One of my favorite things about shopping is studying ingredients on hair care products in drugstores. And also the other day I’m standing in front of the shelf again and have a bottle in my hand while the girls next to me talk about the ideal shampoo for their shiny, long, dark brown hair: “Is there no silicone in it anyway? I hear one of the girls say. Inside I have to laugh, because that’s exactly what I was about to look up on the label. Only water, soap and caring agents can get to my hair – but certainly no silicones. “That ruins your hair in the long run”, I hear the other one say – “how right she is”, I think and put a shampoo without silicones in my shopping basket.

What do silicones do?

Silicones are used in hair and coat care products in the form of so-called silicone oils. These oils have the property that they spread very quickly in all directions, so even in the hair or on the coat every hair, no matter how small, can be found. This property is called high spreading. The silicone oil, which is contained in many shampoos or (mane) sprays, lies like a thin film around each hair during application and thus ensures that the brush glides better through the hair and the coat or long hair looks shiny.the thin film of silicone oil, which lies around the hair with each application, becomes thicker and thicker over time. Each time you wash or spray it, a new layer of silicone is added. At some point, this layer is so heavy that the hair can break off.

Why we do not want that:

Even if the hair looks super shiny after application with a silicone-based care product – appearances are deceptive. Under the silicone layer the hair can dry out more and more – and we don’t want that. But how can you tell that a care product contains silicone? You have to study the ingredients on the packaging – they should always be printed on the packaging of a good product, this is a real sign of quality, we want to know what we spray on our horse, don’t we? If the name of an ingredient ends with -cone or -xane you can assume that the product contains silicones.

What does a body lotion have to do with a coat care spray?

I am often asked: “What is different about your coat care spray than a normal mane spray”, and then I always talk about the following comparison: the classic mane spray with silicone is like make-up for us women. We put make-up on to look beautiful, maybe for a date, the office or a special party. That’s completely okay, but if I always use make-up and don’t use a moisturizing cream underneath it and don’t remove my make-up in the evening, I’ll look pretty unkempt at some point. So the mane spray is the make-up that you can use if, for example, a tournament is coming up and the horse should be especially pretty. And the CXEVALO® coat care spray? Well, that is the body lotion with – vegetable extracts and oils – which I use regularly to ensure healthy horse skin and well-groomed horse fur – and then the shine comes all by itself, even without silicones. Because healthy coat is shiny coat.