Silicone hair products are valued
highly for their versatility.  Silicone hair products make hair
shiny and soft, detangle hair, remove frizz, protect hair from heat, and
a whole lot more.
But what exactly is silicone?  And what do silicone hair products
do for the hair?  This primer on silicone and silicone hair
products will help you understand exactly what silicone does and how it
applies to hair care products.  Plus, learn about specific silicone
hair products, like Biosilk Silk Therapy and Simply Stylin’, and
uncover what their differences are.

What Is Silicone?
Silicone is an inert compound – that is, it is not reactive readily with
other compounds.  And silicone has a wide variety of uses, mostly
due to its heat-resistant and nonstick properties.  Specific
properties of silicone as it relates to hair care include: 
protection from heat at temperatures exceeding 400°F, the ability to
form a watertight seal around the hair shaft, resistance to sunlight,
and flexibility.
When applied to the hair, silicone wraps around the hair shaft
preventing what’s inside from going out and what’s outside from going
in.  Silicone molecules are too large to be absorbed into the hair
shaft, so they act as a protective coating.  For this reason,
silicone hair products are great for retaining moisture in hair and for
making hair resistant to outside influences such as heat and UV sun
rays.

Top Silicone Hair Products
Silicone is an expensive ingredient.  And because silicone can be
an expensive ingredient, most silicone hair products contain inexpensive
fillers like alcohol or mineral oil.  These fillers don’t really
provide any functional benefit to the product – they simply make the
product cheaper for the manufacturer to make, padding their
profit.  Additionally, fillers easily lessen the protective effects
of silicone on the hair.  These watered-down silicone hair
products can work, but generally they aren’t as effective as pure
silicone hair products.
Pure silicone products have no fillers included in their
formulations.  Because they are concentrated with pure silicone,
these products can be much more effective at providing all the benefits
you can get out of silicone.  In fact, you may find that, in
comparison to silicone hair products that contain fillers, you need to
use less to get your desired results.  Generally, these products
are more expensive than their watered-down counterparts, but you can
find a few affordable pure silicone hair products.
A good example of a silicone hair product that contains fillers is
Biosilk Silk Therapy.  Widely used by many, Biosilk contains SD
Alcohol 40B, a quick-drying alcohol found in most hairsprays, as
filler.  Although less effective than pure silicone hair products,
Biosilk provides benefits typical of silicone hair products such as
shine enhancement, softness, frizz control and heat protection. 
Generally, a 2.20z bottle of Biosilk retails for $12.99.