Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Detox Products Are A Myth That Can Be Both Expensive And Dangerous


There is no such thing as a cosmetic product that can "detox" your hair or skin, period. Detox applied to cosmetics is a marketing term only. Detox as applied to diet supplements and "body purifiers" as stated in the link above "outside of the clinical treatment for drug addiction or poisoning" can be hazardous to your health.

Many shampoos marketed to "detox" the hair and scalp, simply contain different cleanser(s) than mainstream ones. While that may not be bad, some high-end "detox" shampoos I have seen, also contain a number of herbal, other extracts and ingredients that cause a fair amount of build-up (residue). Such residue can and has been reported online to cause problems, like limp, oily hair, dry hair with continued use, which makes total sense to me, tangles and the appearance of dandruff. There is nothing "magical" or purifying in those products, other than the how well they can separate you from your money and clean out funds you have designated for cosmetics.

We all need to cleanse our hair and scalp and our bodies. No one needs to be "taken to the cleaners" in today's global economy in particular, or at any other time.

Kudos to young scientists for challenging marketing claims that encourage that happening.

See Also
FDA, detox, sorted by date
Some university courses in alternative medicine, 2010