Review: Acure Lemograss + Argan Stem Cell Everyday Clarifying Shampoo

$9.99/8 oz

http://www.acureorganics.com/Lemongrass-Argan-Stem-Cell-Shampoo-p/024.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shampoo is a clarifying shampoo suitable for all hair types and supposedly gentle enough for everyday use. It “promotes shiny, healthy, clean hair” using “organic Argan Oil, Argan Stem Cells + CoQ10 help support hair keratin and strengthen the follicle connection”. In addition,  “organic Avocado Oil provides vitamin B12 and moisture while lemongrass cleanses and clarifies”. It is color safe, vegan, gluten free, sulfate free, paraben free, phthalate free, and cruelty free.

Ingredients:

Organic Euterpe oleracea (Acai) Berry, Organic Rubus fruticosus (Blackberry), Organic Rosa canina (Rosehips),Organic Punica granatum (Pomegranate),Organic Fair Trade Certified™ Rooibos,Organic Aloe Barbadensis Vera Leaf Juice, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate (from Coconut), 100% Naturally-derived Betaine (from Sugar Beets), Vegetable Glycerin, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate (from Coconut + Amino Acids), Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate (from Coconut + Amino Acids), Cocoglucosides Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride (Sugar Conditioner), Sodium Levulinate (from Corn), Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride (Guar gum conditioner), Potassium Sorbate (food grade preservative), Organic Argania Spinosa (Argan) Oil, Organic Fair-Trade Certified™ Olea Europea (Olive) Oil, D-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (vitamin E), Ubiquinone (CoQ10), Argania spinosa (Argan) Stem Cells,  Organic Persea americana (Avocado) oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass), Lavendula Dentata (French Lavender), Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss), & Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Essential Oils

I love love love this shampoo, it might even have pushed my beloved Body Shop Rainforest Shampoo (review here) out of its spot as my #1 favorite shampoo of all time. It does a fantastic job of cleaning my fairly oily roots without stripping my hair, especially my dry ends, of their moisture. It smells fantastic, light and citrus-y- I assume that’s the lemongrass. The smell is very fresh and invigorating, although does not remain in the hair long after washing. What really pushes this shampoo above my Body Shop darling is how easy it lathers. That was the one complaint with my Body Shop one- like some sulfate shampoos it didn’t lather terribly easily. This shampoo is also sulfate-free, but somehow it still lathers like it has its sulfates. I’m not sure how they did it, but I love it.

The real test for me for shampoos is how long I can go with my hair looking relatively clean. With normal shampoos, I can go around 24 hours before my hair starts to look nasty. With this one, if I don’t do anything like get a bit sweaty, I can go around a day and a half. This is pretty amazing for me.

My hair is shiny and healthy-looking, but it could also be my conditioner. In any case, this shampoo is not taking anything away- if it helps as well, that’s great. But really what I’m looking for in shampoos is their cleansing ability, and here Acure has knocked it out of the park.

I’m not sure exactly how this shampoo performs on really dry hair, but it didn’t dry out my semi-dry ends which is a good sign. However, I’m not sure how much use a person with really dry hair would have with a clarifying shampoo, so this may not be an issue. Maybe for product build-up?

I would highly recommend this product to most everyone, except for maybe the afore-mentioned super-dry haired people. Not that I think this product would damage your hair, but that it might just not be what you’re looking for. If you have normal to oily hair, though, this is a lifesaver.

Rating: A+

 

Review: Alaffia Beautiful Curls Wavy to Curly Curl Enhancing Shea Butter Shampoo

12 fl oz.- $12

(I believe I bought mine at either Whole Foods or Central Market, for all those in Houston- I don’t remember it being $12 though, more like $8)

http://www.beautifulcurls.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=9&idcategory=3

Found on Alaffia Beautiful Curls website

This sulfate-free, paraben-free, gluten-free, vegan, biodegradable and certified Fair Trade shampoo is supposed to ‘gently clean the hair and scalp without stripping it of its natural oils’. Shea butter and coconut oil “provide unparalleled moisture to enhance and retain waves and large curls”. “Chamomile extract soothes and calms the scalp and enhances natural highlights. Yarrow extracts help normalize scalp oil production. Natural minerals and vitamins soften hair and reduce frizz.”

Ingredients:

Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Extract (aqueous), Yarrow (Achilleamillefolium) Extract (aqueous), Certified Fair Trade Saponified Shea Butter* (Butyrospermum parkii) and Certified Fair Trade Virgin Coconut Oil* (Cocos nucifera), Decyl Polyglucose, Cocamidolpropyl Betaine, Magnesium Sulfate, Coconut Oil (and) Prunus armeniaca (Apricot) Fruit Extract (and) Ylang Ylang Flower Extract

* Certified Fair Trade by IMO 

I commend Alaffia on their commitment to the environment and the under-represented communities of the world; I condemn them for making a terrible shampoo. I really tried to like this shampoo, I really did. I loved the idea and the social responsibility behind the product, but it was really really horrible to use.

First off, the product is very runny. This makes application fairly difficult, and means that you waste a lot more product too. But it’s not something I can’t work with if the product is worth it. It wasn’t. Just out of the shower, the product left my hair feeling  very strange- like it had left a soapy deposit, squeaky is the only word I can think of to describe it. Not to mention unbelievably tangled. Then finally, the final test: how your hair feels after drying. The result? Oily at the top (Yarrow extract- dude, get your act together), frizzy at the bottom (um, “natural minerals and vitamins”?), and hooray hooray, the soapy deposit stuck around! Needless to say, this did nothing for my curls.

I think this company is really doing some good in the world, and I could conceivably pay $12 for a GOOD shampoo, but honestly this is ridiculous.

Rating: F-

Review: The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Condtioner

60 ml/250 ml/400 ml

The Body Shop UK: £2/£4/£6

The Body Shop DE: 3€/6€/9€

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/hair/conditioner/rainforest-balance-conditioner.aspx

http://www.thebodyshop.de/haarpflege/conditioner/ausgleichende-pflegespuelung.aspx

Does not contain parabens, silicones, or colorants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Conditioner is a conditioner specially formulated for oily hair. It is made with pracaxi oil, white nettle, seaweed, and aloe vera. It claims that it “lightly conditions to reduce excess oils for hair that looks clean and fresh all day without weighing it down. Like it’s matching shampoo, it has a very thick consistency.

Ingredients

Aqua, Kaolin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, Glycerin, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Parfum, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Propylene Glycol, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Salicylic Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Pentaclethra Macroloba Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Alcohol, Citric Acid, Lamium Album Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol.

This was a really disappointing product for me because I really like the shampoo that goes with it. It just did nothing. First of all, it had a strange consistency, thicker than normal conditioner with a weird almost gritty texture. It kind of felt like a mud mask in conditioner form. It didn’t condition my hair at all. On top of that, it smelled like a mix of the afore-mentioned mud mask and a chlorinated pool. Yeah, not really a good smell, and especially not a comforting smell for something you are putting on your hair! Luckily the smell doesn’t linger, so you didn’t walk around smelling like pool for the entire day.

There really isn’t much to say about this product. It didn’t work. It smelled bad. End of story. A really disappointment, I must say. Don’t waste your money! The price may have been well worth it for the shampoo, but for this it is really too much.

Rating: D

Review: The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Shampoo

60 ml/250 ml/400 ml

The Body Shop UK: £2/£4/£6

The Body Shop DE: 3€/6€/9€

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/hair/shampoo/rainforest-balance-shampoo.aspx

http://www.thebodyshop.de/haarpflege/shampoo/ausgleichendes-shampoo.aspx

Does not contain parabens, sulfates, silicones, or colorants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Shampoo is a sulfate-free shampoo for oily hair. It is formulated with pracaxi oil (whatever that is), white nettle, seaweed, Community Trade sugar (???), and aloe vera. It claims to “reduce excess oil for hair that looks clean and fresh all day”. It has a very thick consistency and a pleasant, herbal smell.

Ingredients

Aqua, Sucrose, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Lauryl Betaine, Laureth-5 Carboxylic Acid, Propylene Glycol, PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate, Parfum, Sucrose Laurate, Sodium Benzoate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Alcohol, Citric Acid, Pentaclethra Macroloba Seed Oil, Lamium Album Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol

The two main things that you should have gotten out of the description (no, I’m not talking about the weird ingredients…) are the fact that it is a sulfate-free shampoo, and that it is for oily hair. This brings up a major question… namely; does it clean your hair properly? The answer is yes, it does. And quite well, surprisingly. For people with normal or oily hair it seems that sulfates are useful sparingly, every other day to every three days ton once a week depending on how oily your hair gets and how frequently you wash it. This is because you don’t want to use sulfates on your hair too often, as that would dry it out, but if you don’t use sulfates you may not properly break down the oils in your hair, leaving residue that would make your hair look dull. With this shampoo I don’t feel the need to use a separate shampoo containing a sulfate because it really does what it claims to do, reducing the excess oils in my hair. This is great because I can have my hair clean without running the risk of drying it out too badly. I honestly have no clue how this would work for dryer hair, but it doesn’t have sulfates in so it may work. The Body Shop does have other formulations, which I assume are also sulfate free, so you may try those.

As for lathering, this shampoo is relatively good for a sulfate shampoo. It takes a little more effort and time to get it there, but it does lather up. Obviously not as well as a sulfate shampoo, but it does do the job without too much stress. I have found that you only need a small amount of the shampoo because it is so thick. My hair is of a normal thickness, and I only need like a nickel-sized amount of product. For the Europeans and the Brits, that would be roughly the size of a 10 euro cent coin or a penny. I have found that it helps to distribute the shampoo through the roots of your wet hair and work it in as per usual, but then duck under the shower stream again and then work the product some more. I think this really helps with the lather.

Because you only need a small amount of product means that it takes forever to use up the bottle. Coupled with the fact that you have the option to get it in bigger bottles, this means that if you intend to purchase the product regularly you don’t have to run to the store so often. This is particularly helpful because you can only find this product at a Body Shop store, not just at your local Rossman or Boots. It is also a little more expensive than something you may buy at a drugstore, but I think the long life of one bottle, plus the fact that you can get the more cost-effective bigger size makes this product not that much more expensive in the long run. Plus it is sulfate free, which is sometimes a struggle to find in cheaper shampoos!

Overall, I would really recommend this product. It smells great, does a great job despite not containing sulfate, and is a quite reasonable price for the amount of product you get and how much you have to use at one time.

Rating: A