Behind the Label: Pantene Pro-V Styling Mousse
In an attempt to stave off that bad hair day, you could end up with a bad health day. Pat Thomas reports
Jennifer gave us the ‘Rachel’. Madonna made ‘blonde ambition’ a desirable thing – at least for a while. And Britney? Well, she got fed up and shaved all hers off.
For women, in particular, nothing seems to evoke as much emotion, aspiration and daily frustration as the search for the perfect hairstyle. We’ll do anything to avoid the ultimate social horror of a bad hair day and some of us truly believe that our hair plays a large part in defining who we are.
Astonishing, then, that there has been almost no in-depth study of our relationship with our hair. Unless it starts to fall out. Or grow in places where it shouldn’t.
In the days before hairsprays and other styling goo, we relied on basic, often short cuts and, when all else failed, wigs. Today we can cover our hair in plastic and glue and force it to take almost any impossible, hard-to-maintain, ‘don’t touch me, you’ll mess up my hair’ shape we can dream of. And yet we are not as loyal to our styling products as manufacturers would have us believe. Unlike cosmetics, when times get tough, hair-styling products are invariably the ones that get left off the shopping list.
Nevertheless, around 31 per cent of us regularly use styling products almost every day and in the UK we spent around £220 million on them in 2006. Globally we spent around £4.5 billion on hair-styling products. Procter and Gamble, which owns the Pantene brand, has the largest share (22 per cent) of this market, followed closely by L’Oréal.
Women make up the majority of users, but men’s products – which are just women’s products in more masculine packaging – are becoming increasingly popular. In the 1980s, styling foams replaced styling lotions. The switch offered several advantages, including the fact that the foams did not drip and were easy to portion out and distribute throughout the hair.
Most styling mousses are made from a combination of water, film-forming resins, surfactants and a propellant system. Apart from providing a bit of hold to our style, mousse products traditionally have a strong element of conditioning associated with them, along with other properties such as easy wet combing, good holding power, better volume, shine and a smooth, silky feel to touch.
But the ‘conditioning’ provided by your mousse is an artifice – the resins and plastics in them may make your hair feel smoother in the short term but they do nothing to actually improve the actual condition of your hair. In fact, the more you use them, the more these ingredients can build up on your hair, decreasing its volume and making it dull and unattractive. And adding ‘nutrients’ such as panthenol or various vitamins are unlikley to remedy this.
Hair mousse also has certain things in it that the styling lotions of old didn’t. Atmosphere-damaging propellants are the first thing that comes to mind. Isobutane, propane and butane may not destroy the earth’s ozone shield, but they do contribute to the formation of ground level ozone, or smog, which can cause or exacerbate serious respiratory problems.
Because they are based on water, they also contain a range of skin irritating preservatives. To keep it all mixed together, industrial strength solvent like propylene glycol – and yes, it really is used in anti-freeze.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this product is the fact that 9 of the 21 listed ingredients are fragrances – central nervous system toxins and respiratory and skin irritants that have nothing to do with holding or conditioning your hair. Some even double as pesticide ingredients.
Apart from not using styling products, there are really very few alternatives to things like mousses (and gels and hairsprays). In the end, the healthiest alternative might be to stop buying hair-styling products and use the money you save on a really good haircut (and as many women know, a trip to a really great hairdresser is like visiting a lover and a priest at the same time).
With a really good, professional haircut, you should not need to apply lots of glue to your hair to keep it the way you want it. Do this and you may find that you and your hair live happily ever after.
Sidebar: You are individual -Not!
Industry studies show that women want products that they believe target their individual hair types. Thus, in most styling ranges you have products for curly or frizzy hair, for limp or thin hair and those that produce a perfect straight finish.
Manufacturers will stop at nothing to convince the widest possible range of women to buy their products. When researching this styling product we had a range of Pantene Pro-V mousses to choose from, including Ice Shine, Moving Volume, Perfect Curls and Smooth and Sleek types.
The names and claims on front of the can suggest that each provides a unique function for hair and each has its own unique holding strength. But when we compared the ingredients labels, guess what? Each product in the range has exactly the same ingredients in exactly the same order as all the others. Even given minute variations in the mix, this merits a ‘buyer beware’ and reminder to always pay attention to the small print.
Sidebar: Ingredients
Water, Isobutene, Polyquaternium-4, Propane, Propylene glycol, DMDM Hydantoin, Butane, C9-C11 pareth-8, Disodium EDTA, Parfum, Panthenyl ethyl ether, Panthenol citric acid, Benzyl salicylate, Butylphenyl methylpropional, Hexyl cinnamal, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexane carboxaldehyde, Limonene, Alpha isomethyl ionone, Citronellol, Linalool.
Polyquaternium-4
Purpose: Fixative, film former, conditioner, volumising agent
Adverse effects: Can cause contact skin irritation with prolonged exposure.
Propylene glycol
Purpose: Solvent, humectant; derived from petroleum
Adverse effects: Can cause skin irritation, contact dermatitis. Penetration enhancer (alters skin structure, allowing other chemicals to penetrate deeper into the skin and bloodstream).
DMDM hydantoin
Purpose: Preservative
Adverse effects: Skin irritant. Formaldehyde-releasing agent, thus potential carcinogen.
C9-11 pareth 8
Purpose: Surfactant, plasticiser, emulsifier
Adverse effects: An ethoxylated alcohol that can cause skin dryness, eye irritation. Penetration enhancer; can be contaminated with 1,4 dioxane, a carcinogen that has been linked to breast cancer.
Disodium EDTA
Purpose: Preservative, antioxidant
Adverse effects: Irritating to eyes and skin. Penetration enhancer. Alters skin structure, allowing other active ingredients but also more harmful chemicals to penetrate deeper into the skin, eventually the bloodstream.
Parfum
Purpose: Fragrance compound
Adverse effects: ‘Parfum’ is a collective name given to hundreds of different chemicals used to produce a fragrance in cosmetics and toiletries. Most are neurotoxic and many are persistent (that is, they don’t break down in the environment and they accumulate in human tissue and breastmilk). Allergenic; can trigger asthmatic reactions; skin irritation; central nervous system disruption (for example, headache, mood swings, depression, forgetfulness). Common fragrance chemicals like artificial musks and phthalates are hormone-disrupting.
Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexane carboxaldehyde
Purpose: Synthetic fragrance
Adverse effects: A contact allergen and sensitiser; worsens eczema in two to three per cent of sufferers.
Limonene
Purpose: Synthetic fragrance
Adverse effects: Skin and eye irritant; powerful sensitiser. May trigger asthma attacks. Laboratory studies suggest that it can produce tumours, reproductive abnormalities and delayed growth in some animals. Common pesticide in flea-control products; toxic to animals.
Isobutane, Propane, Butane
Purpose: Propellants
Adverse effects: Can cause headache, breathing difficulties, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, mood swings. Symptoms of mild frostbite (numbness, prickling and itching under the arm) are also possible. Exposure to high doses can cause convulsions and coma. Contribute to the formation of ground level ozone, or smog, which can cause serious breathing problems.
Butylphenyl methylpropional
Purpose: Synthetic fragrance
Adverse effects: Skin irritant; use restricted due to powerful sensitisation potential; in animals, skin applications at high concentrations caused sperm damage and CNS effects.
Linalool
Purpose: Synthetic fragrance
Adverse effects: Skin, eye and respiratory irritant. In animals, causes central nervous system disorders affecting muscle control. Common pesticide in flea control products; toxic to animals.
Alpha-isomethyl ionone
Purpose: Synthetic fragrance
Adverse Effects: Skin sensitisation; central nervous system disruption.
Citronellol
Purpose: Synthetic fragrance
Adverse effects: Severe skin irritant. Causes central nervous system disruption. Also used in pesticide products.
- This article first appeared in the June 2007 edition of the Ecologist.
