There are several types of silicones, and each with a different profile and characteristics. “Silicones have many names, but a good rule of thumb is to look for something ending in -cone on your product’s ingredient list. Most silicones (but not all) end in -cone,” says Ron McLaughlin, vice president of research and development at Living Proof, a clean-leaning hair care brand that helped pioneer and usher in the wave of silicone-free products. Here are a few common names: dimethicone, amodimethicone, cyclomethicone, methicone, trimethicone, nylon, trimethylsilylamodimethicone, dimethiconol, bis-PEG-18 methyl ether dimethyl silane. There are valid reasons to choose to stop using silicones, many outlined here, but much of the confusion around silicones arises when they are conflated with “dangerous toxins and chemicals”—silicones just don’t reach that bar. “They are the extra filler that help a product feel more luxurious,” says Gabriel. Compare it to using a natural hair oil that uses ingredients like vitamin E, jojoba, or argan: These also make your hair shiny, tame frizz, and improve manageability, but they do so by feeding the hair antioxidants, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, and the like. So you are getting the aesthetic benefit while also improving the quality of your hair. Silicones are hydrophobic,1 meaning they repel water. They do this by nature, and the reason they are theoretically great at reducing frizz (frizz is caused by humidity lifting up the hair’s cuticle2, resulting in a frayed, puffy texture). So when you wash it, they cling to hair and don’t easily rinse off as they are repelling the water instead of dissolving in it. So if you use a leave-in conditioner with silicones then go to wash it with a shampoo that contains silicones, and then condition with silicones, that routine is likely causing quite a bit of silicone layering and buildup on the scalp and strand. So even if these individual products contain good-for-hair ingredients, those nutrients may not be able to penetrate the shaft because of the occlusive silicone coating. “One of the main reasons silicones are not used in the natural space is because they are not eco-friendly,” says Gabriel. “If a person uses products that contain silicones and they then go to wash their hands after application, the silicones are rinsed down into the drain. This could then contribute to pollution in our oceans as they can take hundreds of years to break down.” Now, the beauty industry causes a lot of waste—that’s no secret—and many eco-issues certainly trump the potential bioaccumulation of silicones. (Plastic waste and water consumption, for example!) But it’s certainly part of the bigger picture. That being said, here are skin-specific recommendations:
