Sevenish years ago I started my journey to remove a lot of products from our home and replace them with natural, “clean”, low-tox options. During that time I’ve switched out a LOT of things but there’s always still more on my “to do” list.
One of those things has been hair styling products. Thanks to Young Living I’ve been able to switch out the majority of my stuff (personal care, makeup, etc.) but since YL doesn’t carry hair styling products (yet! maybe someday!) I’ve been a bit stuck on what to do about that.
My options have pretty much been to stick with the chemical-y stuff you can get everywhere or just use nothing. I am so super sensitive to fragrances that for many years my choice was just to use nothing. But finally I got tired of my hair looking sad and limp all the time and decided it was time to do some research and hunting because surely to goodness someone out there has good, clean hair products, right?
I am pretty low maintenance (read: lazy) when it comes to my hair so I wasn’t looking for a lot of products, but I have fine, flat hair and really wanted something I could use to help give it some volume and hold.
I bought a couple of products and have been trying them out for a while – I am incredibly happy with what I’ve found (most of it, at least) so I want to share what I’m using and give a review of the products I’ve tried.
My main objectives were to find products that were as natural as possible and fragrance free (or only natural fragrances, nothing synthetic). And of course that the products actually worked!
First up, Innersense Organic Beauty “I Create Lift” Volumizing Foam. This stuff is ahhhhhhmazing!! I am in love! I always tease my hair a little bit when I fix it to give it volume and keep it from separating on the top of my head but it usually doesn’t hold that tease very long. However, now that I use the volumizing foam it makes my hair so much grippier at the roots that it teases easily and holds that volume through the day.
While I think this product is intended to be used right before you style your hair (like for those who shower in the morning, dry their hair and style it for the day), I shower at night and it’s working great for me still. I pump a blob of foam into my hands, rub it around in my hands, and apply to my roots with fingers, then blow dry my head before bed. In the morning (or whenever I style it the next day) I tease it a bit with a small brush and love how it turns out.
I also bought the Innersense Organic Beauty “Hair Love” Prep Spray. I personally can’t tell any difference with the prep spray – I mean, I’m sure it’s good for my hair but I don’t really notice any difference in how my hair styles or the texture or anything. After I apply the volumizing foam to my roots I spray the prep spray on the rest of my damp hair before I dry it. I’ll use this bottle up but then I doubt I’ll reorder.
Neither the volumizing foam or the prep spray have much (if any) scent. The foam has a very, VERY light scent that I can smell in my hands but not once it’s in my hair and it doesn’t smell synthetic to me. The prep spray doesn’t smell like anything to me. I can tell from the ingredient list that there are some natural ingredients that have fragrance but none of is translates as a strong smelling product, so that’s two thumbs up!
After I style my hair I use this Carina Organics hairspray to hold it in place. This hairspray is awesome! Other than a brief alcohol-ish smell right when you spray it that goes away very quickly, it is truly fragrance free. And it has fantastic hold! It’s a firm hold but does not feel stiff or crunchy.
My only complaint about the hairspray is that the pump clogs up sometimes. I think that’s to be expected since it’s not an aerosol but it’s a fair trade off to me – I’d rather fiddle with the pump sometimes than use an aerosol spray.
(FYI, Innersense also has a hairspray if you’re wanting to find a one-stop-shop. I’d already bought Carina’s hairspray and am happy with it so I haven’t tried Innersense’s version.)
I am sooooo happy to have found some products that work for me and aren’t full of junk! I actually feel like my hair looks decent now when I style it but I don’t have to smell the nasty synthetic fragrance that most hair products contain. Hallelujah!
Both websites disclose all the ingredients on their products so you can look for youself to see what’s in each individual product. They both also give details about their products, sourcing, organic status, etc. (see Innersense here and Carina here).
Now for a thumbs down in my review…
…the Innersense “Refresh” Dry Shampoo. As someone with greasy hair I would love to find a good dry shampoo (I’ve made my own before – recipe here – but I’m looking for something a little more convenient). I was hoping this one would fit the bill but no such luck.
For the first thing, it’s a foam that you have to apply to your roots, which makes your hair damp so then you either have to let it air dry or blow dry it. That’s even more work than my DIY version! No thanks. And for another thing, it left a yucky residue that looked like the time I put baby powder in my hair to make my hair gray for a dress up day at school. Again, no thanks.
It did do a decent job of making my hair look less greasy so if you don’t mind the blow drying step and if you have blonde hair this might be a good product for you. But if you’re lazy or have dark hair, I’d recommend skipping this one.
These last ones are not new products to me but since I’m sharing about natural styling products I use I figured I’d mention the natural shampoo and conditioner I use. I’ve used Young Living’s Lavender Volume Shampoo and Lavender Mint Conditioner for close to seven years now and love them! My hair had a bit of a transition period as it adjusted to using natural products but since then it’s been great.
So there you go! Two new products that I LOVE and two that are just meh or no-gos.
Side note: while Innersense has products for all hair types, in my research I learned that they are particularly known for their products for people with curly hair. That’s not what I was looking for for myself but I have three children with curly hair so I’m excited about that! I am going to buy some of the curly products to use to help style/tame my kiddos curls – I’ll let you know what I think once we give those a try too!
Any recommendations of dry shampoo for me to try? Or other natural styling products I should check out?
You've heard what I have to say...now I want to hear your thoughts!