Proteins in Conditioners

[liseling]

I have a question.

What ingredient names indicate protein? I'm mainly interested in conditioner ingredients so I can avoid those conditioners for COing. Are they just listed as "milk"/"silk" etc. proteins or are there chemical names that wouldnt be immediately obvious?

Also, are there any other conditioner ingredients that should be avoided in CO conditioners (aside from silicones - I avoid those already)?

[GlassEyes]

You on't necessarily need to AVOID protein--only if your hair dislikes it. Usually, hair needs protein in some quantity at some point. My hair normally hates it, but needs it from time-to-time.

That said, anything saying silk protein, soy protein, hydrolized wheat protein, silk amino acids, or any kind of amino acids are things you should avoid. Also, placenta, eggs, and I believe coconut milk.

[liseling]

I guess I phrased my original post badly. I'm not sure if my hair likes proteins, but if I have any in my hair products I think I'd rather have them in my "main" conditioner rather than the CO one because I'm always changing the main one around anyway so I can experiment with proteins (among other things).

That being said, are there any ingredients that you'd definitely avoid in a CO conditioner? or what about ingredients to be aware of, such as proteins, that work well for some people but are bad for others?

[GlassEyes]

Well, there's a ton of ingredients you can avoid, depending. Some people avoid parabens, since they can imitate estrogen and cause issues (but they're usually in small amounts as preservatives in conditioner; I worry about them, but I still use conditioners with them in them). There are preservatives with really, really long names that people think are cones (but aren't) that end in -none which can cause issues with headaches, but it's uncommon.

But as far as hair and not medical issues, I personally like to avoid anything with wax. Emulsifying wax seems to be fine, but anything with guar gum, or beeswax, for example, are almost worse than silicone, and usually require an SLS wash for me.

[liseling]

oh wax would be one to avoid! I never even thought of that... good to keep in mind. I know what you mean about those long-named preservatives with -none at their end. I used to think those were silicones too till a year or so ago.