.png)
All About Hair...and So Much More.
Welcome to All About Hair—where education meets inspiration for stylists and hair lovers alike.
Whether you’re starting your career behind the chair or just obsessed with all things hair, this channel is your go-to spot for real tips, honest advice, and plenty of inspiration.
You’ll find pro techniques, career-building tools, and everyday hair hacks—plus the encouragement to grow with confidence and creativity.
Subscribe and join a community that’s passionate about great hair and even better vibes.
All About Hair...and So Much More.
EP 345: Four Ingredients To Avoid For Strong, Shiny Hair
That “squeaky clean” feel might be your cuticle calling for help. We talk about the four common shampoo ingredients doing the most damage—sulfates, parabens, silicones, and harsh drying alcohols—and share straightforward rules to protect color, scalp health, and long-term strength. After decades behind the chair and months of testing while building the Good Hair Energy subscription box, I walk through what these ingredients actually do on the fiber and scalp, how to read a label without a chemistry degree, and which swaps deliver real shine without the fake quick fix.
Love what you hear? Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with a stylist friend or anyone who’s ready to upgrade their wash day. Your healthiest hair starts in the shower—let’s make every wash count.
Your good hair energy starts at www.goodhairenergy.com
Ready for beautiful hair and better energy each month? Join the Good Hair Energy Box waitlist! Only 100 Founders Boxes. Sign up at www.goodhairenergy.com
Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel as well!
Visit my Amazon Store for all my favorite products!
Website: www.danisekeilitz.com
Instagram: danisekeilitz
Shop my favorite Eufora Products.
Welcome to All About Hair, where we talk shop, share stories, and spill the secrets behind great hair and a great career. I'm your host, Denise Keilitz, a former salon owner, educator, and a lifelong hair crusader. Whether you're a new stylist building your book, or just someone who loves learning about all things hair, you're in the right place. Hey there and welcome back to All About Hair. I'm Denise, and today we're going to talk about something you probably use every single day without thinking twice. Your shampoo. Yep, that innocent little bottle sitting in your shower might be doing more harm than good. And while I've been behind the chair for over 30 years, I am still surprised by how many shampoos contain ingredients that work against the hair that you're trying to grow. And you know me, I'm always testing products behind the scenes, especially now that I'm curating and building out my good hair energy subscription box. So trust me, I am knee deep in ingredient lists these days. So let's talk about the four ingredients this article that I read highlights and why steering clear of them can make such a difference. Okay, number one, sulfates. You know those two good-to-be-true lather makers, because really that's all sulfates do. They make bubbles on your head. And I've always told people you do not need to make make soap sculptures on your hair in your shower on your head to get your hair clean. You know what I mean. You know, that big bubbly foamy lather that makes you feel like your hair is getting extra clean. Yeah, yeah. That that's usually sulfates. Things like SLS or S L E S. That's how it's labeled on the back of your bottle. But here's the truth: sulfates clean aggressively. Think like your dishwasher or doing dishes in your sink, or heck, even your washing machine. Not sulfates, okay? Lots of bubbles, lots of cleaning. They don't just remove oil and dirt, they take your natural protective oils right along with them. And that's where the trouble starts. If you've ever felt like your hair is dry, brittle, fuzzy at the ends, or that your color fades faster than it should, your shampoo might have sulfates in it. Um, I know for a fact, my husband has very oily hair. He always has, he always probably will. And he loves it when his hair feels squeaky clean. Loves it. He loves the cheap, cheap shampoo. I keep telling him, and I've told him for years, that is wrecking your hair. What little hair he has left. And it's probably due to the shampoo he likes to use. I'm don't tell him I said that. No, I always tell him that. So, and I always tell my clients if your hair feels squeaky, that is not a good thing. Hair isn't supposed to squeak. That's your cuticle crying out to you for help. Yeah. Your hair, when you wash your hair, it's just supposed to feel like hair. And yeah, when I'm choosing items for the good hair energy box, sulfate-free is a non-negotiable. We love cleansed hair, yes. But please, please do not dehydrate your hair by using sulfates in your shampoo. This is such an easy thing. Just look for sulfate-free shampoos. That's all. That's what you want to look for. Number two, parabons. Parabens have been around forever. They do their job. They keep products from growing bacteria because it is a preservative in your shampoo. But for a lot of people, their scalp just doesn't love them, okay? Uh, they cause a lot of irritation. Some people get a lot of dryness from parabens in their shampoo. Some get this like low-level inflammation that slowly affects growth and overall hair health. I think that is one of the number one reasons. Well, there's a lot of reasons, but it is a huge concern with people, uh, their hair thinning prematurely, uh, is the parabens. And since there's so many better alternatives now, it's becoming so easy to avoid them. You just have to pay attention to the label, okay? No parabens. This is something I'm really paying attention to as I test products for the subscription box. If I'm gonna put something in your hands every month, it needs to support long-term hair and scalp health, not just look cute when you put it on your hair. All right, number three, silicones. This is that fake shine, and it catches up with you. Let's be honest. These suckers are sneaky, silicones are sneaky. They make your hair look really good at first. Smooth, shiny, soft, and then after just a few weeks or months, you start to wonder why your hair feels heavy, dull, lifeless, or like your hair gets greasy, but your ends feel dry. I absolutely know of a brand out there. I'm not gonna say what it is, because I don't want to get in trouble, that they actually that's their main marketing thing. Silicones, and that it makes your hair shine. And that's what they've marketed their shampoo and conditioner for years. That the and they use silicones, makes your hair shinier. But, and it works for like the first two or three times that you shampoo your hair with it. But then after time, you can actually start to scrape the silicones off your hair because it's so built up on your hair, and it just starts feeling heavy and lifeless, and ugh, that's silicone buildup. They coat the hair and then it blocks the moisture from getting in. So over time, instead of nourishing your strands, it actually starts slowly starving your strands because none of the moisture, none of the nutrients, none of these conditioners can get in because it's just building up a uh coat of armor on the outside of your cuticle. Think about that too. That even when you go to color your hair, the color can't get into the cuticle of your hair. Uh now, silicones do have their place. Absolutely. I use them strategically in certain styling situations, but in your everyday shampoo, mm-mm, no, not my favorite, no. So when I'm curating products for the Good Hair Energy Box, I want formulas that support your hair, not just cover up the problems. All right, number four, harsh drying alcohols. These are frizz makers. Now there's alcohols that are our friends, and then there are these alcohols that are not our friends. They just cause havoc in our hair. Short chain alcohols like ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, these are the ones that dry out the hair shaft. They rough up the cuticle, they make your color fade, they bring out frizz you didn't even know you had because it just dries out your hair. But here's the good news not all alcohols are bad. There are fatty alcohols like subtle or sterile alcohol, and they actually moisturize and soften the hair. And I know that gets confusing because there's a lot to remember. There's just a lot to remember. Um, so this is why reading the label matters. Not so you become a chemist, because we we don't want that, but so you understand what you're feeding your hair, just like reading nutrition labels on your food, but I think it's a lot more fun. And of course, as I'm building the good hair energy box, I'm looking closely at every formula to make sure it nurtures your hair rather than dries it out. So, what does this mean for you? Well, healthy hair starts at your shampoo bowl or in your shower. If you want stronger, shinier, healthier hair, you have to know what's in your products. And you deserve products that love your hair as much as you do. That's honestly why the Good Hair Energy subscription box has become such a passion project for me. I want you to have access to products that are trustworthy, intentional, clean, and really effective without having to stand and target reading ingredient lists for 20 minutes. Although I've absolutely done that myself. If you want to get on the wait list, hop in now. It's linked right in the show notes, or you can go to goodhaigy.com, get on the wait list. You won't miss one of miss a thing, and you'll be the first to know when the box goes live. And trust me, it's going live pretty pretty shortly here, first of the year. I'm getting pretty excited. I really do need to pick a date, I know, but there's so many things. I'm I'm working on my website behind the scenes. I have to learn all new programs. It's a thing, guys. It's a thing. It's not just putting products in a box, um, it's a business. So thanks for hanging in there with me. And on that note, too, thanks for spending time with me today on the podcast. Keep caring for your hair, keep learning what works for you, and keep choosing products that support that beautiful, believable hair you deserve. I will see you next time. And remember, when you know better, you do better. Thanks for tuning in to All About Hair. If you loved this episode, hit subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a fellow stylist or hair loving friend. You want more tips, tools, and behind the scenes goodness? Follow me on YouTube or head to my website at deniseKeilitz.com. Yes, I know it's hard to spell, so don't worry, the link is in the show notes. Until next time, keep learning, keep creating, and keep loving what you do.
