This is an archived article and the information in the story may be outdated. Please check the time stamp on the story to see when it was updated last.
Shampoo. It’s a beauty product that everyone uses. Multiple times per week, and probably without much thought. You probably just use whatever product you’ve already got in your shower, or that your partner bought, without closely reading the label or looking up their side effects. Right? I mean who does that? No one!
But if you’re struggling with hair loss, you might be self-sabotaging without even knowing it. Could your daily shampoo actually be making your hair loss worst? We investigated:
It turns out that there is one ingredient commonly used in shampoo and other hair products that has been scientifically proven to cause hair loss. What is it? The answer is sodium chloride.
Sodium chloride is salt! Why would beauty brands put salt in their products? In shampoos and conditioners salt is intended to make the consistency of hair thicker. But salt can actually make an already-sensitive scalp more dry and itchy, which in turn, causes hair loss. Yikes!
Formaldehyde is another ingredient that was once commonly used in shampoo that has incredibly scary and harmful effects. If you see the word "formaldehyde" on your shampoo label, turn and RUN!
A known human carcinogen, formaldehyde is a preservative that's still legal in personal care products in the U.S. In 2013, Unilever lost a class action lawsuit over customers experiencing hair loss from products containing the stuff. Beware!
Fragrance is a sneaky one! If your shampoo is advertised as having a fragrance, it's probably loaded with chemicals that, in addition to cancer and asthma, can also cause hair loss because of how they irritate the skin.
