Hair washing is an important procedure for hair health. But improper use of shampoos can lead to leaching of fats and proteins necessary for hair, and, as a result, dryness of the scalp and disruption of the hair follicles. As a result, damaged hair loses its shine, flakes and even falls out. Therefore, the choice of shampoo should be approached carefully. How to choose a product that cleanses well, does not damage the hair and does not dry the scalp?

In order to answer this question, we conducted tests of shampoos. After analyzing the range of cosmetics stores and supermarkets, we chose the most popular of them and sent them to the laboratory. The experts of the site checked the washing ability, effect on the hair, foaming and the composition of each product.

Test results

• The best shampoo for hair was L "Oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil. It cleanses the hair very well, makes it soft and smooth, and its slightly acidic environment is suitable even for thin and weakened hair.
• Three shampoos, L "Oreal Elseve "Fibrology", Pantene Pro-V "Nutrition and Shine" and Shamtu "100% Volume", turned out to have a neutral pH. Such an environment can cause hair to swell, reduce its shine and cause split ends. Application These shampoos should be combined with conditioners that smooth the hair scales.
• The worst cleansing effect was shown by the popular shampoo Shamtu "100% volume". He was able to wash off only 24% of the applied fat.
• The most expensive product, Amway Satinique Shampoo & Conditiner (650 rubles per pack), could not be the best in the tests. It was surpassed by shampoo Oblepikha Siberica Professional "With the effect of lamination". It cleanses better, makes hair softer and smoother and costs 4 times less.

You can find out more about each product tested in the Shampoo Rating. And for those who are looking the best remedy For your hair type, we have compiled a Buyer's Guide, where we told you which shampoos are suitable for oily, normal, dry, damaged and colored hair.

More often people are chasing not only for quality, they are attracted beautiful packaging, advertising or even just a discount.

It's terrible, but the truth that lies behind all this will not be shown on TV, will not be written in popular newspapers or magazines. And even worse is that no one needs this truth, people do not want to know it, they do not want to change their habitual behavior. Many people just want to think that testing a cream on animals is just applying it to the skin of a mouse and seeing if it turns red or not.

Alas, everything is much worse.

Ecoblogger Marpeta has prepared an article for us in a question-answer format, where we briefly and concisely touch on all popular topics.

On whom are cosmetics and household chemicals tested and how is it done?

Before a product is on the shelf, it must go through at least several stages of animal testing:

• all components are tested,
• finished product tested
• tested separately when entering the country to obtain a marketing authorization

As a result of such experiments, only according to official data, about 150 million animals per year die. These are mainly mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs and monkeys. Each test most often requires a specific type of animal.

Dries test. Its purpose is to determine how the substance will affect the human mucosa if it enters the eye. In this experiment, albino rabbits are used, since the physiology of their eye is such that it does not emit tears, which means that the substance will be washed out for a long time. Moreover, the head of the rabbit is fixed with a special collar so that the animal cannot wipe the eye with its paw. Most often, rabbits twitch in pain and break their necks. Such experiments can last from 24 hours to two weeks. If you remember how it stings the eye when the shampoo gets there, it just becomes uncomfortable.

I note that all tests are carried out without anesthesia, and if the substance did not cause any damage, the animal is not released, but is used in the following experiments.

1. Skin irritation test carried out on rabbits, cats, dogs, monkeys, rats and guinea pigs. The fur of the test animal is shaved off, an incision is made in the skin, and a test agent, such as Fairy, is rubbed into the wound. And this is incomparable with the pain when the detergent gets on a very small scratch to us, ordinary people.
2. Next test - for vapor inhalation. Mainly used to test perfume and aerosol products. Dogs, cats or rabbits are placed in a closed organic glass chamber, which is filled with vapors of a toxic substance. Animals die in terrible agony. One day, video footage was leaked from a lab that showed a choking kitten literally writhing in agony...
3. And the last, in my opinion, the most terrible test - LD-50. The letters LD stand for "Lethal Dose", and the number 50 in this case indicates that the experiment lasts until 50% of the animals die. But we must understand that if the animal is still alive, it will still be killed in order to look at the reaction of the substance inside the body. The test process itself goes like this - a tube is inserted into the stomach, through which the substance enters. Tests begin with a low dose, gradually increasing it in order to fix at what point and from what amount of a toxic substance half of the test subjects will die. It lasts at least 14 days. According to statistics, LD-50 is ⅓ of all toxicity tests in the world.

Now some manufacturers are trying to use supposedly more humane methods, such as the "fixed dose" method. But just to be clear, humanity is simply about fewer animals. The experiment begins with the maximum dose, and if the animal died, the next group (of three animals) is given a lower dose, and so on at each stage.

If not tested on animals, then on whom? On people?

Firstly, back in the 50s, many great scientists argued that there was absolutely no point in testing on animals, as it had been done for centuries, and a base of safe ingredients was already assembled.

Secondly, at the moment, more than 33 countries, including the EU countries, Israel, New Zealand, the United States, etc., have already banned animal testing for testing cosmetics(England did this back in 2002), and some gave the opportunity to test household chemicals as an alternative.

Thirdly, it should be noted that modern methods testing is much more efficient.

Man and animal are very different in their physiology, skin structure, allergic reactions, and so on. And there have already been incidents when, it would seem, successfully tested drugs on animals caused terrible diseases in humans, including deaths.

Science has long since stepped forward, and this moment developed great amount more effective, alternative ethical scientific testing methods, some of which are used by laboratories to test products:

• Test in vitro (moreover, absolutely any type of skin is created in the laboratory)
• Computer modelling
• Not completely ethical testing on bovine spermatozoa and chick embryo membranes
• Volunteer testing. Just don't be scared, it's absolutely safe and has nothing to do with animal cruelty. Moreover, this test is mandatory (these are clinical studies) even after the cosmetic product has been tested on animals or other alternative methods. I was a volunteer in the laboratory, they tested a new cream on me, and I assure you, there is nothing to worry about :) affected the skin. All, of course, under the strictest control of doctors.

If these methods are so effective, why hasn't everyone adopted them yet?

The answer is simple - money. Many cannot afford it, as large investments are required (new equipment for each laboratory, retraining of employees, etc.). BUT in the long run, alternative methods come out even cheaper. After all, if you figure it out, animals need care, feeding, cleaning. What if there is an epidemic in the nursery? You will either have to treat everyone, or kill and buy new ones.

Markings: which badges can you trust?

Many companies put a rabbit or a mouse on their packages - what does this mean? How can you check the products for ethics?

This is really quite a confusing moment, but if you understand a little, everything will become like twice two.

So, if there are several ways to check products for ethics. I will describe the most important of them:

1. Check for certificates(if the company has such, it will definitely stick them on the packaging and put them on the site). Certificate examples: Vegan Society, PETA, Leaping Bunny, BDIH, Ecocert.

   The most important thing to remember is one thing - you can not trust the usual icons (rabbit/mouse/whatever) and just words, as this may well turn out to be a common advertising ploy, no law prohibits their use.

   True, there are those who are really ethical and simply do not know about certificates (which you can already trust) or cannot / do not want to afford them, since for this you need to go through a series of checks, for which certification companies also take a rather large amount .

   So trust certificates, and only them. If you don't find any, move on to the next step.

2. Write to companies or distributors and ask for supporting documents. They can excuse themselves, they say, they didn’t receive any papers or this is classified information - don’t believe it. I found out from the competent authorities that passing tests in one form or another is mandatory, and these documents should not be hidden. Fortunately, most Russian companies are happy to respond and go forward.
3. Check the information in the registry(it contains all products imported into the territory of the Russian Federation). We go to this site, enter the name of the company, check the box “Show gig.characteristics” and then we look for “in vitro” to be present in the toxicological indicators. If it is there, then this product of this brand is ethical. If it is not written, and there are “x points”, then it is most likely tested on animals. And pay attention to the dates of the documents. Also, for some, the data is hidden, in this case we write directly again and request.
4. Check if the company is blacklisted by PETA. They protect animal rights, make white and black lists of products, issue ethical certificates). If not, that's good.
5. Check if the company imports its products to China. If it is not Hong Kong or Taiwan, then the firm almost automatically becomes unethical. There is a little clarification here related to the new law from 2014, which mainly concerns toothpastes and soap accessories, but so far it is still more ambiguous, and I cannot say anything for sure.
6. For someone it is extremely important that the brand is not owned unethical parent company. You can check this on the PETA website, look at the brand's website (usually Romashka LLC is written below), or ask a question in a search engine. But it is important to note that the activities of the parent and subsidiary companies are not always somehow connected. Sometimes the dependence is only financial.
7. Check if the company sells household chemicals in those countries where its testing is required by law on animals (Russia, alas, is on the list of such countries). This information can be found on the company's website, or by writing directly.

And one more fly in the ointment. It often happens that distributors are either unaware of the existence alternative methods, or give this work to third parties, and therefore it happens that ethical products with ethical certificates could be tested here on animals (household chemicals in general a priori)

Where can you buy such products?

You can find ethical (natural, organic) products on 4fresh. Each brand lists the available eco-certificates, and if you have any questions, 4fresh is always ready to answer them or ask the manufacturer directly.

I have always believed that only demand gives rise to supply, and you need to start first of all with yourself. Guys, good always wins. Let's stop supporting unethical manufacturers, like Paul McCartney did when he defiantly refused all Gillette products.

From the editor. The quality of some cosmetic products is difficult to determine empirically alone. But not to hand over to the laboratory every package, jar and tube? The Lady Mail.Ru project, together with Product-test.ru, the first Russian site for testing and peer review of consumer goods, is launching a series of materials. We will tell you about the laboratory results of testing health and beauty products.

Each of us probably has his own story about the search for the perfect shampoo. Or maybe you haven't found it yet? The editors of "Lady Mail.Ru" decided to test the 5 most popular hair washing products and find out which of these five shampoos can be called the best. You have probably used one of them at least once. Let's take a look at the test results!

Shamtu 100% Volume

pH: 6.3. pH is close to neutral. Differs from the natural (4.5-5.5) pH of the scalp. Shampoo with this pH lifts the hair scales and effectively rids them of sebum, but after shampooing it is recommended to use a conditioning agent to restore the scales to an orderly state. This shampoo is primarily suitable for normal and oily hair. If your hair is dry and weakened after dyeing, then it is better to choose a product with a more acidic environment.

Foaming: 4.2 points. The shampoo lathers well. We saw the best result among the presented samples only with Syoss Volume Lift.

Washing ability: 4.5 points. The shampoo did a good job, washing out almost all the artificial sebum from the test hair samples.

Compound. The main washing component of the shampoo is sodium laureth sulfate, it is a rather mild and effective component. The second washing component is cocamidopropyl betaine, one of the main components of children's shampoos. In this composition, it plays the role of an additional conditioning additive and to enhance foaming. The composition contains silicone - it improves hair combing and provides a healthy shine. Of the natural ingredients in the composition, you can see the extract, which promotes hydration and moisture retention. Kiwi and kumquat extracts soften and improve the condition of the scalp. There are also potentially allergenic fragrances in the composition, they cause a reaction infrequently, but it is worth paying attention to if you are allergic. Methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone are added as preservatives to the shampoo, these are also potentially irritating substances that may not be suitable for people with sensitive skin.

Syoss Volume Lift

pH: 4.7. Slightly acidic pH. This shampoo is suitable for thin and weakened hair after dyeing. Also this a good choice for dry hair.

Foaming: 5 points. The shampoo lathers very well. This is the best indicator among all the presented funds.

Washing ability: 5 points. The tool did an excellent job of cleansing hair from artificial sebum.

Compound. As in the previous tool, here the main detergent component is sodium laureth sulfate - a fairly mild and effective ingredient. Cocamidopropyl betaine is also present to improve foaming and conditioning. Of the active ingredients, hydrolyzed keratin is included in the composition, softens and improves the condition of the hair and scalp. Panthenol, or provitamin B5, is a good moisture-retaining component that softens and moisturizes the scalp. Oil and Castor oil moisturize and strengthen hair, they can be used not only as part of a shampoo, but also as a mono-component or in combination with other oils to treat split ends. There are also potentially allergenic fragrances in this shampoo, they do not often cause a reaction, but they are worth paying attention to for people with hypersensitivity. Phenoxyethanol, formic acid and benzyl alcohol are added as preservatives to the shampoo - in small concentrations these are quite safe substances.

Garnier Fructis "Freshness"

pH: 5.0. Slightly acidic pH. Optimal pH for all hair types. This shampoo will not damage or dry out hair, but owners of oily scalp may need to wash again.

Foaming: 3.0 points. Among the studied means - this is the weakest result.

Washing ability: 4 points. In a series of experiments with artificial sebum, the shampoo showed good results, but it is inferior in effectiveness to other samples.

Compound. The main detergent components of the shampoo are sodium laureth sulfate and cocamamipropyl betaine, which gently and effectively cleanse the hair and scalp. The remaining ingredients are emollient and auxiliary, so the product does not foam as well as the previous ones. The shampoo contains a lot of emollients. Salicylic acid is added in small amounts, it helps fight dandruff. There is also silicone, it facilitates combing and adds shine to the hair. Niacinamide, or vitamin B3, improves blood circulation in the scalp, which gives a firming effect. There are also fruit extracts in small amounts. It is sugar cane that moisturizes and improves the condition of the scalp. It is also used as an anti-dandruff supplement. Green extract is used in cosmetics for oily skin, it has antimicrobial properties, and can help fight dandruff. Lemon peel extract is also used for oily skin due to its antimicrobial effect, but it is not recommended for dry and dry skin. sensitive skin. Benzyl alcohol and sodium benzoate are added as preservatives to the shampoo - these are fairly safe components. But this remedy was not without potentially allergenic fragrances that may not be suitable for sensitive people.

Pantene Pro-V Nourish & Shine

pH: 6.4. pH is close to neutral. The pH helps to open the scales of the hair, so the shampoo cleans effectively, but after use, you should use a conditioning agent to put the scales in order, moisturize the hair and give it shine.

Foaming: 3.2 points. Mediocre result. The product does not lather much better than Garnier Fructis Fresh.

Washing ability: 5 points. In a series of tests with artificial sebum, the shampoo showed excellent results.

Compound. The main washing ingredient of the shampoo is sodium lauryl sulfate. It is a harsh ingredient that is increasingly rare in cosmetic formulations due to its irritant properties. It was supplemented with sodium laureth sulfate and cocamypropyl betaine. It also contains silicone - a conditioning additive that makes hair easier to comb and gives it shine. Panthenol (provitamin B5) and ethyl panthenol are moisturizing ingredients. The list of ingredients is short, but even here there are potentially allergenic fragrances that may not be suitable for sensitive people. The preservatives used are not the most favorable - these are methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, they can irritate sensitive skin.