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Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Shampoo --->Rinse with water---> ?

*A Quiz for u all. Correct answer will be rewarded. Redeem reward when u see me in class.*

Complete the equation.

Shampoo + ? --> Nice healthy hair

A. Comb hair
B. Apply conditioner
C. Shampoo again and again and again and again
D. Get out from the bathroom and ready to go out without rinsing with water after shampooing

Anyway, back to the main purpose of this post.
From the previous post about shampoo, I’ve mentioned about roughness of the hair after shampooing mainly caused by the alkalinity of the shampoo itself. As we know, shampoos are used to clean dirt on our hair without realizing it also removed the conditioning agents which is an oily substance called sebum that can be found naturally in the hair follicle. This results in the swelling of the hair shaft where hair cuticles are raised up causing the hair to be rough.
Sebum’s main purpose is to make the hair waterproof and to protect them from drying out.

Unfortunately, shampoos tend to remove them from the hair cuticle caused by the surfactants commonly Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and its cousin Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS). To replace sebum that has been removed, conditioner is one of the choices to reverse the hair damaged.

What happens during shampooing and the role of a conditioner can be seen from this explanation. Please click on the link to get a clearer picture of it.

http://www.pg.com/science/haircare/hair_twh_132.htm

Although shampoos are made slightly acidic to lower down the percentage of alkaline, conditioner can be use to treat the roughness of the hair by keeping the hair cuticle smooth and slippery. Hence, our hair looks more shiny and manageable.

Do you know why our hair becomes smooth and manageable after applying conditioner?

Conditioners are creams, liquids, pastes or gels that imitate sebum. Keep in mind, they only imitate sebum.
One of the reasons is because conditioner contains silicone oils such as dimethicone that makes the hair shiny and slippery. Since, silicones are immiscible and water resistant, as a conditioner, some silicone remains on the hair shaft although it has been rinsed with water to improve manageability by reducing static electricity, decreasing friction where it minimizes tangles and smoothing roughened hair cuticle.

Chemical formula of dimethicone

They may be slippery liquids, waxes, or rubbers depending on the formula and the degree of polymerization and cross-linking of the polymers. Synonyms to dimethicones are Polydimethylsiloxan(PDMS),dimethicone,cyclomethicone,cetyldimethicone,cyclopentasiloxane and silicone oil.

Besides silicones oils, conditioners contain long chain fatty alcohols like cetyl alcohol, and oleyl alcohol. One end of the molecule binds to the hair and the other end which is the fatty molecules rub against the other strands of hair. This will cause less friction between stands of hair.

Chemical formula of:

Cetyl alcohol
CH3(CH2)15OH

Oleyl alcohol
C18H36O

Besides the silicones oils and the alcohols, conditioner normally contains vegetable oils, mineral oils, fatty esters and even hydrolyzed animal proteins to give the hair more useful nutrients.

Be sure to apply conditioner if you want ur hair to be healthy ya.

Im sure u don’t want your hair to be like this right? =X