Hair treatments: do they really work?

(part one)

Although we love hair products as all other girls, it’s time to face the truth, not everything you read in magazines or see in commercials is true. In fact, it’s far from true sometimes. So, here it goes: Shampoos get dirt out of your hair and make it smell lovely, and that’s about it.

Surprised? We sure were.

These days every major hair product producer is issuing a special ‘strengthening’ line. Not only do they promise sleek, miles long hair, but they also promise to do it on permed or colour – damaged hair. Accompanied with a bright red NEW sticker, products come with claims, for example laboratory tests that prove that their shampoo will get your hair 60 percent stronger.

Yeah right.

We are pushed to think that keratin, amino acids and other proteins and vitamins will charge directly from the shampoo and into your every hair, from top to the end, and miraculously transform it into undamaged, shiny bunch of hair. The truth is that very little of the product ever penetrates your hair. And the tests are done when the shampoo is still on.

You are better off with a good haircut (cutting off those split ends), eating vegetables and fruit, taking vitamin and mineral supplements, and all of those other things we described in Hair trouble post.

Moreover, be careful when shampooing. Shampoo only once, with a small amount of product, and rinse thoroughly. This is because, while shampoo really cleans your hair, it also cleans out the natural hair oil that makes your hair shiny and strong.

You see, even fortifying shampoos can make your hair, in fact, weaker.

Have you ever tried to wash your hair with shampoo and then rinse it and dry it? Without using a conditioner? Yes, your hair is coarse, tangly and dull. It doesn’t matter which brand you use or how much you paid for it. Shampoo is a detergent like the ones we use when cleaning the bathroom or washing the dishes.

So, if a shampoo should make your hair shiny and beautiful, why do you have to use the conditioner? Answer to this question in one of our next posts.