Before ingredient-scanning apps existed, following the Curly Girl Method required becoming a professional label detective. Lorraine Massey, creator of the method, taught her followers to examine every product with a magnifying glass, searching for ingredients that could undo weeks of hair care in a single wash. You can dive deeper into her original guide in the Curly Girl Handbook.

This skill—label literacy—remains valuable today, though we now have tools that simplify the process.

What Silicones Are and Why They Matter

Silicones are synthetic polymers added to hair products to provide instant shine and reduce frizz. They sound perfect, right? The problem is they work like plastic: they create a waterproof film around the hair shaft that prevents moisture absorption.

The Curly Girl Method Dilemma: Silicones don't wash out with co-wash (conditioner washing). They require sulfates for complete removal, and CGM avoids sulfates precisely because they dehydrate curly hair.

Lorraine Massey's Detective Method

In the Curly Girl Handbook, Massey established clear rules for identifying silicones:

Silicones end in:

-cone (dimethicone, amodimethicone, cyclomethicone)
-conol (dimethiconol)
-xane (cyclopentasiloxane, cyclohexasiloxane)

The process was meticulous:

Pick up the product and turn it to read the ingredient list
Trace each ingredient with your finger
Look for suspicious endings
Discard the product if any -cone, -conol, or -xane appears
Repeat with every product in your bathroom

A process that could take minutes per product, requiring you to memorize dozens of names.

The Hidden Names That Complicate Detection

Detecting silicones would be easy if they were all simply called "silicone." But manufacturers use complex names that make identification difficult:

Common Silicones

Dimethicone — The most frequent, found in conditioners and serums
Amodimethicone — Known as "the A-cone," partially soluble but problematic
Cyclomethicone — Cyclic silicone, lightweight but build-up prone
Phenyl trimethicone — Provides intense shine, difficult to remove

Deceptive Variations

Behenyl dimethicone — The "behenyl" prefix hides the dimethicone
Capryl dimethicone — The "capryl" prefix masks the silicone
Cetyl dimethicone — Looks like a fatty alcohol, but it's silicone
Stearyl dimethicone — Similar to above, confusing name

Complex Compounds

Some products list silicones within compound ingredients:

Amodimethicone (and) Trideceth-12 (and) Cetrimonium Chloride — A blend where the silicone hides
Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer — Crosslinked silicone, still silicone
Bis-Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone — Modified silicone, equally build-up prone

Ingredients That Look Like Silicones But Aren't

Not everything ending in -one is a silicone. This confusion is common—for example, Benzophenone is a preservative, not a silicone.

Practical rule: If it ends in -cone, -conol, or -xane, it's a silicone. If it only ends in -one, it's probably a different type of ingredient.

The Amodimethicone Solubility Myth

A common confusion in the CGM community is believing amodimethicone is "safe" because it's partially water-soluble.

The reality: Amodimethicone is partially soluble, not completely. This means:

It dissolves somewhat with co-washing, but not entirely
It builds up residue over time
It requires periodic clarifying washes
It's not approved for strict original CGM

Many "silicone-free" products actually contain amodimethicone or other modified silicones.

When "Natural" Brands Mislead

A common mistake is assuming "organic" or "natural" brands don't contain silicones. The truth is more complex:

"Natural" Products That Contain Silicones:

Some "botanical" conditioners include dimethicone
"Sulfate-free" products often compensate with silicones
Eco-friendly brands sometimes use "green" silicones (more biodegradable but still silicones)

How they do it:

Put botanical ingredients at the top of the list
Hide silicones among recognizable ingredients
Use complex names you don't recognize as silicones

The Most Common Label Reading Mistakes

Even with a silicone list in front of you, it's easy to make errors:

Reading only the first 5 ingredients — Silicones often appear at the end of the list
Trusting the marketing — "Silicone-free" on the front label guarantees nothing
Not recognizing modified names — Behenyl dimethicone looks innocent but is silicone
Ignoring concentrations — A silicone at the end of the list is less problematic than at the beginning, but still builds up
Assuming natural means safe — Natural ingredients aren't automatically CGM-friendly

How the Bönpello Scanner Simplifies This Work

The manual process Lorraine Massey taught remains valuable for understanding what to look for, but today we have tools that automate detection:

Manual Detection (Massey Method):

Time: 3-5 minutes per product
Process: Read each ingredient, search for endings
Error risk: High (easy to overlook an ingredient)
Memory required: High (you must know all the names)

Bönpello Scanner:

Time: 10-20 seconds per product
Process: Paste ingredients from the label, the app analyzes everything automatically
Accuracy: Detects silicones even with complex names
Effort: None (the app does the work)

The scanner's value isn't just speed, but accuracy. It detects silicones you might miss even as a label expert.

Conclusion: From Manual Detective to Digital Scanner

The Curly Girl Method has evolved since Lorraine Massey's days of examining labels with a magnifying glass. Today we have technology that makes CGM accessible to everyone, not just those with time and patience to memorize ingredient lists.

But the skill of detecting silicones—understanding they end in -cone, -conol, -xane—remains fundamental. It's the knowledge that lets you evaluate products quickly and understand why the scanner flags certain ingredients.

'Hidden' Silicones: The Ingredients Lorraine Massey Taught Us to Detect