Recently, there’s been a lot of attention on skin care. I find myself constantly buying face masks and trying all the ridiculous new trends. A few weeks ago, I had a stressful realization that because of my skin care obsession, I was neglecting my hair care. Straightening and blow drying my hair every week seemed to make it very sensitive. I heavily relied on my dry shampoo even though my hair still felt super dry. It was lost in this puffy state between curly and straight. I didn’t want to stop using my heat products (it’s college, how could we not?) so I looked for other answers. My quick Google searches lead me toward the more natural products and I gave in.
So, I went to Target and searched through the beauty aisles (one of the most fun activities). Eventually, I came across the brand Love Beauty & Planet. My first impression was that I was considerably impressed. Each bottle is made out of 100% recycled materials (so you can also recycle it). It made me feel a little excited to be getting better hair and a better carbon footprint. Ultimately, I bought the shampoo and conditioner because they’re paraben-free, cruelty-free, dye-free and vegan.
So what does this mean? Firstly, parabens are a chemical group, the most common known as methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben and ethylparaben. It’s used to help make sure the products don’t mold, and although that may seem important, the negatives surely weigh out the positives. Parabens easily can soak through your scalp and have been linked to breast tumors. Yikes. Dyes are also chemicals which are harmful to your body and can damage your hair. Cruelty-free and vegan are self-explanatory, but it’s a win-win that we’re also helping the cute animals.
To wrap this all up in simpler terms, the shampoo and conditioner are silicone free, safe for colored hair, made with organic coconut oil and made with plant-based cleansers. The shampoo is 92% natural and the conditioner is 97% natural. After reading all of these positives, I decided to give the argan oil and lavender shampoo and conditioner a try. Although I have never used natural or vegan beauty products in my life, I wanted to give them a chance.
I started on Monday and didn’t notice much of a change on Tuesday night. Except on Wednesday when I woke up, my hair felt like a dry, oily mess. It was almost as if I had dyed my hair every day for years. The transition between chemical and natural products seemed like it was going to be a difficult one. I’ve been using products like Pantene since I was very, very young so my hair was in a state of shock. It’s like when you eat McDonald’s for a week straight and then throw in some carrots. Your body doesn’t know how to act. But for you guys, I stuck with it because I wanted to figure out how long it would take to make the transition.
On Friday, I realized my hair had made another drastic transformation. The oiliness had faded into a pretty shine like one of those celebrity hair commercials. My hair had finally decided its texture was going to be slightly curly, like a beach wave. At the end of the week, it just kept getting better. The oiliness had completely faded and my hair no longer needed dry shampoo to balance out the oily transition. I had also officially decided lavender was my new favorite scent.
After a long week, I officially highly recommend these products because I am so relieved with the results. I also decided the time for transitioning from chemicals to natural will take about four to five days. I do have shoulder length hair, so for really long hair, I’d say a week. If you want different types, Love Beauty & Planet has so many more amazing shampoos and conditioners, like coconut milk and white jasmine, murumuru butter and rose and coconut water and mimosa flower. It’s time to go natural!!