Along with people's increasing baldness problem, they are becoming more and more concerned about shampoo. Especially now there is a saying: silicone-free and non-irritating. People now believe that shampoos containing silicone oil will clog their pores and as a result, cause hair loss. Is this view reasonable or not? Here are some facts you need to know about.

What is silicone oil shampoo?

Silicone oil, a class of polyorganosiloxanes with different degrees of polymerization and chain structures. The most common silicone oil component in hair care products is dimethicone oil, which is structurally stable and has a strong moisturizing and nourishing effect. In shampoos, silicone oil, whose scientific name is "polydimethylsiloxane," has good viscosity and malleability, meaning that it is very similar to natural plant-derived oils.

Why do we use shampoos added with silicone oil?

Why are silicone oils added to many products? What role exactly do they play? As we just said, silicone oil is very much like a grease, so the most important effect is to protect the smoothness of the hair. We can have a better understanding through the structure of the hair.

Hair is made up of three parts, in order from the outside to the inside: hair scales, hair cortex, and hair medulla. Therefore, it is the outermost layer of hair scales that is most important for the protection of hair. We can also say that the hair is good if the scales are good.

1. Keep hair soft

Shampooing helps to remove dirt and excess oil from the hair and scalp, but water and anionic surfactants used for decontamination cause a series of changes in the hair: the strands absorb water and swell, wetting and softening, and the oils that normally adhere to the outside of the hair's small skin to play a lubricating and protective role are washed away. If there is damage to the hair scales, it will increase the friction between the hair, causing the hair to tangle together when combing, and the friction between each other aggravates the damage to the hair scales. More seriously, anionic surfactants remove the oil, after soaking in the hair. When the hair is wet, the negatively charged hair can still stick together under the action of water, but when they are dry, it is not good, because same-sex repulsion is far away from each other. If you then use a plastic comb to comb a few times to produce static electricity, that is really bad.

Don’t worry, silicone oil shampoo shows a strong advantage. The silicone oil molecules can get in between the open scales and act as a filler, and your hair is sure to become smoother. This is the reason why many people find that their hair becomes very dry after using silicone oil free shampoos.

2. keep hair moist

Meanwhile, silicone oil is also a skin moisturizing ingredient that can cover the skin to form a protective layer and stop skin moisture dissipation, and is used more often in moisturizers. While keeping the hair easy to comb, the protective layer formed by the silicone oil on the hair strands also locks in the moisture better and keeps the hair looking as healthy as possible. If you are someone with hair that looks like straw, we still recommend using a shampoo that contains silicone oil.

3. Keep hair shiny

In addition, hair that is shampooed with silicone oil can reflect the sun's rays better and reduce UV damage because the silicone oil largely fills the spaces between the hair scales, which then makes the scales flat and smooth and neatly aligned. This certainly gives a shine and makes the hair stronger than untreated hair.

Should I buy silicone oil shampoo?

It seems that silicone-free shampoos are now more popular on the market because businesses are saying that silicone-based shampoos can cause hair loss. In fact, it is a misconception. Silicone oil is a macromolecular component that cannot enter the scalp to destroy the hair follicles and it is not harmful in itself. Secondly, even if it is absorbed by the body, the amount of silicone oil added to shampoos containing silicone oil is generally between 1% and 4%. The silicone oil that can be deposited to the hair after washing is very little. On the contrary, silicone oil can play a very protective role, making your hair more subdued and soft. So if you want to solve the above three shortcomings of your hair, you'd better use a shampoo with silicone oil. Of course, some people who are prone to oily scalp and want to make their hair voluminous, it is better to use a different choice.