Pantene conditioners have lye in them!

[missbritt1986]

I was doing some online shopping for conditioner & as I was scrolling through some ingredients in Pantene conditioners, I noticed sodium hydroxide (lye) listed. I'm pretty blown away. I do relax (no lye) but I'd have a problem deep conditioning with a conditioner that contains such a strong chemical. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm sure the lye is what makes your hair silky soft with regular use, but isn't that damaging to your hair if you use it frequently? I guess I'm just surprised to see this caustic chemical in a product that is designed for everyday use.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=189964&catid=10327
Click on the ingredients tab

 

[PPGbubbles]

This type of topic has been posted before....you should do a search.

Often some conditioners uses bases such as sodium hydroxide to balance the ph of the product.


Here is the ingredient list:
Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Panthenol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA, Benzyl Alcohol, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Blue 1, Red 33

You will notice that the "Soduim Hydroxide" on the list is pretty far down on the ingredient list so no need for alarm, it is probably used in a small amount.

I am sure it may not be the "healthiest" product for your hair but I doubt pantene conditioner will "relax" the hair. The concentration of sodium hydroxide in this product is not comparable to what is in a lye relaxer.

 

[mstar]

There's no cause for alarm. The sodium hydroxide reacts with other ingredients in the conditioner to create a new compound that's beneficial for hair. Same way that lye is used in soapmaking, but there's no lye in the finished bar of soap.

I was concerned when I found out that my favorite Lush conditioner contains SLS, but then I learned that when SLS is mixed with Cetearyl Alcohol, it creates an emulsifying wax. When it comes to chemistry, things aren't always as they appear...