This post was originally a part of my commentary on Allafia's Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Shampoo, for me Part III 2012 Faves. I got to writing, one thing led to another and...this post was born. I hope you find it useful!
One of my favorite shampoos contains lye. Yes, lye as in sodium hydroxide. Lye as in your granny's OG perm kit. Lye as in what burned Malcolm X when he got his 'conk'. Allafia's Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Shampoo contains lye. Now, before you get all up in arms over what I'm about to say, just
remember that I used an entire 32 ounce bottle of this product without any
adverse affects. The shampoo has a relatively short ingredient list, a rarity for any hair product these days (unless you make it yourself). Here is the ingredient list:
Liquid Shea Butter Soap (Aqueous Shea Leaf (Butyrospermum parkii) Extract, Saponified Shea (Butyrospermum parkii) Butter* (and) Virgin Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Oil), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Polyglucose, Spearmint Essential Oil.
Most consumers would see shea and shea butter, and completely ignore the words soap and saponified. Clearly, there is some cleansing/foaming agent at work -- the shampoo produces suds like every other. So I went to work, researching what saponification is. Turns out, soaps cannot be made without sodium or potassium hydroxide aka lye. Yes, lye as in relaxers. In fact, the FDA will not allow a product to be labeled or marketed as a soap if it does not "consist mainly of an alkali salt of fatty acids". An alkali salt of fatty acids is the term used to describe the end result of reacting oils and fats together with lye (sodium or potassium hydroxide). Now, once I discovered this, I did what any inquiring mind would do -- I called Allafia. Here's how that conversation went:
Representative: Thank you for calling Allafia...[says something alluding to fair trade cooperatives and whatnot], how may I help you?
Me: Hi, I recently purchased your Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Shampoo. And while I love your product, I just have a question about one of the ingredients.
Representative: Of course, what's your question?
Me: I see one of your ingredients is saponified shea butter. It is my understanding that saponification involves using lye. Is that true of your products?
Representative: No, we don't use lye in our products at all!
Me: Oh, that's good to know. Could you tell me what you use to saponify the shea butter instead of lye?
Representative: Sure, no problem. Do you mind if I place you on hold for a second while I ask?
Me: Not at all.
[2 - 3 minutes of silence transpire]
Representative: Hello ma'am? I wasn't able to find out what is used instead of lye, I was just told that we don't use it.
Me: Really? Okay, well thank you.
Clearly, that conversation yielded me nothing. Since they offered me no viable alternatives, I am forced to continue to believe they utilize lye in their products -- until further notice. However, with further research, I am comfortable with the utilization of lye in creating soaps that go into shampoos for two reasons: #1 the concentration/amount of lye used is quite minuscule. #2 when lye is combined with oils/fats (like shea butter), it creates glycerin. Yes, glycerin, the lovely humectant packed into your favorite moisturizing products. Therefore, it can't be so bad...right?
The next time you're in Target, check out different shampoos and body wash liquids and bars. Chances are, they're made with the same chemically-derived, synthetic detergents and foaming agents. Legally, they can't even call themselves soaps, for this very reason. As we learned in the paragraph above, when soaps are created, glycerin is the byproduct. The glycerin is often removed and sold to cosmetic companies, or used by the same company to create lotions, conditioners, and other moisturizers. Ain't that something?! They create the product that strips your hair, then turn right around and use a byproduct of that stripping agent to create the conditioner/moisturizer you need to restore your hair's balance. Talk about raking it in at both ends!
I say all this to say that yes, I do believe the Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Shampoo by Allafia contains lye. But after doing my research, I can say that I'm okay with it. After all, the proof is in how it treated my hair.
Do any of your favorite hair cleansers contain saponified ingredients? How have they worked on your hair?
Liquid Shea Butter Soap (Aqueous Shea Leaf (Butyrospermum parkii) Extract, Saponified Shea (Butyrospermum parkii) Butter* (and) Virgin Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Oil), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Polyglucose, Spearmint Essential Oil.
Most consumers would see shea and shea butter, and completely ignore the words soap and saponified. Clearly, there is some cleansing/foaming agent at work -- the shampoo produces suds like every other. So I went to work, researching what saponification is. Turns out, soaps cannot be made without sodium or potassium hydroxide aka lye. Yes, lye as in relaxers. In fact, the FDA will not allow a product to be labeled or marketed as a soap if it does not "consist mainly of an alkali salt of fatty acids". An alkali salt of fatty acids is the term used to describe the end result of reacting oils and fats together with lye (sodium or potassium hydroxide). Now, once I discovered this, I did what any inquiring mind would do -- I called Allafia. Here's how that conversation went:
Representative: Thank you for calling Allafia...[says something alluding to fair trade cooperatives and whatnot], how may I help you?
Me: Hi, I recently purchased your Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Shampoo. And while I love your product, I just have a question about one of the ingredients.
Representative: Of course, what's your question?
Me: I see one of your ingredients is saponified shea butter. It is my understanding that saponification involves using lye. Is that true of your products?
Representative: No, we don't use lye in our products at all!
Me: Oh, that's good to know. Could you tell me what you use to saponify the shea butter instead of lye?
Representative: Sure, no problem. Do you mind if I place you on hold for a second while I ask?
Me: Not at all.
[2 - 3 minutes of silence transpire]
Representative: Hello ma'am? I wasn't able to find out what is used instead of lye, I was just told that we don't use it.
Me: Really? Okay, well thank you.
Clearly, that conversation yielded me nothing. Since they offered me no viable alternatives, I am forced to continue to believe they utilize lye in their products -- until further notice. However, with further research, I am comfortable with the utilization of lye in creating soaps that go into shampoos for two reasons: #1 the concentration/amount of lye used is quite minuscule. #2 when lye is combined with oils/fats (like shea butter), it creates glycerin. Yes, glycerin, the lovely humectant packed into your favorite moisturizing products. Therefore, it can't be so bad...right?
The next time you're in Target, check out different shampoos and body wash liquids and bars. Chances are, they're made with the same chemically-derived, synthetic detergents and foaming agents. Legally, they can't even call themselves soaps, for this very reason. As we learned in the paragraph above, when soaps are created, glycerin is the byproduct. The glycerin is often removed and sold to cosmetic companies, or used by the same company to create lotions, conditioners, and other moisturizers. Ain't that something?! They create the product that strips your hair, then turn right around and use a byproduct of that stripping agent to create the conditioner/moisturizer you need to restore your hair's balance. Talk about raking it in at both ends!
I say all this to say that yes, I do believe the Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Shampoo by Allafia contains lye. But after doing my research, I can say that I'm okay with it. After all, the proof is in how it treated my hair.
Do any of your favorite hair cleansers contain saponified ingredients? How have they worked on your hair?