CurlsinDC

Are these bad for hair? I heard that panthenol coats the hair shaft, and that sounded a lot like silicones. I'm not sure about parabens, except that there has been complaints regarding their safety in the cosmetic industry.

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Indian girl with full head of very thick curls (3A, 3B and 3C)
CG Routine, protein sensitive

The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.
-Frank Lloyd Wright

echokitten

Well, panthenol is a B vitamin. And yes it can coat the hair. But it's a vitamin not a silicone.
As far as parabens go...Here's what I think...Parabens are preservatives that prolong shelf life. They are usually (usually) pretty far down on the list of ingred if not the last thing, which means that that it is the least. Now since you probably cowash frequently, or if you're a modified CG and poo occasionally...and your hair is actually not "alive" so pretty much the stuff just coats your strands or smoothes down the hair shaft and isn't absorbed throught it...

I personally am more worried about the stuff I eat rather than the stuff I put in my hair. There are far worse things that are bad for us that we put in our bodies everyday without thinking twice about it, than the stuff we apply to our hair, IMO.
I usually tend to avoid certain ingred because they make my hair stiff or frizzy or dry. Many times it seems to me that certain ingredients in any product get a bad rap by some random news article or sound bite that was taken out of context.
But that's just me, I'm sure someone else will think differently...

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Cincinnati Ohio>>>Coarse protein sensitive 3a, Jessicurl WDT as a leave in, Biotera gel, White Boots, PW= coffeecurls

"Man tries to exaggerate what nature has given him," Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." -Sophia Loren

Darby

how does panthenol work anyway. It's a hair plumper. Supposed to make hair look thicker.

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PW:curlyhaired

Natural hair color - dark brunette
Fine, thinish hair/3a, 3b

echokitten

Panthenol is the alcohol form of pantothenic acid, more familiar as Vitamin B5. In a living cell, panthenol is converted to pantothenic acid, which then becomes an important part of the compound "Coenzyme A", which is important in cellular metabolism.

In hair, which contains no living cells, it remains as panthenol.

Because it could become a vitamin if it were ever to get to a living cell, it is marketed as a "provitamin", even though its effects as a vitamin are never used.


Uses
Because panthenol binds well to hair follicles, and attracts moisture from the air, it is a moisturizing agent used in shampoos and conditioners. It lubricates the hair without feeling greasy. It smoothes roughened hair surfaces, making them shiny and easier to comb.

Panthenol does not "nourish" hair. It coats it to make it slippery.

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Cincinnati Ohio>>>Coarse protein sensitive 3a, Jessicurl WDT as a leave in, Biotera gel, White Boots, PW= coffeecurls

"Man tries to exaggerate what nature has given him," Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." -Sophia Loren

spiderlashes5000

I guess the question is: are these two ingredients completely water soluable?

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3b (with 3c tendencies) on modified CG

echokitten

Most parabens are water soluble. The longer the chemical chain is, the less water soluable the paraben. That's how I understand it, chemists feel free to correct...
Panthenol is water soluble also.

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Cincinnati Ohio>>>Coarse protein sensitive 3a, Jessicurl WDT as a leave in, Biotera gel, White Boots, PW= coffeecurls

"Man tries to exaggerate what nature has given him," Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." -Sophia Loren

lazykerri

I'm pretty sure Massey recommends conditioners with Panthenol in them in her Curly Girl book. Make of this what you will

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jeamaria

Panthenol is *very* soluble in water. Parabens are also water soluble.

See this curlchemist article for more info on parabens:

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlco...s.php?id=13222