Clairol`s Herbal Essences...bad for hair?

Hey everyone.

I have heard that Clairol`s Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner (which I currently use) is not good for hair. Does anyone know if this is true?

I went to a website that listed common shampoo ingredients but could not find many that were in Herbal Essences. These are the ingredients:

water, sodium laureth, sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamidopropyl bentaine, aloe barbadensis extract, passionflower extract, chamomile extract, cocamide mea, dihydroxypropyl peg-5 linoleammonium chloride, fragrance, citric acid, propylene glycol, sodium chloride, dmdm hydantoin, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate

Somehow that`s a bit unspecific for me...I have no clue what they mean by most of those! How can you tell if a shampoo is good or bad for your hair? Are there key ingredients that make excellent shampoos and ingredients that show a shampoo isn`t very good for your hair?

Any help you could give me would be appreciated! I am really trying to grow my hair out healthy so I think a good shampoo and conditioner would help.

If you would recommend a shampoo and conditioner better than Clairol`s Herbal Essences, I would appreciate it also...unless it is a good one? Arg. So confused. Thank you so much!

Whitney

sodium/ ammonium Laureth and sodium/ammonium Lauryl sulfates are two different types of cleansers put in shampoo to remove oil dirt and buildup from your hair. People say that ammonium lauryl/ laureth sulfates and sodium lauryl sulfate are the harshest cleansers to use on your hair which can evenutally with repeated use, cause your hair to become dry , so any brand shampoo containing only SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE is the best kind to use on your hair since it is the mildest cleanser; this cleanser is also found in most salon brand shampoos.
Other things to look for in a good shampoo are vitamins ( E, A, and B5) plant derived extracts and oils
(Wheat germ oil, jojoba, rosemary) or things like panthenol and protein which also nourish the hair.

Regarding the whole shampoo issue, I like to experiment with different brands and types of shampoo and whatever works good for my hair on a daily basis, I will continue to use it no matter what ingredients are listed on the bottle
So my advice is to experiment with different types of shampoos ones and in the end if clairol herbal essences happen to be the shampoo that leaves your hair looking and feeling the healthiest continue to use it

Rita,
I did not know that!
Thanx for the advice!:D

Hi! Rita is right on the money! And it`s funny, I just posted an Herbal Essences review at epinions.com yesterday. I basically said the exactly same thing but went a little more indepth (that site always wants you to be long-winded.) Hope this helps. :-)

http://www.epinions.com/content_66894007940

I love the Herbal Essences S&C.
There are no cones in them.

Although now I am on the Curly Girl regime, I`ve kept the conditioner as part of it.
Love it and it does smell nice too!

GoldenHoney

Actually the Intensive Blends conditioners for dry/damaged and color-treated hair both contain two silicone derivatives: dimethicone copolyol and cyclomethicone. These are listed about halfway down the ingredient list so they`re probably present in veeeeeery small amounts. But Golden is right, the original formulas don`t contain silicones (personally I like cones--they make my dry hair considerably silkier and don`t build up for me in the least--but it`s just a personal preference!) :-)

To Lyris
I just read your herbal essences review it`s very good and true
also do you happen to know what panthenol really does for your hair,
since you know alot about shampoo ingredients

Actually my hair loves cones, but I`m on the Curly Girl regime for my hair and I`m doing my darndest
to follow it as close as possible.
That`s probably why I entered the `no cones` thing in there. I had the CG routine in my head ! :)
And yes I was only talking about the Shampoo and the after shampoo conditioner.

My opinion is this: if it works for you then use it and enjoy the benefits, if you don`t like it then drop it and find something that`ll work & make you feel good.

Funny thing! You could also say that about a Man!! :)
lol


Goldenhoney

To Golden: LOL about the man comment :-)

To Rita: thanks for the compliment! Panthenol (Vitamin B5) is a good conditioning agent that can also make hair feel thicker (it coats the hair shaft, increasing the diameter of each strand slightly.) I have noticed whenever I use a leave-in conditioner with panthenol near the top of the ingredient list, my hair does feel thicker. That`s why so many volumizing leave-in sprays contain it. Panthenol isn`t a miracle worker, but it`s just one of many conditioning agents, like protein, collagen, quaterniums, etc, that can soften hair and make it look/feel good. Hope that helps a bit! :-)

My personal favorite is Avalon. It doesn't have any sulfates or many of the other chemical sounding things. Not that the chemicals are all bad or anything, its just a personal preference. The Avalon conditioner is good too, has jojoba oil in it, but its very lightweight and doesn't give you the "slip" other conditioners do if you want to have it long, so I have to throw a chemically "slip" conditioner into my routine to help.

Generally speaking: a shampoo that makes your hair smell "good" (always a matter of taste) contains mostly perfumes with an alcohol base to solve the fragrances and keep them there. As you can imagine, the alcohol is perfectly to stripe your hair (and skin) of their 'oilly' protection and makes the hairshaft "open up". Then the 'soapy' part does his job very well, leaving the hair very clean but very dry and breakable.

On the list of ingredients "fragrance" appears about half way. Since it's the marketing angle of H E is their smell, it remains the question how much fragrance is used and on what basis?

Unluckily the order of mentioning the ingredients gives us no clue whatsover about the amount used. Therefore you guess (and results) are as good as mine. Seen the amount of money pumped into HE ads, the fairly common prices, I tend to think they do not use "special" expensive ingredients. But it could be I'm wrong too and they found a new, cheap and good formula making the use of a lot of fagrances possible. My experiences is: certainly don't overuse, another brand might be advisable.