Captain Blankenship Haircare
When it comes to haircare, less is more. More products and frequent shampooing can lead to damaged strands. Captain Blankenship products help you extend the time between washes and reduce the need for heat styling. Ultimately, the result is thicker, stronger, and healthy hair.
Captain Blankenship haircare is clean, luxurious, enjoyable to use, and environmentally conscious. And each product in their line is under $30.
Dry Shampoo
Traditional aerosol dry shampoos use highly flammable propellants like butane, isobutane, and propane. These propellants negatively impact indoor air quality, and can cause. Butane and isobutane can be contaminated with the carcinogen 1,3-butadiene. [2][3][4]
Mermaid Dry Shampoo is a great swap for traditional aerosol dry shampoo. It is a powder that soaks up excess oils, adds texture, and refreshes hair with a clean scent that does not linger.
Apply Mermaid Dry Shampoo powder directly to roots or onto a brush, then brush or massage into roots. Blow dry roots for added lift.
Hair Oil
Most hair oils are largely made up of synthetic silicones which coat the hair. Mermaid hair oil contains only natural oils like camellia seed oil, argan oil, and jojoba oil that nourish strands and promote healthy hair. It is lightweight and does not leave hair greasy or weighed down.
Apply hair oil to dry or split ends, use to smooth fly-aways and add shine. When applied to wet hair, Mermaid Hair Oil helps to comb with ease.
““Captain Blankenship products contain natural oils like camellia seed oil, argan oil, and jojoba oil that nourish strands and promote healthy hair.””
Shampoo & Conditioner
Sea Shine shampoo imparts a clean citrus smell and is great for removing buildup at the roots of the hair. It is fragrance-free and sulfate-free. You will notice that it lathers less, but this does not mean it isn’t working.
Sea Shine conditioner is like a super hydrating vanilla milk bath. It leaves hair silky and tangle-free. Like the shampoo, Sea Shine conditioner is free of fragrance and other harmful ingredients.
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Haircare Ingredients To Avoid
Silicones
Traditional haircare contains ingredients that can make hair look healthy, but do not actually improve the health of your hair. Silicones like dimethicone, cyclomethicone, amodimethicone give hair shine and “slip.’ The downside is that these silicones coat the hair, do not wash out easily, and do not allow moisture in. This can lead to buildup and/or breakage.
Sulfates
The most noticeable difference when switching to non-toxic shampoo is less foam and lather. This is because truly clean shampoo does not contain sulfates, which are harsher surfactants that can irritate skin and eyes.
Other ingredients to avoid that are commonly found in haircare include the following:
Fragrance - mix of fragrance and chemicals associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system. Fragrances have been found to contain unnamed toxic ingredients like phthalates which are associated with developmental and reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, and cancer. [5][6][7][8]
Butylphenyl Methylpropional - a fragrance ingredient that is a skin and eye irritant and potentially an endocrine disruptor. The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety has regulated that it must be listed in rinse off products in concentrations greater than 0.01% and leave on products greater than 0.001%. [9][10]
Methylisothiazolinone – allergenic preservative that is possibly neurotoxic based on lab studies on the brain cells of mammals. It is banned for use in cosmetics by the European Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) and limited to .0015% of rinse off products. [11][12][13]
Benzyl benzoate – associated with allergies and dermatitis, and possibly endocrine disruption. Experimental studies show biological effects favoring malignant transformation on human breast cells for benzyl benzoate. [14]
Benzyl Salicylate – associated with allergies and dermatitis, and possibly endocrine disruption. Toxicity tests indicate developmental toxicity on rats. [15]
PEGs (polyethylene glycols) - penetration enhancers that may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide which are associated with reproductive, developmental, and endocrine effects, cancer, and DNA damage. [16]
Captain Blankenship products contain natural oils like camellia seed oil, argan oil, and jojoba oil that nourish strands and promote healthy hair.
References and Resources
[1] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/isobutane#section=Fire-Potential
[2] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemical-substances/challenge/batch-4/butane.html
[4] https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=458&tid=81
[5] https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/allergens-cosmetics
[6] https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/perfume-allergies/en/index.htm
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5093181/
[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14572300
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14572300
[10] https://www.obelis.net/news/sccs-final-opinion-on-the-safety-of-butylphenyl-methylpropional-p-bmhca/
[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16547166#targetText=Methylisothiazolinone%2C%20a%20neurotoxic%20biocide%2C%20disrupts%20the%20association%20of%20SRC%20family,kinase%20in%20developing%20cortical%20neurons.&targetText=Methylisothiazolinone%20(MIT)%20is%20a%20biocide,with%20potential%20as%20a%20neurotoxicant.
[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23340392
[13] https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i16/Preservative-leavecosmetics-banned-EU.html
[14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3443608/
[15] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30359701
[16] https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/potential-contaminants-cosmetics/14-dioxane-cosmetics-manufacturing-byproduct
