My quest to “green up” my household seems never ending. I am always buying new products, and testing out new things. I’m looking for products to permanently replace the old chemicals and toxins I’m used to using. It takes a lot of time, and there are a lot of products that fail to live up to my standards. I guess that’s part of why most Americans won’t “make the switch”. It’s difficult to find a clear cut winner in a sea of products that seem to all be missing something. You guys know that my single true victory in “greening up” has been Soap Nuts. AMAZING for laundry and great for other uses as well. For instance, I bathe my dog in it because it’s so good for your skin! I’ve showered with it myself! But it’s not enough for everything. My mission as of late has been to find a natural shampoo and conditioner to switch to.
I tried Natures Gate a few months ago. Initially I liked it, but later posted an update talking about how it eventually left my hair feeling greasy when it got wet. It was not a winner.
So, back to the grocery store “organic” section. I picked up a couple of bottles of Avalon Organics. I’ve seen these bottles around in friends showers before, so… worth a try, right? I bought the Tea Tree Scalp Treatment type. The water here in Houston is so hard that I have frequent itching on my scalp. Since I don’t have any dandruff or any other issues, I assume that it’s my hard water drying out my scalp. I have found that Tea Tree sooths the itch completely, so I like to buy shampoos with it in it.
Nice bottles, savage price. I paid nearly $9 per bottle for this stuff at the grocery store. I’m pretty sure I would shop around for prices if I’d liked it, but I didn’t.
The smell of the Tea Tree was almost overwhelming in the shampoo. I know, I know… Tea Tree is pretty stinky stuff, so I guess I can be accused of wanting to have my cake and eat it too… but yikes! There is nothing pleasant about the scent of either the shampoo or conditioner.
The shampoo leaves that waxy, greasy feeling on my hair, just like the Natures Gate did, only I’d say worse. It was more noticeable much faster. The Tea Tree in the shampoo ABSOLUTELY relieved my scalp itch. If that was the only thing I was looking for, I’d love this stuff, but it left my hair feeling so gross I couldn’t stand it. Even after it was dry, it seemed to me that there was some kind of waxy build up going on. I didn’t like it at all.
The conditioner didn’t make me feel like my hair was “getting more lustrous”. Usually when you put a conditioner on, you can feel it soak into your hair, and your hair becomes silkier. This was not the case with Avalon Organics conditioner. It slicked on and absorbed, but then my hair didn’t FEEL any better. Still that sticky, waxy residue that I’m not a fan of…
I may not be popular with this conclusion, but in my opinion, this stuff really wasn’t all that great. It left my hair heavy and without body or shine after a weeks worth of use. It also left me fighting my brush through my hair because of the waxy build-up. It made all of my hair stick together and de-tangling became a real chore. As far as I’m concerned, Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner are NOT worth the money.
No comments yet.