Polymergirl
Forum Replies Created
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Thank you so much, Bob and Perry!
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Bob, again thank you for the wealth of information you provide!
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Wonderful response, Bob!
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Bob, thank you so much! I look forward to sitting down and looking at all of your recommendations. I may have more questions yet.
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I would use the SLES and perhaps consider adding a co-surfactant such as cocamidopropyl betaine.
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@mikebavington I am willing to provide a service such as you described, if you ever have the need. I actually prefer that kind of work oftentimes to the larger scale projects.
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One example among many has been one of the Burt’s Bees shampoos. I know that isn’t super helpful, as I can’t remember which it was now, but it was reported as extremely drying by many users. I think surfactant concentration plays a role, as does the inclusion of conditioning agents in the formula. pH matters as well.
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Yes, germ soup, that sounds like what they are making.
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Can you comment on the advisability of many “crunchy” homemakers who make their own liquid soap using regular soap (which they carve into flakes) and water? It seems to me to be a potentially microbial mess, since they do not add preservative to the mixture. Do you have anything specific I could tell them to warn them away from this practice? (I offered caution and recommended refrigeration of the product and to discard after one week).
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The Lochhead effect is another name for dilution deposition, I think that was coined when he worked at BF Goodrich?. He is so sweet and modest, I can’t recall if he ever called it the Lochhead effect when he was teaching his grad students colloid chemistry.
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Coconut oil penetrates into the cortex, but for some hair types/damaged hair, that can backfire and make a mess. She butter and argan oil are nice ones to try.
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Most of the hubbub in that community regarding the use of silicones on curly hair being horrible came from one hair stylist (Lorraine Massey), who wrote a book entitieled Curly Girl, in which she sanctioned use of any and all silicones. (And then included amodimethicone in her products for sale later..) To be fair, thsi book came out at atime when curly hair was being drenched by salaon products that were 100% silicone oils, to be used as gloss agents and frizz controllers. They looked great on first use, and then over time hair became frizzy, weird, and dry and couldn’t even be removed with typical shampoos on the market.. (shudder, I was a victim of this horribel trend). So sure, those were not a great idea.
I think the main concern for silicones now on curly or ethnic hair is if the person is not using an adequate cleanser to remove them. If a person only conditioner washes their hair, then certainly the non-water soluble silicones will be more prone to accumulation on the surface of the hair.
As far as sulfates go, there is some evidence that they can dissolve the naturally-occurring fatty acids in the cuticle layer, which could cause problems. This may be more likely in curly and African hair, as they tend to be more dry and fragile anyway. In general, curly hair does better if not washed daily anyway. But, as Perry noted, a gentle shampoo can be formulated, using SLS or SLES as the primary surfactant. Interestingly, some of the shampoos formulated with supposedly more gentle surfactants and cleansing agents have been reported by users to be the most drying and harsh.
