INCI Duel: 3 Shampoos, 3 Realities

What's Behind the Label: Three Shampoos, Three Realities

Three shampoos. Three labels. Three very different stories about what it means to clean hair.

This is the first article in a series where we analyze real INCIs of products on the market, unfiltered and straightforward. If you don't know how to read an INCI or want to refresh your concepts, start with our complete guide.

The three shampoos we analyze represent three very different market positions:

• The private label of Spain's most well-known supermarket, with a product that proclaims itself "dermoprotective"
• A recognized international brand that calls its shampoo "repairing with Moroccan argan oil"
• A regulating and purifying solid shampoo from our catalog, which we will discuss by name at the end of the article.

The Three Official INCIs

Before we begin, a revealing note in itself: finding the complete INCI for shampoos 1 and 2 was not easy, as usual. On their official pages, the ingredient list is buried, reduced, or directly absent. We had to cross-reference with specialized external cosmetic ingredient databases to obtain the complete and verified list.

1. 2-in-1 "Dermoprotective" Gel Shampoo, private label of Spain's most well-known supermarket

Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Glycerin, Coco-Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide DEA, Sodium Chloride, PEG/PPG-8/3 Diisostearate, Parfum, Polyquaternium-7, Dimethiconol, Pentylene Glycol, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Citric Acid, TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Phenylpropanol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Magnesium Nitrate, Caprylyl Glycol, Decylene Glycol, Magnesium Chloride, Sodium Dimethyl Benzoate, Benzoic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.

27 ingredients. Seven preservative systems. One plastic polymer. And remember, it's called dermoprotective.

2. "Shampoo with Moroccan Argan Oil," from a renowned international brand

Water, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycol Distearate, Dimethicone, Fragrance, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Histidine, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Ecklonia Radiata Extract, Sodium Citrate, Cocamide MEA, Sodium Xylenesulfonate, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Chloride, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Polyquaternium-6, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.

22 ingredients. Sulfate base. Silicone at position 6. Its star active ingredient, argan oil, at position 8.

3. Purifying Solid Shampoo for Oily Hair, from our catalog

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Kaolin, Montmorillonite, Illite, Parfum, Coco-Glucoside, Spirulina Platensis Powder, Tocopherol, Aqua.

12 ingredients. No synthetic preservatives. No water as a base.

Main Function: How Each Cleanses

The main surfactant is the ingredient that does the actual cleaning work. And that's where it all begins.

🔴 Shampoo 1 starts with Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) as the second ingredient. To this, it adds Cocamide DEA, an auxiliary surfactant questioned for its potential to form nitrosamines, and TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, more common in household detergents than in hair cosmetics. An aggressive combination for a product that has "dermoprotective" in its name, I insist.

🟠 Shampoo 2 ups the ante: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate in second and third place, SLS and SLES together. SLS is the most aggressive surfactant on the mass consumer market. It excessively removes the natural lipids from the scalp, alters pH, and with continued use generates the opposite effect to what is desired: more sebum to compensate, more need to wash, more dependence on the product. This partly explains why so many people feel they need to wash their hair every day.

🟢 Shampoo 3 uses Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) as a base, a coconut-derived surfactant with pH adjusted to that of the scalp, gentle, and sulfate-free. It is the first ingredient, the most abundant. It is complemented by Coco-Glucoside, another gentle coconut surfactant. Two vegetable surfactants, both justified. The same base we use in our syndets for facial cleansing, the most respectful alternative available.

The Actives: What Marketing Promises and What the INCI Reveals

🔴 Shampoo 1 doesn't play the star ingredient card. Its argument is "dermoprotective," without a specific active ingredient to back it up in the formula. What it has is volume: 27 ingredients to clean hair with a 2-in-1.

🟠 Shampoo 2 is called "Moroccan argan oil." Argan oil (Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil) appears in eighth position, after water, two sulfates, a brightening agent, a silicone, and a fragrance. At that concentration, argan is merely symbolic. The Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice and Ecklonia Radiata Extract that follow are equally at the end of the list, in symbolic quantities. The name on the bottle sells an ingredient. The INCI reveals that this ingredient is there for decoration.

🟢 Shampoo 3 has three clays in the formula (Kaolin, Montmorillonite, Illite), which are the ingredients that truly regulate sebum and purify the scalp. They are there because the product is for oily hair and that's exactly what it needs. Spirulina provides proteins. Sunflower oil protects the hair fiber. Vitamin E stabilizes the formula. Every ingredient has a verifiable reason for being there.

Preservatives: What Water Requires

Any cosmetic product that contains water needs to be preserved. Water is the medium where bacteria and fungi proliferate, and without preservatives, an aqueous formula would become contaminated in days. That is not a problem in itself: the problem is how many preservatives are needed and which ones are chosen.

🔴 Shampoo 1 contains seven different preservative systems: Phenoxyethanol, Phenylpropanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Decylene Glycol, Benzoic Acid, Sodium Dimethyl Benzoate and the pair Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone (MIT and CMIT). Seven, in a family product that is called dermoprotective. Each preservative is there to stabilize a complex formula with water, multiple surfactants, and texture additives. The more complex the formula, the more preservatives it needs. It's a cycle.

🟠 Shampoo 2 is more contained in this section but is not free of controversy. It uses Sodium Benzoate and again the MIT and CMIT pair. This combination has been subject to regulatory restrictions in Europe due to its allergenic and sensitizing potential. They are allowed in a rinse-off shampoo, but their presence in a premium positioning product deserves to be noted.

🟢 Shampoo 3 does not have free water as a main ingredient, and that changes everything. Without water, there is no microbial proliferation, so it does not need synthetic preservatives. The only ingredient with a preservative function is Tocopherol, vitamin E, which also acts as an antioxidant for the formula itself. It is one of the most concrete advantages of the solid format: less water means shorter, cleaner, and easier-to-read formulas.

The Ingredient That Shouldn't Be There

Shampoos 1 and 2 share an ingredient that deserves special mention: Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer in 1, and Dimethicone in 2.

🔴 The Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer in shampoo 1 is a synthetic plastic polymer used to give texture and shine to the product. It has no function on the hair. It is microplastic in suspension that goes down the drain with each wash. Its appearance in a family shampoo that is sold as dermoprotective is the most visible contradiction in the entire list.

🟠 The Dimethicone in shampoo 2 is a silicone that appears in sixth position, before any botanical active ingredient. It gives an immediate sensation of softness and shine, but it forms an impermeable layer on the hair that does not provide real nourishment and accumulates with continued use. It needs a powerful surfactant to remove it in the next wash, which closes another not-so-recommendable cycle.

🟢 Shampoo 3 has no silicones or plastic polymers. The softness it provides comes from sunflower oil and the structuring fatty acids in the formula.

Outcome of the INCI Showdown

And here's the outcome of the showdown between these three shampoos:

• A dermoprotective product with microplastic and seven preservatives. 27 ingredients.
• A shampoo whose star ingredient appears in eighth position behind two sulfates and a silicone. 22 ingredients.
• And a solid one without free water, without synthetic preservatives, with the active ingredients where they should be. 12 ingredients.

If this were a Sergio Leone script, the casting would be clear.

• The Good, winning the duel by a landslide, would be our solid shampoo: few words, no embellishments, total conviction in what it does.
• The Ugly would be the supermarket brand, which is what it is without pretense: a shampoo making its way into the market, aware of its place.
• The Bad would be the Moroccan argan one, the one that cares about its image, knows how to market itself, and has few scruples when promising what the INCI later refutes.

Shampoo 3 is the Regul & Purify by Lamazuna, the purifying solid shampoo for oily hair from our catalog. 12 ingredients, all justified, Cosmos certified, plastic-free.

The INCI does not judge. It informs. Knowing how to read it is the difference between buying what the label promises and buying what is inside. If you want to know more about how to do it, we have our INCI guide, the ingredient glossary, and the Learn More section.