Our favorite silicone-free hair products:
- Aveda Heat Relief Thermal Protector & Conditioning Mist
- Ogx Moroccan Sea Salt Spray
- Garnier Fructis Style Pure Clean Styling Gel
- DevaCurl Flexible Hold Styling Hairspray
- Redken Clean Maniac Micellar Clean Touch Shampoo & Conditioner
Silicone-free hair products can make a huge difference with the amount of buildup you have daily on your scalp and the overall, long-term health of your hair. Excessive dandruff and an irritated scalp is the most common sign that your hair products have silicone in them.
Regardless, some people prefer to have some silicone in their hair products. Weird right? Not entirely.
It may not seem to make sense why you would want to use a product daily that damages your hair, but if you only use it on rare occasions, it can help with keeping away moisture and humidity that undo hair styling.
If a hair product works for you that has silicone, you can still use it, but it would benefit you to consider using it less often, considering the long-term adverse effects.
Silicone builds up on your hair over time and clings to damaged areas of your hair; it blocks water and nutrients from reaching those damaged areas, so they are not able to do their job. Silicone may work as a temporary solution, but it creates negative effects on hair with time.
Silicone is similar to plastic and does not degrade easily in water. You can go almost 20 washes before a good buildup of silicone goes away. That in mind, give it some time for your new silicone-free hair product to work its magic before you toss it aside.
Later on, we will talk about the types of silicone and which ones are water-soluble and non-water-soluble.
We have provided you with a list of our favorite silicone-free hair products that you can use to find the best silicone-free hair products for your hair’s personality. Everyone’s hair is different, but each person’s hair can become just as damaged as the last without the use of high-quality and beneficial hair products.
Silicone-Free Heat Protectant Spray
Heat protectant sprays are an absolutely essential item you should have in your bathroom. They prevent extreme damage caused by your straightener, curling iron, and hairdryer.
Some heat protectant sprays also help with styling and making curls last longer.
Aveda Heat Relief Thermal Protector & Conditioning Mist
About
Aveda makes hair products that are cruelty-free and made from plants. Silicone is not the only ingredient you should worry about or look for in a hair product (this spray has none); other human-made ingredients are harmful to hair as well and can be a big downer on your long-term hair health.
This heat protectant spray is light and doesn’t weigh down your hair the way some other heat protectants do; it sprays as a light mist and has a conditioning effect that keeps your hair looking its best.
It is important that the heat protectant spray you use is light so that when you use your straightener or curling iron, there isn’t a flat residue that seals to your hair.
First 5 Ingredients
Water, alcohol denat., dicaprylyl ether, propanediol, coco-caprylate/caprate.
Product Information
This bottle of Aveda Heat Relief Thermal is 3.4 ounces. It protects hair from heat up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Silicone-Free Texturizing Spray
There are all different types of texturing sprays. Each kind works for different types of hair.
For instance, there are hair texturizing sprays to help with anti-aging, dryness, and volume. This Ogx Moroccan Spray you see below is what’s called a ‘Sea Salt Spray’. There are other sea salt sprays made by other brands too, but this one creates the best results.
Sea salt sprays help make your waves look more natural and rough without seeming forced.
Ogx Moroccan Sea Salt Spray
About
This sea salt spray is a leave-in formula – in other words, you can spray it on your hair quickly even when you are rushing out the door or running late. You usually use this texturing spray on semi-wet or towel-dried hair.
Sea salt spray makes it look like you just walked out of the ocean, even though you probably just woke up.
Unlike some leave-in conditioners and spray that you are required to blow dry after applying, you do not have to do that with this.
First 5 Ingredients
Water, Magnesium sulfate, PPG-5 Ceteth-20, Propylene Glycol, Sodium chloride (sea salt).
Product Information
The bottle of Ogx Moroccan Sea Salt Spray is 6oz. It is a leave-in formula.
Silicone-Free Hair Gel
Finding a silicone-free hair gel can be tricky. Hair gels are supposed to keep out moisture and maintain the shape of your hair, which would make silicone useful, but if you are smart, you will look for a silicone-free one because they sometimes work just as well, without damaging your hair.
Silicone-free hair gels are great because they reduce the amount of buildup leftover at the end of the day. Regular hair gels leave tons of residue on your scalp, most of which are non-soluble silicone. That is not what you want if you are seeking naturally beautiful and healthy hair.
Garnier Fructis Style Pure Clean Styling Gel
About
On top of being silicone-free, Garnier Fructis Style Pure Clean Styling Gel also has no parabens or dyes, which has an even more positive effect on your hair. If you are going silicone-free, you might as well use a product that is all-around natural.
Sometimes upholding the health of your hair is more important than over-styling. But that certainly doesn’t mean that you have to quit doing your hair every day and looking absolutely fabulous.
Pure Clean Styling Gel holds for 24 hours, or however long you need it to last during the day for work, school, and other responsibilities that keep you away from home. It leaves your hair looking soft, not stiff and shiny. You can use it on either long or short hair, of any type.
Compared to other Garnier Fructis hair products, this one rates as a 3 out of 5 on the strength scale, and Garnier refers to it as providing ‘Extra Strong Hold’.
First 5 Ingredients
Water, Sorbitol, Glycerin, Dehydroxanthan gum, Benzyl Alcohol.
Product Information
It is 98% naturally-derived and comes in a 6.8oz squeeze bottle.
Silicone-Free Hair Spray
If you don’t take the time to find the right hair spray, you may end up purchasing one that comes out thick and greasy, which does not look very pleasant on hair.
A great hair spray holds hair into place all day but doesn’t make it look like there is a ton of product in it.
DevaCurl Flexible Hold Styling Hairspray
About
Some hair sprays make hair super stiff and look unnatural, but DevaCurl Hairspray makes your hair stay in place but still have a little bounce and natural movement.
It’s lavender-scented, too, so it makes your hair look good and smell good.
All of DevaCurl’s products are 100% sulfate, paraben, and silicone-free; they are also vegan, wheat-free, and cruelty-free.
First 5 Ingredients
Alcohol denat., hydrofluorocarbon 152a, Octylacrylamide/Acrylates Butylaminoethyl Methacrylate Copolymer, Water, Phenethyl Benzoate.
Product Information
DevaCurl Flexible Hold Styling Hairspray is for wavy, curly, or super curly hair.
Silicone-Free Shampoo and Conditioner
Your shampoo and conditioner provide a healthy foundation for styling. The goal is to have hair that is clean, voluminous, and capable of holding a style. If your shampoo or conditioner weighs down your hair or doesn’t replace essential nutrients, then you can’t expect it to show perfect results when you try to force it into a certain shape.
Silicone-free shampoos and conditioners are light and feel refreshing.
Redken Clean Maniac Micellar Clean Touch Shampoo & Conditioner
About
The main focus of Redken Clean Maniac Shampoo and Conditioner is to deep-clean hair and provide long-lasting results. It is sulfate-free as well as silicone-free, so it is better for the environment compared to other shampoos and conditioners, as well as better for your hair in general.
First 5 Ingredients (Same for the shampoo and the conditioner)
Water, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Glycerin, Quaternium-87, Propylene Glycol.
Product Information
This product comes with both the shampoo and conditioner, but you can also buy them separately. The shampoo bottle is 10.1 Fl oz (300ml), and the conditioner bottle is 8.5 Fl oz (250ml).
There are other types of Redken Clean Maniac shampoos and conditioners available too.
This is a product that might be hard to find in-store, but it is readily available online.
Other Types of Silicone-Free Hair Products
The hair products we have shown you today are not the only types of hair products that can come silicone-free. The silicone-free products we provided you with are from each one of these types: shampoo and conditioner, texturizing spray, heat protectant spray, hair gel, and hair spray.
Other types of silicone-free hair products can be: curl enhancing cream, mousse, pomade, conditioning-masks, leave-in conditioner, and dry shampoo.
Most hair care brands that are silicone-free will say it clearly on their product labels or have a name that hints toward all-natural ingredients; this is because hair care brands take pride in the fact that their products are healthy for hair.
How to Recognize Silicone in Ingredients
Most of the ingredients in hair products are hard to understand because they have complicated names. Many times, it does not seem like the companies who make those hair products are straightforward about their ingredients and how they truly affect your hair simply because they do not always provide a short description of each ingredient.
To find Silicone in the ingredients, you would have to look for one of many different names.
There are two types of silicone in hair products – water-soluble and non-water-soluble.
Water-soluble means that the material disperses with quick rinsing underwater, and non-water-soluble means that it takes a long time and does not dissolve in water.
Water-soluble silicone is less damaging because it washes off in the shower; however, non-water-soluble silicone in a hair product will buildup on your hair and scalp and become hard to remove completely.
Non-water-soluble silicone is not super noticeable to the naked eye, but if you have a buildup of it, you may notice an increase in dandruff and the development of irritation and sensitivity on your scalp.
Although it is covered by the silicone, the hair and skin underneath become dry and brittle since no water is getting under the silicone. That is why it silicone is so damaging to your hair; the material is not harmful itself (although, it is to the environment), it’s the effect it has that makes it damaging.
Many of the names for silicone in the ingredients of a hair product end in – cone, but not all.
One of the main types of silicone you should make sure is not in the product is Amodimethicone, which is a polymer-type silicone. ‘Dimethicone’ is a pretty good indicator of silicone.
Here are a handful of the names of water-soluble and non-water-soluble silicone in hair products.
Names of Water-Soluble Silicone:
- Bis-peg / ppg-16
- Dimethicone copolyol
- Dimethicone PEG-8 Phosphate
- Hydrolyzed silk PG-Propyl Methylsilanediol Crosspolymer
- Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane
- Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG-Silanetriol
- PPG-8 Methylaminopropyl, Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Copolymer
- PEG-7 Amodimethicone
- Silanetriol
- Silicone Quaternium-8
Names of Non-Water-Soluble Silicone:
- Amodimethicone
- Aminopropyl triethoxysilane
- Behenoxy Dimethicone Cetearyl methicone
- Bis-Amino PEG / PPG-41/3 Aminoethyl PG-Propyl
- Bis-Aminopropyl Dimethicone
- Bis-Cetearyl Amodimethicone
- Cetyl Dimethicone
- Cetyl PEG / PPG-15/15 Butyl Ether Dimethicone
- Cyclopentasiloxane
- Crosspolymer Cyclohexasiloxane
Overview of Silicone-Free Hair Products
Silicone-free hair products help your hair stay healthy and moisturized.
Silicone is not a naturally occurring substance in nature, and it can have certain long-term, negative effects on your hair if you use it every day on your hair.
You can identify a silicone in the ingredients of a hair product by looking out for items that end in -cone or have the word ‘dimethicone’ in it. Otherwise, try out some of the silicone-free hair products we showed you in this article.
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