Silicones are a type of chemical that is commonly used in hair products like shampoos, conditioners, heat protectants, shine serums and more. They are usually easy to spot in the ingredients list. Most have "cone" at the end of a long and complicated word, like "Dimethicone" or "Amodimethicone". But then there are also silicones that are called things like "Dimethiconol" and "Cyclopenthasiloxane". But don’t worry about trying to figure out where the silicones are in a long list of ingredients. The above four are the most commonly used silicones. If they aren’t in the ingredients then the product is unlikely to have any other types of silicones in it. So if you do decide to avoid silicones, all you have to do is just check for these four ingredients and then do a quick scan for the word "cone", and you should be safe.
Silicones have many purposes. In conditioners they seal down the cuticles of the hair, which makes it shine. In detanglers they provide slip, which helps de-tangle. And since silicones coat the hair strands, heat protectants allow that layer of silicone to take some of the damage, instead of your hair. Some silicones can also temporarily glue split ends back together and make hair appear more healthy.
You might be asking yourself right about now, "So then why wouldn’t I want to use silicones?." Well, silicones can build up on hair pretty fast. It mostly depends on how many products your using with silicones in them, how much silicones are in those products, and which type of silicones they are. Also, two different people who use the same products will get build up at different rates, as not every ones hair reacts the same to silicones. One person can go a few years using a silicone laden conditioner and not notice a thing wrong with their hair, while another might get a gunky feeling after one use of the same product.
Silicones are hard to remove. Most require a harsh detergent to get rid of them, like a clarifying shampoo. To much build up of silicone can be bad. Since it’s coating the hair strands, it can lock out moisture and make hair dry. Lets say someone has used the same conditioner for a year and it works great. Then suddenly it seems to stop working. The silicones in that conditioner could be the very thing that is making the conditioner not condition. That myth about how you can’t use the same brand for a long time because it will eventually stop working, is false. Usually it has stopped working because of silicone build up. All you need is one use of a clarifying shampoo, then you could go back to your favorite products and it will be just like the first time you used it. Silicone build up can also do the opposite of its intended use. If too many layers coat the hair strands it can become dull instead of shiny, tangly instead of easily comb-able, and the dryness makes it prone to breakage instead of protecting it.
So to answer the question, "Should you use silicones on your hair?" It’s up to you! Just pay more attention to how your hair reacts with certain ingredients and then decide from there how you’re going to handle it. If you’re a silicone user and you suddenly find your hair unmanageable, before running out to find another product to fix it, first try a clarifying wash. Some people find that clarifying shampoos wreak havoc on their hair though. So they keep their silicone use down to a minimum. Others avoid it entirely.
