I am very picky, and my skin is too, so I can't and won't just settle for any old sulfate free product.
We all have our preferences for what we want our hair and skin to be like, and what we want our products to smell like.
I've bought a few things recently so I thought I'd share my thoughts on them with you all =)
Eco Store Anti Dandruff Shampoo
I've had problems with my scalp for as long as I can remember, I was pretty ok for a few years and then after the water supply was changed it had a big tantrum and I've been struggling to get it under control ever since.
The prescription stuff (ketaconizole?) stopped working, and there was no way I was going to put that coco tar stuff in my hair. No way.
Eco Store finally had a semi decent selection in the supermarket, so I got their anti dandruff shampoo.
Please note, this product has Sodium Coco Sulphate. If you have severe issues with sulphates, I would probably give this one a miss. I did some research and the general consensus seems to be that it is basically the same as SLS -however, saying it's the same thing is massively over-simplifying it.
SCS is, simply put, a very very diluted version of SLS. It has far more of the coconut's fatty acids still, and while some people still call it a "harsh" chemical, I would disagree. That's like having a glass of pure lemon juice, and a glass of lemon juice mixed in with a couple of litres of water and saying they have the same degree of sourness. It's not rocket science that something diluted will be less "harsh". But anyway.
I love this product. First of all, it smells like cola lollies. So yum!
Even though it does have SCS in it, I do not experience a reaction like I did with SLS products. This product does not strip the semi permanent colour from my hair like SLS products and normal anti dandruff products!
It left my hair feeling awesome and my scalp feeling great. And it did it's job well. I am very happy to have found something that works so well for my scalp!
Yes To Carrots Scalp Relief Conditioner
Unfortunately Yes To don't have sulphate free shampoos (as far as I'm aware). I thought I would try this conditioner in conjunction with the Eco Store shampoo (which I had already been using beforehand).
I am left hoping that their other conditioners I want to try won't leave me as disappointed as I was with this one.
It's ok. It's nothing special. I definitely don't think that the carrots one, at least, is worth the rather high price.
It's a bit of a mixed bag I guess.
The only good thing about it seems to be that it helps keep my hair soft for longer.
The bad things are numerous though. One of which is at the time, and for about a day after, it makes my hair feel a bit.. dry and "ratty". It would be nice if it was soft from day one. From when I washed it out. But nope.
It's a bit of a pain to get the product out of the bottle. It comes out in a rather annoying tiny stream.
The smell is not great. It has a really strong tea tree smell. It just reminds me of when I was a kid and had nits. I don't really like the smell in the first place anyways.
It irritates my scalp -I get the same irritation with it as I do when I use an anti dandruff SLS/ALS shampoo.
Lastly it is REALLY hard to wash out. Definitely not something to go with if you're trying to save water.
Primal Earth Calming Face Wash
Now, I noticed earlier while I was in the shower that the tube says "his" on it, and I did find it under the men's razors area in the supermarket with the face balms and shaving creams and whathaveyou, but I don't recall seeing a women's one (also why can't I find Primal Earth Renew anymore?!). It doesn't really make a difference to me anyway!
It says it has aloe vera, green tea, and plant glucosides. It also states it contains coenzyme Q10 and harakeke flax.
I liked the speel on the back, I can't be bothered going to get it, but it says something like basically this product is awesome now hurry up and get it. I like my product speel with a bit of humorous attitude ^_-
I really really really love this product!
It smells sort of like a clearasil? product I used back in highschool, so pretty generic, nothing good or bad about it really.
You only need a little bit to cover your whole face, and I honestly didn't expect it to do much since it isn't exfoliating.. I was pleasantly suprised!
I get NO negative reactions with this wash at all! Which is amazing on it's own.. I had a really bad breakout just before I bought this product, and with two washes it is SO much better! Not completely gone but I'd say about three times better than it was! One particular problem area was dried up completely and flaked off the next day -completely fine!
The areas I usually worry about blackheads are looking a LOT better now, and this product leaves my skin amazingly soft. There is absolutely no need for me to apply a moisturiser afterwards.
It's about the same size and price as anything else, and I would highly recommend this product to anyone!
Now... How to make your own sulphate free body wash!
Supposedly you can use any bar soap to do this, but you may need to add more water than you use in this recipe.
This is using Dove bar soap.
I made one batch with the exfoliating bar, and one batch with the shea butter bar.
I used one and a half bars of each, you can adjust the recipe to suit you.
For every one and a half bars used, add 3 cups of water (or 2 cups of water per bar).
You will need to grate the soap into a pot, add in one cup of water and heat on medium.
Stir every now and then until as much soap as possible is melted, and mixed in, and add the rest of the water.
(If you are using more soap, add more water in the first lot, so if you are using three bars of soap, add two cups of water, then the rest etc etc)
Once you have as much soap as possible melted and mixed with the water, pour the mixture into a glass container or bottle to cool.
Once it is cooled enough, transfer it to a container of your choice. I have also heard that at this stage you can mix in your own skin safe fragrance if you wish.
I do not recommend leaving it in bottles as shown in the picture, you will be better off putting it in something like tupperware, or a bottle that you can squeeze the product out of -for example, a shampoo bottle, or other body wash bottle.
The end product is a really nice and luxurious body wash! It is awesome! Don't expect it to be like normal body wash, what I ended up with was a fantastic mousse like product -very nice!
If you want something a bit more exfoliating I would suggest purchasing some small exfoliating beads or using something like crushed apricot seeds, or maybe even salt, and mixing it in after it has completely cooled.
So that's my review of my latest purchases, and home made Dove body wash! The body wash could even make a nice present for someone! If you make it I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
~^_^~
