SLS-free shampoos vs Regular Shampoos {Five Series}

Ok, it has been like 2 years now that I have shifted to the non-commercial shampoos. It is not like I have completely chucked out the over-the-counter products which makes it even more easy for me to analyze and appreciate the difference between both types of products.

Yes, it takes time for one to adjust to the SLS-free shampoos because the feel of the hair is way different after using either of them. So, let me enlist the differences and see if you can agree with them!!

Feel of Hair

This was one of the major difference which I felt. When you use SLS-free shampoo, hair feels rough when you are washing it. Later on, it might not look as if you have get rid of oil entirely coz the hair feels a lot bunched up just like it does when you apply oil!! 

This happens because of the silicone content in the regular shampoos. The silicon coats the hair and makes it feel smooth. Due to the absence of this ingredient in SLS-free shampoos, the hair does not feel as smooth. 

Lathering Issues

It is a myth that SLS-free shampoo do not lather well. It really depends on the composition of the shampoo but of all the SLS-free shampoos I have used, organic surge, Madara, Omved, all of them have lathered generously enough.

Not all SLS-free shampoos are same

Well, just like the regular shampoos, these shampoo category also suffers from the same issues. The one thing which is important is that not all SLS-free shampoos have the same cleansing power. Some cleanse well and are good at removing oil but some might be just good on non-oiled hair and some might be too harsh for the hair as well because of their compositions. 

SLS-free does not mean chemical free

This is the most important point I would like to make. There are brands which do not use SLS but they use ALS which is more or less harsh on hair or they can use parabens or any other chemical but not SLS. So, do remember to buy organic shampoos instead of just going for SLS-free ones.

Expense

Yup, they are comparatively expensive because of the demand and supply difference!!

What do you say? Have you used SLS-free shampoos? Do you find them different from the regular ones?

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Organic Surge Daily Care Facewash {Product Review}

Guest Post by Roshni

A big thanks to Swati for letting me do a guest post :) Hope you all like it! [Me: I should be thankful to you, Rosh, instead!]

After my Dove Beauty Moisture face wash got over, I decided to order the Organic Surge Daily Care face wash since I had read a lot about it. The one tempting factor of this face wash was the rose geranium oil which is one of the ingredients of the face wash. I love anything that smells of or contains roses and so I had to give this face wash a try!

Price: Rs 660 (Got it for INR528 from medplusbeauty.com)

Quantity: 200ml

Ingredients

My Experience

I will start off by saying I have become a big fan of this face wash! And this is not only due to the rose smell ;-) The face wash has all natural ingredients with no SLES or parabens. I find this to be another big attraction. It of course smells like roses – more like a gulkand smell. This is very refreshing. 

The face wash is not very runny nor creamy. It is a golden yellow in colour and lathers very well. I take a pea sized amount in my wet palm, rub it between my hands to generate lather, and then apply it to my face and neck. I then rub it gently and in a circular motion over my face and neck and wash it off.

My skin feels squeaky clean but not dry. It feels hydrated and soft. Also, my face tends to get small boils on the cheek bones and near the nose every few days if I don’t apply an antibacterial cream every 2-3 days. But since I have started using this face wash, the appearance of the boils has reduced and I do not need to use the antibacterial cream for many days at a time. So I am completely overjoyed!

Pros

• A small amount works a lot. This face wash will easily last me 6 months, I guess. I got it in April and little more than half is still left and that is with my husband using it half the time!!

• The rose smell! – even people who do not like rose smell or have a sensitive nose can use this cause the smell does not linger.

• Makes my skin squeaky clean without drying it.

• Reduces the appearance of boils.

• Comes in a pump dispenser bottle with a cap on top. So very easy to get the face wash out and also travel friendly.

• Contains natural ingredients which are definitely proving very good for my skin.

Cons

• Availability (only available online)

• Expensive? – I don’t think so cause it will last really long as I said above and is well worth the price!

So have you used this face wash? How do you like it?

Me: You have definitely sold me over the product, Rosh! Its on my list!

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Check out Roshni's quirky posts at Everything that Clicks!

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Other products from Organic Surge:
Organic Surge Moisture Boost Shampoo

My Hair Diary - April 2013

No snaps this time! Apologies! Anyways, I did not really take that much care of my hair as I did in March. I did not do anything special for my hair except once treating it with egg and musk root. Btw, egg with musk root and ginger essential oil did not really stink! 

What else did I do? 

Since summers are a bane for me, I made do with a few drops of Navratan oil almost twice or thrice a week. Seriously, it helps with tiredness and mild insomnia! The review will come in due time.

And, no, I do not wash my hair daily even though I sometimes really wish it. One tip is just let the sweat on the scalp dry out before you tie your hair. And, keep the scalp clean. Itching can be considered an indication to wash the hair. And, for some, I think the hair be better washed everyday if they travel daily in lot of sun and pollution.

Oh btw, I have also been taking some supplements of which I shall talk in another post so stay tuned! 

Products Used

• Shampoo - Organic Surge Moisture Boost

• Conditioner - Kamini Conditioner

• Leave-in and Scalp Treatment - Soulflower Grapeseed Oil with Rosemary EO + Soulflower Pomegranate Seed Oil

• Hair Oil - Neelibrigandi + Navratan Oil

Related Posts:

My Hair Diary - March 2013

My Hair Diary - February 2013
My Hair Diaries - January 2013

My tryst with Natural Shampoos - Some Random Product Reviews - Part V

So, I have finally used 3 SLS-free shampoos and I decided to put up some words about them. One thing before starting. Please do not expect natural products to perform just like commercial products. They may be better or worse in their own ways.

Soul Tree Triphala Hair Revitalizing Shampoo

Price: Rs 350 for 200ml

My Experience

I had used this shampoo way back in last September and I was really excited to try it out. But, unfortunately, it failed to meet my expectations!! It was drying for my hair and it also did not clean the oil, oil applied on the hair not the natural oil.

Neev Olive Neem Shampoo

Price: Rs 85 for 100ml

My Experience

I finished this product just last month. For a change, it was way better in experience than the previous one. It did not dry my hair a lot and it cleansed the hair well, if oil was not applied on the hair. Hair was bouncy and soft after the wash. 

click on picture to enlarge to read text clearly!

But, it cleanses only little of the applied oil which was sad. But, it lathers really well and smells of rosemary. And, I used to use it on the days when I was in hurry and had no time to oil my hair!

Organic Surge Moisture Boost Shampoo

Price: Rs 625 for 250ml

My Experience

The only answer to this product is I am liking it. And, it has been the best of all the shampoos I have used till date. But, unfortunately, no shampoo has answer to my dry hair :(

It lathers really well with a very less amount of product. And, the quantity is enough to remove the dirt and dust. The best part is it removes the oil, howsoever quantity you might have applied and you do not have to use the shampoo more than twice!

click on picture to enlarge to read text clearly!

Ok, one problem is with packaging. The shampoo starts leaking out as soon as you open the fliptop so it has to be stored properly; upside down! Also, it does give a subtle shine but you have to use the conditioner. Sadly, I did not get the conditioner with it.

Damn, it is expensive!! But, it does last long. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, if you skip the conditioner it makes the hair little frizzy which is sad. Otherwise, it is a decent shampoo which can be given a try!!

Get it from flipkart:

What about you? Have you tried using SLS-free shampoos? How do you like it?

Related Posts: 

Some Random Product Reviews - Part IV
Some Random Product Reviews - Part III
Some Random Product Reviews - Part II

My Hair Diary - March 2013

getting snaps of my hair is damn difficult on the new cam!

So, another month gone! And, this month I was pretty diligent about my hair :) So, yay to that! But, unfortunately I am not as diligent on the posts so you would be missing the posts on Tuesday and Thursdays and weekends. And, I have yet to reply to comments!

What I did?

Moving on, I have been using Organic Surge. Coming up soon with the review. But, I am loving it for now. Its the only SLS-free shampoo I have used till now which actually cleansed the entire oil from the hair and made the hair pretty soft.

Next come the DIY's I did this month. Well, I did get inspired by my friend and tried to take more care of the hair. I got musk root and used it with yogurt as much as possible. And, I used parachute advansed hot oil almost every time I washed the hair. But, not every time! 

yeah, that's my hair just after washing without any serum or conditioner!

And, the next thing I followed this month was using Grapeseed oil with Rosemary EO on scalp and Pomegranate oil on the hair as an after-wash hair serum. But, one thing I had neglected was conditioner. I hardly used conditioner. 

One thing I noticed about my hair was that I was losing more of my hair if I did not wash it within two days and then it was getting itchy and very dirty. Well, this is what even my colleague complained. She told me that if even a little of sweat gets accumulated on her scalp, she starts losing hair and gets really itchy. And, if she is washing her hair daily, its behaving nicely! Yeah, the question is should we wash our hair daily? Let's see!!

Products Used

• Shampoo - Organic Surge Moisture Boost

• Conditioner - Kamini Conditioner + Liz Earle Botanical Shine Treatment

• Leave-in and Scalp Treatment - Soulflower Grapeseed Oil with Rosemary EO + Soulflower Pomegranate Seed Oil
  

• Hair Oil - Parachute Hot Oil Treatment

Related Posts:

My Hair Diary - February 2013
My Hair Diaries - January 2013
My Hair Diaries - November 2012

Which Shampoo to Use? {Reader's Query}

"Could you please suggest a shampoo for 8 yr old girls? I am using J&J baby shampoo still but I have started observing it is not working on their hair and cleaning it properly? I see dandruff also started developing in their scalps. Any remedy for that?"

Actually, I would suggest organic surge shampoo for anyone. I would say stay away from sls shampoos and get organic products. They help keeping the scalp healthy and moisturized. The dandruff being developed might be due to the dryness of the scalp as far as I understand. Do you oil their hair? I would suggest you to oil their hair regularly and then use shampoos. Or, you can also go for body shop or schwarzkopf shampoos but all of them are definitely expensive!!

Thanks so much for the reply! I'm oiling their hair with J&J baby hair oil only. Do you suggest any other oils (brands)? Also can you please recommend any brand for organic shampoo? I heard Body shop products have lot of chemicals and they tend to dry hair. I've no idea about schwarzkopf shampoo. Should I get one for me first and see :-) 

I would suggest you to go for pure coconut oil or such things instead of J&J baby oil and all. It has mineral oil and might not suit everyone. Also, if possible, I can suggest to you the bhringraj oil or neelibrigandi sort of oil from arya vaidya sala shop or website or even pure coconut or sesame or mustard oils from 24 letter mantra or any other organic brand. If you stay in Hyderabad or Bangalore, I can suggest you to check out goodseeds website. And, for arya vaidya sala, they have lot of shops in Hyderabad and Bangalore as far as my knowledge goes.

Check out the following:
www.aryavaidyasala.com/(S(emocbj45sqglubyiy2aeivib))/Index.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/goodseeds

And, regarding organic shampoo, I would say Organic Surge brand is really really good. I have been using it almost since a year and its awesome. And, regarding body shop or schwarzkopf, I have not personally tried them so I can really not say anything about them. I just suggested coz I have heard good reviews about them!!

What do you say? Any pointers as to which shampoo should she use?

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My Hair Diary - January 2014

Huh....I have been too busy to take care of my skin or my hair!! Ok, that is not entirely correct and no one is really so busy that they do not have time to do something they really want. If you want to do something, you will always find a way for it. 

Anyways, coming to the point, I found that the hair diary series has been ignored since October. I do not think I did anything specific for the hair during the past three months. When I was in home, I used my mom's oil and the kamini shampoo. When in Hyderabad, I simply neglected my hair. When in Vizag, I got one hair spa done just before the wedding and used to use some oil which was made by one of my cousin which was also pretty good. Have to ask the recipe!! 

After the wedding started my hair woes. I caught lice from my niece :( Poor girl is suffering from a major case of lice and apparently nothing is working out. I did not stay long enough to actually know her case or propose any solution to her.

Later I got dandruff as well coz of extremely dry hair. I have not used conditioner since December and have oiled my hair like 2-3 times in the entire month before leaving for Delhi. So, you can imagine the hair to be just like jhadooo (a broomstick). My entire December I spent my hair scratching. And, O started facing a major case of hair fall.

Once I came to Delhi, my mom took care of the lice issue and my hair felt a little better with regular oiling. Since then I have made the resolution to take better care of the hair. So, in my case, regular oiling has definitely shown a marked improvement in dryness of the hair, the dandruff and also the hair fall. I think the hair fall was due to dandruff.

Products Used

• Shampoo - Kamini Shampoo + Organic Surge + Madara Shampoo

• Leave-in - Grapeseed oil

• Hair Oil - Rogan Badam (with clove and camphor)

Related Posts:

My Hair Diary - September 2013
My Hair Diary - August 2013
My Hair Diary - July 2013