Magazine May 2022: Olive Oil |Author: Johanna Michl/Heike Baier/Lena Wenzel |Category: Cosmetics and Fashion |04/25/2022Repair shampoos can make hair appear healthier by concealing damage to the hair.We tested a total of 50 shampoos: 18 are recommended with top marks.There are negative points mainly because of ingredients that are not good for the scalp - and those that can cause allergies.Once a hair is broken, even a shampoo cannot heal it.That's why the name repair shampoo, which has become established on the market, is actually a cheat.After all, our hair is made up of lifeless horny substance, and whether the inner strands of keratin or the outer cuticle are damaged, this condition cannot be reversed.On the other hand, what hair care can do: conceal damage and at least make the hair appear visually healthier.We tested the ingredients of a total of 50 repair shampoos.18 are recommended with "very good".A repair shampoo should also primarily clean the hair.Surfactants, i.e. washing-active substances, are therefore usually the most important ingredients in terms of quantity after water.However, 60 percent of the products in the test use PEG compounds for their washing performance.These can make the skin more permeable to foreign substances.Surprising for us: many repair shampoos contain controversial halogenated organic compounds, but almost always in very low concentrations.This fits with the feedback from some manufacturers who told us that the organohalogen compounds are impurities from the manufacture of the surfactant Cocamidopropyl Betaine.Background: Halogenated organic compounds are a group of several thousand substances;many are considered allergenic, some cause cancer, almost all accumulate in the environment.With seven shampoos, so many problem substances come together that the bottom line is the rating "poor" or "inadequate".Some only perform mediocre.We criticize some problematic ingredients more frequently in the test, others occur occasionally.We came across the following:Repair shampoos are supposed to be able to improve the appearance of the hair: After washing the hair, a film of care substances should remain on the surface, which makes the hair shiny and easy to comb, keeps it supple and protects it from further hair damage.Apart from natural cosmetics, for a long time nothing in hair care was possible without silicone oils - those liquid synthetics that are known for coating the hair with a particularly shiny film.Other synthetic polymers in the shampoos in our test leave a similar effect.But the liquid plastic has long been criticized and the industry is reacting: while in our previous test of shampoos for dry hair two years ago, less than a quarter of the conventional manufacturers dispensed with silicone or synthetic polymers, this is already almost half.A nice development, even if the glass is unfortunately only half full: 17 shampoos still use silicone or other synthetic polymers.The problem?They get into the environment in large quantities via the wastewater and in some cases only break down again very slowly.On the positive side: The recycling rate is increasing.Cosmetics manufacturers are currently making rapid strides when it comes to recycled plastic in shampoo bottles.Our test shows: 24 out of 50 repair shampoos exceed the mark we set of at least 30 percent post-consumer recyclate (PCR).For comparison: In a shampoo test from March 2021 it was only nine out of 50.It is true that not all providers were able or willing to provide us with proof that we could use to establish a clear link to the tested product, and we therefore have to live with a point deduction.But the trend is pointing steeply upwards.You can read the test winners, the test table and the entire result in detail in the ePaper.You might also be interested in this: Brittle and damaged hair can also be given a little shine and protection with a hair oil after washing.You can find recommended hair oils without silicone in our test on:Hair oil promises to transform a brittle mane into smooth, shiny hair.Our test shows: Silicones are often involved in this magic.These are neither good for your hair nor for the environment.You will receive this on digital demand10 pages, pages 42 - 51 in the May 2022 magazine: Olive oil from April 21, 2022We bought 50 shampoos with claims such as "repair" or "repair" in drugstores, discounters and (organic) supermarkets.18 of them are certified natural cosmetics.Calculated for 250 milliliters, the most expensive product costs just under 20 euros, the cheapest only 38 cents.We took a close look at the declaration of all products: Do the suppliers use PEG/PEG derivatives that can make the skin more permeable to foreign substances?Do you use environmentally harmful silicones or other synthetic polymers?Do they contain questionable UV filters such as ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, which animal experiments have shown to be hormonally active, or butylated hydroxytoluene, which is also suspected to be a hormone?And of course we had all shampoos tested in laboratories: for formaldehyde/formaldehyde splitters, problematic fragrances and allergenic preservatives as well as for controversial halogenated organic compounds.Substances that are problematic and that we criticize primarily for health reasons are downgraded under the ingredients test result.The overall judgment is essentially based on it.Substances that are harmful to the environment influence the test result Other shortcomings.If this is "satisfactory" or worse, then the overall rating also deteriorates.Unless otherwise stated, the devaluation limits mentioned here are not legal limits, but rather those set by ÖKO-TEST.The devaluation limits were set by ÖKO-TEST considering the measurement uncertainties resulting from specific investigations and the variances inherent in the method.Evaluation of the test result of ingredients: Below the test result of ingredients leads to a devaluation of four grades: a measured content of more than 10.0 mg/kg formaldehyde/formaldehyde splitter.The following are devaluated by two grades each: a) CIT, iodopropynyl butyl carbamate and/or other halogenated organic compounds;b) declarable fragrances that can trigger allergies (here: isoeugenol);c) a questionable UV filter (here: ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate);d) a measured content of more than 10 mg/kg polycyclic musk compounds (here: Galaxolide/HHCB; in the table "artificial musk fragrance").Lead to devaluation by one grade each: a) PEG/PEG derivatives;b) Declarable fragrances that can trigger allergies (here: hydroxycitronellal, cinnamyl alcohol);c) BHT.Evaluation Test result Other defects: Below the test result Other defects lead to a devaluation of two grades: Silicones (here: Dimethiconol, Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, Silicone Quaternium-22) and/or other synthetic polymers (here: Polyquaternium-6, Polyquaternium-7, Polyquaternium - 10, Polyquaternium-22, Polyquaternium-33, Polyquaternium-39, Polyquaternium- 44, Polyquaternium-55, Polyquaternium-113, Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Acrylates Copolymer, Acrylamidopropyltrimonium Chloride/ Acrylamide Copolymer).The following result in a devaluation of one grade: a) a proportion of recyclates (post-consumer recyclates, PCR) of less than 30 percent in relation to the total weight of the plastic packaging or no information on this or insufficient proof of this at our request;b) an outer carton that does not protect glass;c) a lack of declaration of allergenic fragrances.The overall result is based on the test result ingredients.A test result of "Further defects" that is "satisfactory" or "sufficient" lowers the overall rating by one grade.A test result of Other Deficiencies that is "inadequate" lowers the overall rating by two grades.A test result that is "good" does not worsen the overall assessment.For legal reasons, we would like to point out that we have not checked the effects of the products (promised by the manufacturer).Test methods (depending on the composition of the products): Declarable fragrances/diethyl phthalate/polycyclic musk and nitromusk compounds/cashmeran: extraction with TBME, GC-MS.Formaldehyde/formaldehyde splitter: acid steam distillation, derivatization with acetylacetone, extraction with n-butanol and determination by photometry.Halogen-organic compounds: a) Hot water extraction with subsequent centrifugation and membrane filtration, binding of the organic halogens to activated charcoal, combustion of the activated charcoal in a stream of oxygen, microcoulometric determination of the halogen content;b) Extraction with ethyl acetate, combustion of the extract in a stream of oxygen, microcoulometric determination of the halogen content.Isothiazolinones: LC-MS.Other ingredients: by declaration.PVC/PVDC/chlorinated compounds in packaging: X-ray fluorescence analysis.Purchase of the test products: January to February 2022Tests and their results are protected by copyright.No reprints, copies, microfilms or recordings in electronic media may be made and/or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.More content from the issueBuy the ePaper edition now!ÖKO-TEST - 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