You might remember I went on a hair detox a while ago by removing all commercial hair products from my life and using natural products to wash it such as baking soda, castile soap and cider vinegar. I thought I’d update you with how I got on.
The main reason I went on the detox was because my hair had gone lifeless, limp and generally horrible. Research (Google style…) into it showed that ingredients such as sulphates and alcohol damage your hair by stripping and drying it out, and ingredients like silicone build up on the shaft and cause breakages, so going on a product detox can revive your hair appearance and health. I’d tried out one day hair detoxes in the past and got on with them so thought a longer one would be easy. How wrong I was.
The first two baking soda and cider vinegar wash left my hair bouncy and gorgeous, but when I hit the third wash around a week later I came out of the shower and my hair did not feel clean as normal. This carried on with the next two washes, with each wash getting my hair looking progressively greasier. Panicking, I obviously took to Google. Turns out the transition stage of which your hair gets used to not being stripped of it’s natural oils (and therefore stops producing oils in return) can last as long as THREE MONTHS. Hell no. I did try to persevere but knowing I could be potentially a grease bucket for three months, I caved.
After my initial “I’m so clean!” reaction, I felt really bad. So I took to the internet to find a good free-from brand which would allow me to have clean hair, without the damage. Enter Green People. Alongside organic, natural beauty products, they do various hair care ranges which are all free from alcohol, sulphates, parabens and silicone. Their shampoos and conditioners are around a tenner each, which is a bit more than I would normally spend (I’m still stuck in student mode, sorry!) but actually isn’t that bad compared to some products which cost the same but are pumped full of ingredients which make you think it’s helping your hair, when in fact it isn’t.
The products I have is Daily Aloe Shampoo* and Intensive Repair Conditioner*.
Daily Aloe Shampoo (£11.95)
The daily aloe shampoo is gentle enough to use daily (apparently, I wash my hair twice a week tops) and is non irritating. It has natural foaming properties, so you get the lather without stripping your hair. Woo! I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the smell of this, and it has a slightly funny feel when I’m lathering. BUT it does leave my hair feeling clean, my hair doesn’t get greasy any quicker than normal, and this little dry flakey patch I’ve had at my hair line for months has gone. Vanished! I’m genuinely delighted, it’s been so annoying and I kept finding little flakes distributed throughout one strand of my hair because of it so now I don’t have to worry about it!
Intensive Repair Conditioner (£11.95)
This is aimed for dry, coloured, chemical and heat treated hair. The consistency is quite thin compared to conditioners I normally use, so I was worried this wouldn’t be as deep conditioning as I like, but I can honestly say I’ve not noticed my hair becoming any dryer or more brittle than when I was using thick conditioners. In fact, since using these for around a month, I’ve noticed my hair does look a lot healthier and thicker than before, which is great!
I think free-from products definitely do take some getting used to, but the benefits of going natural are definitely worth it. Everyone wants healthy hair, so it makes sense to use products which don’t have harsh chemicals that strip your hair of it’s natural nutrients and clog them with artificial ones instead.
I would recommend checking Green People out as they have shampoos and conditioners for all hair types. I wish they’d bring in some other products, like heat protection spray and leave in serums, as I’m still getting a little dose of silicones whenever I use them.
Would you ever try free-from hair care?
