Here's an interesting article about salt in your shampoos:
So you found sodium chloride on the back of your shampoo
bottle. Hey, isn’t that the same stuff in your shaker on the dining room table?
Yup! It may be called sodium chloride on the
label and NaCl in Chem class, but you and I know it as plain
old table salt. And yup, you’re putting the same stuff that seasons fries and
popcorn into your hair.
Basic Training
Sodium Chloride contains two basic elements: sodium and chlorine.
Independently, these two have a tendency to be – well… a little overdramatic.
In it’s pure form, sodium reacts explosively with water producing sodium
hydroxide (will eat through skin) and hydrogen gas (highly flammable)! If you
were a soldier in WWI, you’d know that even the slightest bit of chlorine gas
could be fatal. RETREAT!!!
But combine these wayward atoms together, and the two will
exchange electrons to form an ionic bond. The new sodium chloride
(NaCl) loses its charged tendencies, and goes neutral.
The Power of Crystals
Like Swarovski’s and diamonds, salt naturally forms into
crystals, packed together into orderly patterns so organized – it lets light
shine right through. Now that’s what I call bling! If you need some table salt
you won’t be heading to the local jeweler though. Salt is mined from ancient
seabeds that dried up millions of years ago, or collected in shallow ponds of
sea water left to evaporate in the hot sun. The salt is filtered to
become 97.5% pure food grade sodium chloride, as defined by the FDA. With none
of the gunk or the fishy bits!
The Plot Thickens
So lets get down to the question. What the heck is salt
doing in your shampoo? In shampoos salt is commonly used as a thickener,
creating a rich, thick and luxurious feel that us consumers really go ga-ga
over. You see, shampoo is created when small droplets of cleanser are
suspended in a watery solution. Salt transforms these small spherical droplets,
called micelles into long, thin noodle-like structures. Sorta like
tiny tangled spaghetti. How cute! It’s these entangled micelles that
thicken our shampoo.
Too Much of a Good Thing?
Worried about too much salt in your shampoo? Fuhgeddaboudit.
Piling on too much salt actually reverses the thickening effect, making your
shampoo thin and runny. Chemists call this the salt curve.
The Multi-Purpose Ingredient
In hair care products, salt has lots of other duties as
well.
- In John Masters Sea Mist it acts
as a volumizer and texturizer – giving you that ”I just spent the day at
the beach” look. Bumble and Bumble’s Surf Spray uses
magnesium sulfate salts (AKA Epsom Salts) for the same effect.
- In
products like Lush’s Big Shampoo, salt crystals
are used as a preservative and exfoliant, making an unwelcome home for
bacteria AND removing dead skin cells from the scalp.
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