There’s no shame in admitting that your hair affects your mood. According to a Dove Hair Care survey, one out of every four women has avoided an activity due to unruly hair and 88 percent say good hair boosts their confidence. So for many women, a trip to the shampoo aisle is a much more serious purchase than stocking up on toothpaste and Q-tips.
A 2008 study from market research firm Mintel reported that half of adults find the variety of shampoos and conditioners overwhelming. When Pantene, the shampoo category leader, offers 113 products in 14 different benefit-themed lines, it’s easy to see how the shelves have become so crowded—and confusing.
The good news? The majority of those options boil down to different packaging. “All shampoo is essentially a cleanser,” says Paula Begoun, author of Beautypedia.com. “Only the first five or six ingredients impact the formula’s effectiveness.” And if you do a quick survey of a few shampoo ingredients labels, you’ll quickly see how the top 10 list looks nearly the same on all of them.
But what are those ingredients, and what do they do? We broke down the ingredients on the back of the bottle.
1. Water. Up to 80 percent of shampoo is this basic element. Without enough of it, the lathering liquid wouldn’t pour from the bottle.
2. Surfactant. Basically a detergent, this additive does the bulk of the work. Surfates clean by surrounding dirt and oil so water can rinse them away. Ingredients like ammonium lauryl sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate tend to be easier on sensitive scalps than sodium lauryl sulfate. Rumors that these chemicals can cause cancer are unfounded. While surfactants are irritating, shampoos don't contain high-enough levels to cause any real damage. Surfactants aren’t a problem unless you have sensitive skin or insist on regularly pouring gallons of the stuff in your eyes. And the cleansers shouldn’t be harmful to your hair. The shampoos sold today contain conditioners that compensate for the stripping qualities of surfactants, so you can wash daily without worry.
3. Foaming agents. Ingredients like cocamide or cocamidopropyl betaine provide the satisfying suds that complete the hair-washing experience. Lather, however, is purely aesthetic. “Lather doesn’t have anything to do with how well a shampoo works,” says Ni’Kita Wilson, a cosmetics chemist for Cosmetech Laboratories. “Manufacturers put lathering agents in shampoos because it’s what consumers expect.”
4. An acidic ingredient. Items like sodium citrate or citric acid on your shampoo label are added to keep shampoo at the right pH level. The acidic pH interacts with the hair's slightly negative charge to help the cuticle, the outer layer of the hair, maintain a smooth, flat surface.
5. Silicones like dimethicone, or anything ending in 'one.' These are polymers that deposit a lightweight coating on the hair. They help create smoothness and add shine.
6. Polyquaternium. Much like a fabric softener, it helps make hair more manageable by depositing a fatty conditioner and fighting static. It also thickens the shampoo formula so it’s easier to pour.
7. Panthenol, fatty alcohols, and nut oils. These common additives moisturize and lock in hydration.
8. Midazolidinyl urea, iodopropynyl, isothiazolinone, and sodium benzoate. “Unless you want your shampoo to grow legs and walk away, you need preservatives,” Wilson says. Since many of the other ingredients are made from organic materials, they can grow mold and bacteria. These additives keep your shampoo from turning into a science project.
“Most often, the ingredients lower down on the list aren’t present in high-enough concentrations to have any impact on the shampoo’s performance,” Begoun says. Natural extracts and other additives that manufacturers brag about on the label don’t do much for your hair, but they might make the experience more enjoyable by adding a little color or fragrance to the process. Of course, judging by the number of women (and men) sniffing shampoo in the personal-care aisle of the drugstore, fragrance is a big part of the shampoo equation. To wit: the phenomenon that was Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific.
So if all of these ingredients are basically the same, why are some shampoos more expensive? Good question. Price rarely is an indicator of performance. “There’s no reason at all to pay more than $7 for a bottle of shampoo,” Begoun says. In fact, when Consumer Reports tested 1,700 ponytail samples by washing them in a range of shampoos, the expensive options did not produce any better results than the drugstore brands. You won’t see 10 times more results with a $30 bottle over a $3 bottle. “The only way to find out if a shampoo will work for you is by using it,” Wilson says. “Nothing on the bottle, including the price tag, can tell you if you’re really going to like the results.” If you rely on a high-priced brand to ensure a good hair day, you could be sending money down the drain.
Instead of shopping by price, Begoun suggests this strategy to help find the best formula for your hair: your shampoo, she says, should treat your scalp and your conditioner should treat the bottom few inches of your hair. So if you have an oily scalp and split ends, a shampoo formulated for oily hair will remove grease, and a repairing conditioner will help protect the ends.
If that fails? Well, there's always a headband.
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承认吧，三千烦恼丝影响着你的情绪。这没什么可难为情的。据一份多芬头发护理调查显示，每四位女性中就有一位曾因为一头乱蓬蓬的头发而缺席一项活动。百分之八十八的女性说，一头秀发能让她们自信满满。因此对于很多女性，在货架上挑选洗发水比起购买牙膏和棉签来可是一件严肃的大事。
据一份2008年由英国明泰尔市场调查公司开展的调查报道，一半的成人感到洗发水和护发素的种类繁多，让人眼花缭乱。潘婷作为洗发水类中的龙头老大，旗下就有14种以不同功效为主题的系列，总共113种产品。不难看出洗发水的货架上挤满了不同洗发水产品，让人不知从何下手。
这是一个好消息吗？在这些种类繁多的产品中，大部分归根到底不过是包装不同。Beautypedia.com网站的撰稿人宝拉·贝岗说道：“所有的洗发产品基本上都是一种清洁剂。只有前5到6种成分影响到洗发水配方的效果。”如果快速浏览一些洗发水标签上的成分，你很快就会发现所有标签上写的前十种成分看起来几乎都差不多。
但是这些成分到底是什么，它们有什么作用呢？我们就对写在洗发水瓶子后面的成分细细分门别类吧。
1.水。这种基本成分在一瓶洗发水中高达百分之八十。如果没有足够的水，这些气泡的液体就无法从瓶子里倒出来了。
2.表面活性剂。基本上就是一种清洁剂。这个添加剂起的作用最大。它把周围的污垢和油脂溶解。然后清水就能将它们冲洗干净。像十二烷基硫酸铵和十二酯硫酸铵这样的成分比十二烷基硫酸钠更容易被敏感头皮接受。有传闻说这些化学成分能致癌，完全是无稽之谈。虽然表面活性剂有刺激性，但是洗发水里成分浓度不高，不会造成任何实际伤害。除非你是敏感性肤质或者你坚持定期将洗发水几加仑地往眼睛里倒，表面活性剂就不会带来什么问题。现在销售的洗发水中都含有护发素，这就能弥补表面活性剂的剥离特性。所以你可以放心地每天洗头。
3.发泡剂。如椰子酰胺和椰油酰胺丙基甜菜碱这样的成分能够带来丰富泡沫。这些泡沫圆满了整个洗头发的体验过程。然而，泡沫仅仅是审美上的需要。一位Cosmetech研究所的化妆品化学家尼·基塔·威尔逊说道，“泡沫和洗发水的功效完全没有关系。制造商在洗发水中加入发泡剂，不过是为了满足顾客的期望。”
4．一种酸性成分。你的洗发水标签写着的如柠檬酸钠或者柠檬酸成分。加入这些成分是为了使洗发水保持合适的PH值。酸性PH值和头发上的微量的负电荷相互作用，以此来帮助毛小皮，即头发表面的一层，保持表面光滑平整。
5．硅树脂，如二甲基硅油，或者任何以“one”拼写结尾的物质。这些聚合物在头发上形成一层轻薄的保护膜。它们有助头发顺滑，增加发质光泽。
6. 聚季铵盐。 和织物柔顺剂很相似，它能形成一层脂肪状的护发素，赶走静电，让头发更易打理。它也增稠洗发水配方，这就更容易倒出来。
7. 泛酰醇，脂肪醇和坚果油。这些常见的添加剂能增加并锁住水分。
8. 尿素醛，碘代丙炔基氨基甲酸丁，异噻唑啉酮和苯酸钠。“如果你不想让你的洗发水长腿跑掉，你就需要防腐剂。”威尔逊说道。由于很多其他成分是由有机材料制成，它们会发霉，滋生细菌。这些防腐剂就能防止让你的洗发水变成一个科学实验。
“多数情况下，排名靠后的成分由于没有足够的浓度，不会对洗发水的功效产生影响。”贝岗说道。制造商在标签上大力吹嘘的天然提取物和其他添加剂对你的头发并没什么用处。但是通过在过程中增加一点颜色或者香味，它们能够使你的洗头发时更加有趣。当然，通过计算在杂货店的个人护理用品货架的走道里，嗅闻洗发水的女人（和男人）人数来判断，香味对于洗发水来说举足轻重。即：情况就是“呀，你的头发闻起来真香。”
因此如果所有这些成分基本上都是相同的，为什么有些洗发水会更贵一些？问得好。价格很少是一个性能指标。贝岗说：“完全没有理由去买一瓶超过7美元的洗发水。”事实上，《消费者报告》测试了1700例的马尾辫样本，用一系列的洗发水来清洗，使用昂贵的洗发水没有比普通杂货店的洗发水产生任何更好的效果。一瓶标价30美元的洗发水的效果不会比一瓶标价3美元的洗发水的效果好上10倍。“找到适合你的洗发水的唯一方法就是使用它，”威尔逊说道，“瓶身上的任何东西，包括标价牌，都不能告诉你，你是否会真正喜欢使用后的效果。”如果你相信一个高价的品牌洗发水来确保一整天秀发飘飘，那就是在白白浪费钱财。
贝岗建议了这样一个策略来寻找最适合自己发质的洗发水，不是看价钱购买洗发水：她说，你的洗发水应该清洗你的头皮，你的护发素应该涂在你发梢末尾几寸。如果你是油性头皮，发梢分叉，那么使用适合油性发质的洗发水来清除油脂，用修护型护发素来帮助保护发梢。
如果这个策略失败了呢？咳，你总能找到一条头巾的。 |
