November 5, 2009
Posted by marta
Beeceuticals creates as much buzz as possible around the theme of pollinating insects. Its coda is “Health From The Hive” and its Rosemary and Lavender shampoo is called Bee-Hair-Now. Julie and Richie, the couple behind the brand (I wonder if they simply call each other “honey”), give some of their profits to help the plight of bees – the American honey bee is almost extinct due to pesticides.
Bee-Hair-Now shampoo, at about $6.50 for 12 f oz, has got to be one of the bargains of the year. However, at first I thought I might be getting what I’d paid for. It rapidly lathers into a thick foam that feels a bit like the bubbles in bubble bath or, frankly, a cheap shampoo. After rinsing it off, my hair definitely felt the need for some conditioner and I reached for Aubrey Organics’ conditioner for chemically colored hair. The end result was striking. I had been getting product build up from using OOKISA’s shampoo and conditioner and Beeceuticals washed it right away. My hair after blow drying was soft and positively shiny. Parsley extract, a well-known imparter of luster, is responsible for the shine. Read more...
July 8, 2009
Posted by copley
Is using beer on your hair something that only Birkenstock-wearing nature enthusiasts and barefoot hippies do during their once-weekly baths, or could it be an accessible, affordable hair remedy for the rest of us? Beer hair is actually not a bad look. I know first-hand from a college party long ago, when my head got a spontaneous keg shower. The next morning, I awoke to find shiny, healthy-looking hair…far from the sticky, hard mess that accompanies an inadvertent hair dip in my cocktail. What is it about beer that may benefit your hair?
Besides getting compliments on your luscious locks from beer goggle-wearing guys in bars, there might be much more that beer can do for the well-being of your hair. As we discovered with the effects of beer on skin, there are special components within beer that are better for your body than any old carbonated beverage. When you soak, rinse, or spritz your hair with beer, its natural ingredients coat each strand and lend hair-nourishing benefits. In addition to B vitamins, the proteins found in malt and hops are said to repair damaged hair and boost overall body. Meanwhile, the maltose and sucrose sugars in beer tighten the hair’s cuticles for enhanced shine. Read more...
January 21, 2009
Posted by marta
Posted by Marta
I am still searching for the Holy Grail of the perfect conditioner for my head of wavy, fairly unruly, fine (in terms of each individual strand), thick (the overall amount) and chemically colored hair. I may not be there yet, but I am on the way with Max Green Alchemy Scalp Rescue Conditioner. It leaves my hair soft and shiny, without being at all heavy. And the price tag of $14 for high quality organic ingredients makes it a veritable bargain.
This is a great conditioner if you have been experiencing product build-up as it doesn’t have any silicones or waxes and there are soothing ingredients such as tea tree to calm an itchy scalp. The scalp also benefits from licorice, which keeps it hydrated. With REN’s moringa shampoo (moringa is a wonderful natural cleanser) to precede it, gunk will be a thing of the past. Read more...
December 18, 2008
Posted by Reader
Posted by Jessica C.
I, like most people with curly hair, put a lot of time into propagating the illusion that this is a physical attribute like any other, completely effortless- it just grows out of my head. If I wear my hair curly, I want you to think that I just waltzed out of the shower and let it dry naturally; if I wear it straight, I want you to think that I was born that way.
Unfortunately, in both cases, this is an elaborate hoax used to cover up countless hours spent in a dark world of revitalising shampoos, curling conditioners, moisturising masks, relaxing balms, hair soufflés, heat-protectors, protein sprays, five different brands of finishing crèmes, a turbo-power hair-dryer, a giant diffuser and two sets of ceramic hair straighteners. Mastering the art of curl control is a serious matter, not to be taken lightly. Read more...
November 7, 2008
Posted by copley
Posted by Copley
One of the very first things I learned from Marta, before I had even started at Truth in Aging, was that scrutinizing the label on a shampoo bottle can be an unsettling experience. Harmful sulfates and preservatives crop up in all sorts of shampoo products, especially cheap ones, like Suave, V05, and Pert Plus. I recently switched onto White Sands Volumizing & Color Secure Nourishing shampoo ($13) because of its sulfate-free stance. So for the sake of safe, clean hair everywhere, I performed an exhaustive study into what else it excludes and includes.
Ever wonder how a shampoo formula gets developed? Well, first you start with a surfactant, or a suite of surfactants that act synergistically, which cleans hair by stripping sebum from the shafts. How gently this process is carried out depends on how harsh the surfactant is. White Sands uses cocamidopropyl betaine, a semisynthetic compound derived from coconut oil, which has anti-static and humectant properties, attracting moisture from the air and keeping hair from drying out. Though it’s not as damaging as the synthetic detergent sodium lauryl sulphate, cocamidopropyl betaine has been shown to cause contact allergies on sensitive skin.
Read more...
