Many hair products contain silicone and parabens, which can leave a waxy build up on your hair. You might have seen a video that went viral recently of a hairdresser scraping a client’s hair with scissors and showing some pretty gross looking product build-up.
Silicone is a big cause of product build-up
Yep, this is often caused by silicone. Silicone seals the hair’s cuticle against water and it does make it appear shiny on the surface but it’s not a healthy shine, it’s more of a coating. What happens is the silicone lies on top of the hair making it look greasy, flat, and lifeless. My top tip: if you see the word ‘dimethicone’ on the product label, don’t choose it. This is one of the main culprits when it comes to build-up.
The problem with product build-up
The problem with build-up is that it can stop other products like colour or keratin from penetrating your hair so they’re less effective. The hair will also lose its natural shine.
But silicone is not all bad. It can make the hair less porous and adds moisture, so it won’t do too much harm, as long as you wash your hair thoroughly. In fact, product build-up is also caused by hard water, failing to rinse products out of the hair properly, and cheaper shampoos which tend to contain more silicones and waxes.
What should we look for in a hair product?
First of all, you should look for products that suit your hair type and needs. Naturally-derived ingredients, like those in the Aveda products we use in the salon (which are also paraben free) are also much kinder to your hair.
If you’re confused about the products you should be using to achieve your best hair yet, speak to me the next time you’re in the salon and I can suggest a custom hair care routine, whether your hair is straight, wavy, virgin, or coloured. If you have a lot of product build-up in your hair, we can also look at using a clarifying shampoo regularly.