Shampoos and Their Effects

The industry around hair care products, especially shampoos, has grown astronomically. There are hundreds of brands, different shampoos and each one specialized for a personal type of hair. From all the publicity and propaganda around miraculous shampoos, it is understandable that shampoo has gained some misunderstandings about what it is and how to use it. To keep it simple, we will run the basics of shampoo for you, so that next time you use your shampoo or go out to buy a new bottle, you will make an informed decision and get the best shampoo for your hair.

Nowadays, shampoo formulas promise you everything, from better coloring to smoother textures, or making your hair straighter and grow faster. But what a good shampoo should do first is clean your scalp and locks of hair. Simple and straightforward, and everything else that comes with it are added bonuses.

What a Shampoo Should Do

Any shampoo formula before being released commercially is studied extensively by beauty laboratories. Specialists will try to create a shampoo formula that will both be able to be a magnet for oils and debris, while managing to keep the water and repel those unwanted oils and debris. This way your hair will be cleaned and maintain its natural beauty look.

Besides the ability to clean, there are other aspects that shampoo specialists keep in mind while creating their perfect shampoo formulas. First of all, the shampoo shouldn't irritate eyes, scalp or skin; it shouldn't damage the hair in any way; and it should be effective in different kinds of water, from tap to well water.

In your shampoo bottle you will find names like: Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, derived from coconut oil and that makes your shampoo tear free, it helps to counteract the Citric Acid which is a severe irritant extracted from citrus fruits and is used to preserve the oils in the shampoo and act as antioxidant.

How Shampoo Works

Let us start by explaining the problem. Your head, just like everyone else's, creates oils that are meant to protect the hair and are quite helpful with the scalp. But, these oils will keep flowing through the hair and soon it becomes very oily, sticky and unpleasant. Not only this, but it will gather all kind of dusts, debris and dead skin. Another problem with these natural oils is that they repel water. If you have ever tried using only water to clean your hair, you know that it doesn't work that well.

When you apply your shampoo, it will act sort of like a vacuum cleaner pushing all the dirt and washing it away with the water. So, it is very important that you apply long massage with the shampoo; this way you will let it gather all the dirt and give time for the shampoo to apply any other beauty care products included in its formula. Rinsing your hair is also an important stage of using a shampoo, because it will remove all the dirt and extra shampoo left behind.

You should use just enough shampoo for your amount of hair, this way rinsing will be easier since there won't be too much shampoo left behind. After rinsing your hair with clean water, it is clean and ready to dry. So, the basics of shampoos are covered and next time you look at your shampoo bottle, you will have a better understanding what goes behind your daily care for your hair.