There are many hair care products on the market today. Some use synthetic ingredients while others use natural ones but which one is better?
In our previous post, we touched on the subject of natural ingredients being superior to more synthetic options. While we mentioned some reasons why we prefer natural over synthetic, we did so only in passing. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into this claim and prove with certainty why natural is the way to go if you want a full head of hair.
1. Mild on Hair and Scalp
The first reason why natural hair products are better is because they are gentler on both your hair and scalp – which are both important for full healthy hair.
You see:
95% of our hair consists of a fibrous helical protein called “keratin”, which also makes up part of our skin and nails. Small tubes in our scalp called “follicles” contain our hair roots. As our hair grows, it gets pushed out by the roots through the follicles and skin. Any damage to either hair or scalp can, therefore, hinder the growth of full healthy hair.
Needless to say, you need to take care of both your scalp and hair if you want to have flawlessly gorgeous locks. So why would you want to use products that can damage them?
Take Polyethylene Glycols (PEG) for example. If you’ve ever tried hair creams and conditioners that make your scalp feel itchy or burning, PEG may be the culprit.
PEG is a petroleum byproduct that’s often used as a thickener for hair creams and conditioners. According to a study by Hyun-Jun Jang et. al., while some PEGs are safe for use, no studies on the safety and toxicity of this thickening agent have been found.
Another common chemical found in synthetic hair care products is alcohol. This chemical is often used to help active ingredients penetrate your hair and skin. While not all alcohols are bad for your hair and skin, some types (like isopropyl) tend to cause dryness, which can lead to irritation and breaking/splitting.
On the other hand:
Natural ingredients are generally gentler on the hair and scalp. They are less likely to cause irritation, dryness, or other adverse reactions, which means you can use them regularly.
2. Boosts Hair Quality All Around
Another reason to choose natural ingredients is the fact that they – by default – are rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients that benefit hair health.
Synthetic hair products have to be carefully formulated to give you particular results. Each synthetic chemical has to have a purpose and function. What results is an end product that usually serves to do one specific function like clean/moisturize your hair or scalp, get rid of dandruff or itchiness, or repair damaged hair or split ends.
Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for several synthetic products that each do one function, why not go the natural way and improve your hair as a whole?
For example:
Avocados contain vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, and folate that moisturize your hair while also repairing and strengthening it.
Olive and coconut oil offer several hair benefits that result in thicker, moisturized, and more resistant to sun or fungal damage.
Saw palmetto extract is rich in fatty acids, plant sterols, and flavonoids. This small palm has long been used as food and medicine for hundreds of years – and with good reason.
One study by Pilar Pais, Agustí Villar, and Santiago Rull found that saw palmetto extract may help inhibit the activity of 5-alpha reductase as well as reduce the uptake of DHT into hair follicles, thereby inhibiting DHT’s ability to bind to certain hormone receptors.
5-alpha reductase is an enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT. By inhibiting the activity of 5-alpha reductase and reducing DHT uptake, saw palmetto’s hair-boosting effects are just the tip of the beneficial iceberg.
You can find more details on saw palmetto’s benefits here: 4 Benefits of Saw Palmetto for Men
Another hair-nourishing natural ingredient is pumpkin seed. The oil extracted from this humble seed is rich in several nutrients including fatty acids, vitamins (A and E), carotenoids, phytosterols, and squalene. Apart from helping hair grow better and more numerous, pumpkin seed oil also benefits your heart, prostate, and overactive bladder, according to WebMD.
Both of these hair-improving ingredients can be found in Mohebi Life’s Natural Hair Support. Our research-based formula contains both saw palmetto, pumpkin seed oil, and more scientifically-backed natural ingredients to give you healthier, stronger, and thicker hair with just one easy-to-swallow capsule a day.
3. Also Nourishes the Scalp
As mentioned earlier, natural ingredients usually contain several nutrients that can benefit our hair. Some examples of these nutrients include vitamins A, C, E, biotin, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants.
Apart from our hair, do you know what else benefits from these nutrients?
That’s right, our scalp. Our scalp makes up the area of skin covering our head. Just like our hair, our scalp needs the right nutrients to stay healthy. One study by Ahmet Akar et. al. found that the scalps of people suffering from alopecia areata had an abundance of harmful free radicals, despite the body’s attempts at combating them.
As you know:
Antioxidants combat free radicals by preventing their formation, scavenging them, or by promoting their decomposition.
By choosing natural ingredients, you’re not only taking care of your hair but also nourishing your scalp. Those are two benefits for the price of one.
4. Less Buildup
Whenever you apply a film-forming product (shampoos, conditioners, waxes, etc.) to your hair, there’s bound to be some product build-up. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as you’d normally want certain products to stay on your hair longer to perform their full effect.
However, some ingredients can stay and build up on your hair for longer than you want. This can cause your hair to absorb less moisture due to the film caused by excess layers of products. Synthetic ingredients such as butters, heavy oils, mineral oil, petroleum, waxes, and high molecular weight silicones (like dimethicone or amodimethicone) aren’t water-soluble and therefore, can cause excess buildup on your hair.
To avoid this issue, you can switch to natural alternatives such as jojoba or argan oil, carnauba wax, coconut or olive oil, aloe vera gel, and apple cider vinegar for your various hair care needs.
5. Better for the Environment
Perhaps one of the most pressing reasons to choose natural over synthetic hair care products is that they have less environmental impact.
Rinsing and washing away synthetic ingredients down the drain can contribute to water pollution since they’re often non-biodegradable. This makes them persist in the environment and cause adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems.
Since many synthetic ingredients are derived from non-renewable resources like petroleum, their production contributes to environmental degradation, habitat destruction, and the depletion of finite fossil fuel reserves.
Additionally, the production process for synthetic ingredients often involves many energy-intensive steps that contribute to the increase in greenhouse gases.
Finally, many synthetic hair care products have to be tested on animals to see how they react in contact with skin and hair. While this may not have an immediate impact on the environment, it is unethical and cruel against animals.
In Conclusion
All in all:
Natural ingredients can be just as effective as their synthetic counterparts and, for the above-mentioned reasons, may even be considered better. They are milder on hair and scalp and often offer several benefits that boost hair quality across the board. They are also biodegradable, sustainable, and better for the environment – making them a better choice overall.