Review :: Zincon Medicated Dandruff Shampoo

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Review
1.5
  • Ingredients
  • Wash
  • Scent
  • Price

buy now on Amazon Zincon Medicated Dandruff Shampoo contains Zinc Pyrithione, an anti-fungal active ingredient that is commonly used to treat mild cases of seborrheic dermatitis. It’s the most widely used active ingredient on the market today, used everywhere from Head and Shoulders to the cheapest dollar store own brand shampoos. The only way a shampoo can possibly differentiate itself with this active ingredient is by:

  1. being the first to market
  2. having a unique formulation
  3. undercutting the competition
  4. clever marketing

zincon shampoo bottleWith Zincon doing so well on Amazon, I was hoping we’d see evidence of point 2 rather than the other three.  Fingers crossed…

The shampoo itself is a blue color, almost exactly like Head and Shoulders. The smell was pleasant. It washes pretty well, however, the excessive foam suds made me suspicious that they weren’t using the gentlest of cleansers. My hair was squeaky clean afterward, and when I say squeaky clean I mean really squeaky clean. Some people like that. Others, myself included, are aware that the shampoo has just stripped all my natural oils and my scalp will work overtime to replace them.

I had a heavy heart when I read the ingredients…

Let me get this out there. Zincon contains some of the nastiest contact allergens on the market today. I honestly thought Kathon CG, a nasty contact allergen causing preservative had been banned but somehow Zincon still use it. Despite there being far gentler preservatives out there. Washing with Zincon gives you a real sulfate bang for your buck; the shampoo contains both SLS AND SLES. To add insult to injury the shampoo uses unlisted fragrances. Who knows which ones.

This shampoo looks like it was formulated 20 years ago. Although I can find little about the manufacturer online, other users seem to have zincon shampoo liquidused the shampoo for many years. Which may explain exactly why the shampoo has been and remains so popular; they were likely one of the first to market.  The fact that the shampoo is relatively cheap didn’t hurt either.  Cheap and old isn’t always the best combination in the world of dandruff control and this is no exception.

If you use Zincon and it works then why change a winning formula. However if you have mild dandruff, or have concerns about the long-term health benefits of using SLS/Kathon CG based shampoos then there are far more modern, gentler alternatives out such as this excellent Magik Mineral Dead Sea Spa shampoo.    If you’re shampoo is moderate then check out something like Sebamed.  Whatever you do though, don’t use Zincon.

Author

    by
  • The site owner. I founded, and have ran this site for too many years now. I have extremely sensitive skin, have suffered from seb derm for all my adult life and this site is my way of doing something about it. Check out my sister site at safehouseholdcleaning.com

2 thoughts on “Review :: Zincon Medicated Dandruff Shampoo”

    • Thank you, I wasnt aware of that at all! It’ll be interesting to see if they change the brands or keep them as is. I’m guessing the latter looking at their portfolio.

      Reply

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