Stylist’s Corner: Addressing Ingredient Changes in Products
Simply put, ingredient changes in hair products are bound to happen and majority of the time those changes are actually never discussed with consumers. With COVID, a number of companies have survived supply chain issues which have possibly had some impact on some of our go-to products. There are two products in particular that are at the height of these formulation changes, having received a ton of attention that there are literally social media discussions and even YouTube videos centered around them.
The two products in question are Uncle Funky’s Curly Magic and AG Balance shampoo. Uncle Funky’s Curly Magic caused a stir when they added glycerin to their label and AG Balance came in with their new clean packaging coupled with sodium hydroxide. Both changes have caught the eye of many consumers and the questions have been coming in left and right on many of Black Girl Curls’ Instagram live streams.
Uncle Funky’s Curly Magic Ingredient Changes
As many of you may already be aware of, Uncle Funky’s Curly Magic is a humectant based gel that is our go-to base gel for many of our salon and digital clients. In our educational resources, we help guide tight curlies + naturals on the proper way to use this product for their wash and go sets. Word broke out that the company changed their label and ingredient list which in turn caused a frenzy in the natural hair community.
“Have you seen that they’ve changed the ingredients to Curly Magic?”
In all honesty, we had not even seen the ingredient change as we’re typically still working through our current backstock. As working stylists, we typically buy in bulk so depending on where we are with products, it may take some time before we observe the change.
“What do you all think about Curly Magic changing the ingredients?”
Since I (Aishia) still have yet to get through my back stock at the salon, I had to lean into the Cut It Kinky stylist community for more feedback. After chatting it up with the stylists, I found out that the Curly Magic was still performing as it had and no one had observed anything different with the change in ingredients. This feedback was sourced from stylists working anywhere from 2-4 days a week in the salon with a full clientele.
While again there has been an addition of ingredients to Curly Magic— it simply hasn’t impacted the performance of the ingredients to the point that it raises concern.
AG Balance Shampoo Ingredient Changes
Alternatively, AG Balance is an all-purpose shampoo that we utilize in our space for consistent cleansing. This fall, AG Hair introduced a sleek new package design to their Naturals line, which also came with a change in ingredients. The new packaging included the addition of sodium hydroxide.
As we’re aware, sodium hydroxide is a key ingredient in lye relaxers used to straighten tight curly hair, typically at a much more concentrated level than found in AG Hair’s Balance shampoo. As of recently, there has been a new research study released that has linked relaxers directly to uterine cancer. There has also been speculation that relaxers are linked to fibroids and more serious health issues that has a direct impact on African-American women.
Sodium hydroxide is also an ingredient commonly used in products like medicine, soap and cleaning products as a pH balancer. We’re no chemists and we don’t like to play like one online, so we decided to reach out directly to AG Hair via Instagram to get an answer about the addition of sodium hydroxide.
Our co-founder + licensed stylist, Aeleise, reached out to AG Hair directly to receive clarification on the need for the ingredient change. You may read their direct response below:
“Hi Aeleise,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us. We are sorry to hear of your concerns.
We can confirm that Sodium Hydroxide can be found in select old and new formulas, there have not been any changes to this ingredient. It is important to have a pH adjuster that has low impact on product stability. Sodium hydroxide reacts with acidic ingredients in a formula and this reaction neutralizes the hydroxide making it safe for use on hair and skin. AG uses only the minimal amount necessary. Balance and Curl Fresh shampoo, for example, contain 0.00004% and we can share that there are no restrictions regarding Sodium Hydroxide usage in cosmetics for Health Canada.
Please feel free to reach out with any further questions or concerns, we are always happy to help.
Thank you kindly,”
All in all, we encourage you all as consumers to do your due diligence and research when new ingredient changes are made. You are free to make your own informed decisions on whether or not you’d like to continue using a certain product based on your personal beliefs, health concerns and its overall performance. Google is also a great resource for researching certain ingredients to get more information on how that particular ingredient is normally used and how it’s meant to perform.
It’s also important to reach out to a board certified dermatologist if you believe a product in your line up is causing extreme sensitivities such as itching, burning or excessive hair shedding. As licensed stylists, we only work in hair and not skin—we are not properly licensed to diagnose or prescribe solutions to any immediate adverse product reactions.
If you are having difficulty finding a dermatologist in your area, there are now several resources to search for culturally competent dermatologists with an interest in treating conditions that disproportionately affect Black skin and hair. Some resources include skinofcolorsociety.org (find a doctor page), docs4hair.com, blackdermdirectory.com, and huedco.com.
In our consumer education platform, The SeeSomeCurls Visual Library, we have done the heavy lifting and offer a robust curated product list that works on all different hair types. We offer detailed instructional + styling videos to show you how to properly use these products along with licensed stylists + vetted peer mentors who can help provide you with direct guidance along the way.
Our 1.1K+ course community of tight curl + naturals are shaving more than 50% of time off their wash day, being showered left and right with hair compliments, and are receiving direct support of a very encouraging community of tight curlies + naturals who have been exactly where you are.
