No Silicones
There is great debate as to whether silicones are beneficial for hair or not. As far as the CG method is concerned, they are bad and should be avoided. Aside from silicones, the CG method also says to avoid waxes, non-natural oils, or any other non-soluble ingredients in your conditioners and any styling products. Most silicones can only be removed with shampoos that contain harsh sulfates. This is why they can be a problem. Avoiding such ingredients is essential so they do not build up on your hair which can lead to frizz and added dryness.
How do you identify silicones?
A silicone is any ingredient that ends with the suffixes -one, -conol, or -xane. However, sometimes you may see “PEG-” in front of the silicone, in which case they are water soluble and will not build up on the hair. Example: Dimethicone is non water soluble and will cause build uo. PEG-Dimethicone is water soluble and alright. Waxes are easily identified because they have “wax” in the ingredient name (usually”>.
You also want to avoid drying alcohols, if at all possible, in your conditioners and stylers. Drying alcohols are commonly found in conditioners, leave in conditioners, gels, mousses, and hairsprays as fillers. For products that you are going to rinse out, this is not as big of a deal, but for products that are going to sit in your hair all day, or for several days, they should not contain drying alcohols. There are also moisturizing or fatty alcohols however, that sound similar, so be sure not to confuse those with drying alcohols.
