This article has been updated since its initial publish date.
Let’s talk shampoo. As more and more experts recommend skipping shampoo days, the product is often left out of haircare discussions or pushed off to the side. Instead, the focus tends to shift more to serums, oils, and conditioners that can transform your hair and make it shinier and more voluminous.
But even if you’re only washing your hair once or twice a week, the shampoo that you use matters. That doesn’t mean you should head straight for the luxury brand shelves and stock up on only the most costly options, either. Instead, paying attention to the ingredients in your shampoo and avoiding those that are drying and can cause damage (particularly if you have thinning hair) is the way to go.
Dr. Anna Chacon, a board-certified dermatologist and writer at MyPsorasisTeam, reveals which shampoo ingredients are actually so bad for your hair and can even cause thinning.
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5 Shampoo Ingredients To Look Out For If You Have Thinning Hair:
1. Sulfates
If a shampoo contains sulfates it may seem like it’s doing more for you because of the lather that it produces — after all, sulfates are chemicals with strong cleansing agents. But don’t be fooled by appearances.
“Ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate damage and irritate hair follicles and can destroy the protein in the hair that may result in breakage, which can resemble or appear as hair loss,” Dr. Chacon said.
2. Formaldehyde
Sounds scary, but the dose makes the poison when it comes to formaldehyde. “At low levels, formaldehyde is considered safe,” Dr. Chacon said. “It is used in cosmetic products to kill bacteria and prolong shelf life.
Formaldehyde donors such as DMDM hydantoin from hair products can be released into the air, which at certain levels may irritate your eyes, nose, and lungs and cause skin sensitivity or allergic contact dermatitis and flaking to flare up; all of which can lead to you losing hair. irritation and hair loss.”
3. Sodium Chloride
“Sodium chloride works alongside Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and is often used to thicken products like shampoos and conditioners,” Dr. Chacon said. “It does not directly cause hair loss, [but] should you use hair products that contain high concentrations of sodium chloride, it can cause your scalp to be dry and itchy which in turn could lead you to losing hair.”
4. Alcohol
Avoiding any hair product — from shampoos to hair sprays — that contain alcohol is a wise move to preserve the integrity of your strands and keep them from drying out.
“Alcohols that you should avoid in your hair products are propanol and isopropyl alcohol, which can dry out your hair and make it more prone to breakage,” Dr. Chacon said.
5. Propylene glycol
Last but not least on the list of shampoo no’s is propylene glycol, which Dr. Chacon said acts as a thickening agent in shampoos and conditioners. “While propylene glycol does not directly cause hair loss, it can potentially strip your hair of moisture, leaving it brittle and prone to breakage,” Dr. Chacon said.
No matter what your haircare budget is, avoiding these ingredients is as simple as doing a twice-over look at your shampoo ingredients list.
