Choosing the Correct Hair Products for Your Hair

I think it is important for everyone, so you should read this. When choosing your shampoo please look closely at the label. You should see all the materials and substances it was made of. The main thing shampoos consist of are detergents the surfactants that make foam show up when mixing with water and air.

Detergents.
Detergent is shampoo's basic and semantic component. After all the shampoo is intended to wash your hair, that's all. All the stuff that is above this definition is called medicated shampoos, conditioners, antiseborrheic shampoos and so on.

Though the amount of the foam does not determine the quality of the shampoo, the detergent has great influence on it. Nowadays few detergents that differ in its chemical structure exist. They are divided into anionic, cationic, nonionic and amphoteric.

Anionic detergents are most commonly used in shampoos and shower gels . They are cheap and have good purifying qualities. Anionic surfactants can be easily removed from the hair. Cationic surfactants (with positive ions) are used not so often and have higher concentration. Some of them may cause eye irritation. Amphoteric surfactants that contain positive or negative ions depending from shampoos pH are used for curing damaged and dry hair.

If we'll put in a line from worst to best we'll get the following: Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, TEA Layril Sulfate, OAA Laureth Sulfate. So as you see last three surfactants are the best ones. On every shampoo's label such detergent is displayed first.

Medicated shampoos
Medicated shampoos are used for curing illnesses, especially dandruff. Dandruff appears when the microscopical fungus (Malassezia Furfur) starts its activity. That’s why dandruff shampoos contain substances against seborrhea and antifungal agents.

Zinc Pirythione, Climbazole, Ketoconozole, Selenium Disulphide have antimicrobial effect against Malassezia Furfur that is supposed to cause dandruff appearance. Octopirox, Coal Tar, Selenium Disulphide suppress activity of cells that produce fat. Coal Tar, Sulphur , Salicylic Acid have keratolytic effect on the skin. In other words it is the capability to detach layers of dead cells that cause dandruff to appear.

Choosing a shampoo
First of all you must choose shampoo taking in consideration the type of your hair. Thus if you have dry hair you should buy moisturizing shampoo and so on. It is harder to choose when you got long hair of different types (oily hair at your roots and dry one at the tips). In that case cosmetologists suggest a new haircut.

It is obligatory to pay attention on the detergent. Which one is better you can see in the beginning of the article. If you like the shampoo but it is not suitable for you try not to experiment with it. If the hair is damaged (after the hairdressing) you should use shampoos with pH 4.5-5.5. Have a healthy hair.