I've tried, I really have. I have been committed and persistent, and still I have failed. Not in stopping climate change (although I have to accept a fairly limited degree of success so far on that score too), but in finding a half decent, low-evil-chemically-ingredient-ridden shampoo and conditioner that costs less than £10 for a teeny tiny bottle.
I haven't been fussy, I'm prepared to accept that my hair might not be as smooth and silky as it was with Pantene's finest, but I do at least expect to be able to get a brush through my hair after washing and conditioning it.
In my quest, I tried the following:
1) Avalon organics Rosemary shampoo/conditioner - probably the least awful one, but I had to leave the conditioner on for about 10 minutes before seeing any kind of benefit, and I just don't have that kind of time in the morning with Teddy falling flat on his face every three minutes (crawling: still not a success)
2) Weleda - again, not too awful, but more expensive (nearly £8 a bottle) and had to use lots to get any kind of decent result
3) Jason Salon normalising shampoo/conditioner - not too bad, probably the best conditioner, but gave me dandruff. I am prone to this, so it's probably an unfortunate reaction
4) Faith in Nature Rosemary shampoo/conditioner - nice and cheap (under £4 for a 400ml bottle), and the shampoo wasn't half bad, but I had to use absolutely loads and loads of the conditioner, as it was really quite watery
5) Waitrose Organics - the worst of the bunch. I'm actually contemplating taking it back. Never before have I felt that my hair might actually be improved if the conditioner was replaced by a scouring pad.
I should add at this point that I have an unfortunate combination of quite long (below shoulder length) hair that is really greasy (if I go two days without washing it, burger van vendors start eyeing me up as a replacement to the pan), as well as very straight, so shows up any lack of condition beautifully. All this in addition to the aforementioned flaky tendencies. Therefore my shampoo/conditioner needs are perhaps a little more stringent than most.
I would like to say that I approached Boots with a heavy heart to purchase my very own bottle of ammonium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate (does anyone know the difference?), glycol distearate, dimethicone, panthenyl ethyl ether, polyquaternium-10, and so on and so on (I should add, I know nothing about chemistry - one of these could very well be the chemical name for organic lavender oil, raised in sunny fields with no fertiliser, but I doubt it). My dislike of chemically things stems more from a worry about the cocktail of artificial chemicals we accumulate in our body, and what they might do en masse, than a particular desire to avoid some specific toxin. If you want a well reasoned argument as to why this is a good idea, I suggest you find the blog of someone who knows what they're talking about, rather than a concerned but completely clueless woman who panics slightly at discussion of anything more complex than sodium chloride.
Anyway, back to the point. I practically skipped to the chemist, and gleefully threw a bottle each of Aussie haircare shampoo and conditioner into the basket. I've convinced myself (I didn't have to try very hard, or even at all) that the inclusion of two types of eucalyptus extract practically makes it organic.
I promise that once my hair has recovered a bit, I'll start looking again. I'm thinking of trying to make my own shampoo bar, then splashing out on the outrageously overpriced Neal's Yard conditioner.
But in the mean time, Adam has just come out of the shower smelling of lovely clean Aussie shampoo fragrance (he chose not to use the Three Minute Miracle conditioner, but I think he'll give in soon), and I find myself, for the first time in months, looking forward to washing and conditioning my hair.
I haven't been fussy, I'm prepared to accept that my hair might not be as smooth and silky as it was with Pantene's finest, but I do at least expect to be able to get a brush through my hair after washing and conditioning it.
In my quest, I tried the following:
1) Avalon organics Rosemary shampoo/conditioner - probably the least awful one, but I had to leave the conditioner on for about 10 minutes before seeing any kind of benefit, and I just don't have that kind of time in the morning with Teddy falling flat on his face every three minutes (crawling: still not a success)
2) Weleda - again, not too awful, but more expensive (nearly £8 a bottle) and had to use lots to get any kind of decent result
3) Jason Salon normalising shampoo/conditioner - not too bad, probably the best conditioner, but gave me dandruff. I am prone to this, so it's probably an unfortunate reaction
4) Faith in Nature Rosemary shampoo/conditioner - nice and cheap (under £4 for a 400ml bottle), and the shampoo wasn't half bad, but I had to use absolutely loads and loads of the conditioner, as it was really quite watery
5) Waitrose Organics - the worst of the bunch. I'm actually contemplating taking it back. Never before have I felt that my hair might actually be improved if the conditioner was replaced by a scouring pad.
I should add at this point that I have an unfortunate combination of quite long (below shoulder length) hair that is really greasy (if I go two days without washing it, burger van vendors start eyeing me up as a replacement to the pan), as well as very straight, so shows up any lack of condition beautifully. All this in addition to the aforementioned flaky tendencies. Therefore my shampoo/conditioner needs are perhaps a little more stringent than most.
I would like to say that I approached Boots with a heavy heart to purchase my very own bottle of ammonium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate (does anyone know the difference?), glycol distearate, dimethicone, panthenyl ethyl ether, polyquaternium-10, and so on and so on (I should add, I know nothing about chemistry - one of these could very well be the chemical name for organic lavender oil, raised in sunny fields with no fertiliser, but I doubt it). My dislike of chemically things stems more from a worry about the cocktail of artificial chemicals we accumulate in our body, and what they might do en masse, than a particular desire to avoid some specific toxin. If you want a well reasoned argument as to why this is a good idea, I suggest you find the blog of someone who knows what they're talking about, rather than a concerned but completely clueless woman who panics slightly at discussion of anything more complex than sodium chloride.
Anyway, back to the point. I practically skipped to the chemist, and gleefully threw a bottle each of Aussie haircare shampoo and conditioner into the basket. I've convinced myself (I didn't have to try very hard, or even at all) that the inclusion of two types of eucalyptus extract practically makes it organic.
I promise that once my hair has recovered a bit, I'll start looking again. I'm thinking of trying to make my own shampoo bar, then splashing out on the outrageously overpriced Neal's Yard conditioner.
But in the mean time, Adam has just come out of the shower smelling of lovely clean Aussie shampoo fragrance (he chose not to use the Three Minute Miracle conditioner, but I think he'll give in soon), and I find myself, for the first time in months, looking forward to washing and conditioning my hair.
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