Do you know which ingredient in your hair product causes built up?

After you use a certain product, your hair tends to have a different feeling. This is because the silicones are causing build up and your hair has a weighted down feeling.

What is product build-up and what is that weighted-down feeling you have on your hair?

There are polymers found in condition agents (such as silicones and cationic polymers like polyquaterniums) and styling polymers (usually present in mouses and gels). These polymers create a polymer firm around the cuticle.

These agents tend to stick to the hair and with repeated use and it can cause build up in the hair shaft. If these polymers are not removed properly from the application of the shampoo, then polymer built-up will happen and this gives a weighted-down feeling.

You can remove these polymers by just washing your hair.

What ingredients can cause built-up?

Built-up can be caused and avoided due to the combination of ingredients in a formulation.

For example: whether or not silicones from a shampoo built-up is highly determined by the other ingredients in the formulations. Cationic polymers are present in a lot of shampoos and conditioners. They can control and modify how much silicone can deposit on the hair. Cationic polymers can reduce the amount of polymers that can deposit on the hair.

Silicone oil deposition remains constant in repeated washing.

There are studies showing that dimethicone does not cause built-up in the hair with continuous use of hair products. As they can be easily removed with subsequent washes while also removing the previously deposited dimethicone.

Conclusion: many products contain a lot of ingredients that can cause built-up and not only silicones. Sebum present in the skin can also cause built-up in the hair.