Long ago, I spent a few months living in Africa- in a hut. I was doing an outreach in Zambia and the girls in our group had to get creative with our self care since we only had access to running water for 1 hour a day (and there was a long line to use it). My friend, Michelle, decided it would be a great time to test out the whole no shampoo thing. Apparently, if you go long enough without washing your hair, it somehow balances out and no longer gets greasy. We were all skeptical but it did work. She never had greasy looking hair!
I’m a shampoo kind of girl, however. I need to feel clean and fresh- plus, despite what my husband may think sometimes, I’m not a dirty hippie (I chant this to myself at night, as I slather myself in raw coconut oil and breathe in essential oils).
To preface these reviews, my hair would be considered “normal”, but more specifically, I have long, thick hair that’s been colored treated more than I care to admit. My roots get oily if I wait more than a 2 days to wash and my ends are dry and slightly damaged.
John Masters has been my hair’s saving grace. I truly love this line of products. Currently, I use the Lavender Rosemary shampoo and the Lavender & Avocado intensive conditioner. The shampoo lathers well and manages to clean my hair without stripping it. The conditioner says “intensive” but to me this is more of a normal conditioner, which is what I was looking for. It moisturizes my ends without weighing my hair down or making it look greasy. They both smell divine! If you are just switching over from a conventional hair care line, you will feel very comfortable with these as they perform similarly to mainstream shampoos and conditioners but minus all of the toxic, gross stuff.
Where to buy: Johnmasters.com Cost: Shampoo/$16 for 8 oz. and Conditioner/$22 for 7 oz.
Acure Organics makes a solid line of products that perform well. I really like their moroccan argan oil + argan stem cell shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo also lathers very well and the conditioner is very moisturizing without being too heavy. These are widely available and are very budget friendly!
Where to buy: Acureorganics.com Cost: $9.99 each
Intelligent Nutrients has such an interesting back story. This brand was founded by Horst Rechelbacher, who also founded Aveda way back in 1978. Aveda was eventually sold to Estee Lauder, and is not exactly clean anymore. Rechelbacher founded Intelligent Nutrients to focus his work on non-toxic, organic ingredients. If you loved Aveda, you will probably love this line as well. It has a similar refreshing but earthy smell. A head’s up: the shampoo in this line doesn’t lather, like a lot of natural shampoos. If lather equals clean to you, you may be disappointed.
So full disclosure: I wanted to LOVE this brand. I love everything it stands for and the ingredients are so clean, you can literally eat them! But after trying both the PureLuxe shampoo and conditioner (shown above) and the Harmonic shampoo and conditioner I realized it did not love me back. My top stayed greasy and ends were dry despite the conditioner seeming to be very moisturizing. That being said, this line has worked for so many people and I continue to come across reviews and blogs that sing its praises. I think it’s worth a shot to see if it works for your hair type.
Where to buy: intelligentnutrients.com Cost: PureLuxe Shampoo/$22 for 8 oz. and PureLuxe Conditioner/$25 for 8 oz.
