Hair |

If you ever find that your hair suffers from damage despite all your efforts and despite all the changes you’ve made to your hair routine, the hair products you use might be the problem. I know, I know. Hair products are supposed to help your hair, not harm it. However, there are really just some hair products that contain ingredients that aren’t exactly hair friendly. If you think that your current hair faves might be the culprit to blame for your hair issues, check out these harmful ingredients to watch out for in hair care products and see if the ones you use have them.

• Sodium Laurel Sulfate – also known as SLS, this chemical is what makes your favorite shampoos so lusciously foamy. And who would have thought that a nice, thick foamy lather could be so harmful? SLS is the same chemical that makes your eyes burn when shampoo gets in. This harmful hair product ingredient can cause irritation, eye damage, and even skin corrosion. The chemical is easily absorbed by the body and stays in for up to 5 days. Even after that, it’s capable of leaving residual traces in your heart, lungs, liver and brain. Yikes!

• Mineral oil and petrolatum – mineral oil is great for so many other uses and so is Vaseline but not for hair. Despite what your elders have told you, these two don’t really do anything good for your hair. Instead, they create a barrier over the skin and this makes it hard for your skin to breathe and detoxify by itself. You can blame these two hair care product ingredients for all those ugly and painful scalp acne you’ve been experiencing.

• Isopropyl alcohol – we all know a little too much of any kind of alcohol is bad and we always try to avoid hair care products that say they’re alcohol based on the label but have you read the ingredients on your favorite hair care products lately? I bet one or two of them contain isopropyl alcohol and that’s what’s making your hair all dry and crunchy.

• Fragrance – have you ever wondered if anyone actually buys those fragrance free hair care products at the drug store and beauty supply stores? Why would anyone want to buy something that doesn’t smell as good as vanilla or rose or sweet pea or other gorgeous scents? Well, let me tell you why. It’s because all those scents were probably formed by mixing one harmful chemical with another. You can’t expect natural fragrances to be as strong or as sweet or as powerful and long lasting so if they smell super good, they’re probably super bad for your hair.

• Propylene glycol – it’s sad that this one has become a common ingredient not just in hair care products but in other hygiene and body care products as well. What’s even worse is that they’re in the products you use and you probably don’t know it unless you care enough to read each and every ingredient on the list one by one to see if it’s present. This chemical doesn’t only cause harm to your hair but to your skin as well.