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View Full Version : Nubian Heritage Evoo & Moringa shampoo - Finally, a Holy Grail!



PraiseCheeses
May 23rd, 2014, 12:43 AM
Move over, Shea Moisture! Ever since my hair length got too unwieldy for using baking soda to wash and J/A/S/O/N reformulated all their products (:rolleyes:), I've been on the search for a good cleanser. It seemed like just about everything I tried that was sulfate-free used some form of olefin sulfonate instead, which has been shown to be just as irritating as sulfate, and I've certainly found it to be very stripping. Shea Moisture Moisture Retention shampoo has done very, very well in rotation, but after a few uses in a row it would build up. I've been searching for something more cleansing and yet sulfate-free for well over a year now, but I haven't found anything sufficiently cleansing and yet sulfate-free (and not horrifically expensive). Until now.

Even though I'm supposed to be on a product-buying hiatus, I was headed into CVS to check out the other Shea Moisture shampoos. What the hey, I'm almost out of my other strippi... err, cleansing shampoos. On the way, I saw the Nubian Heritage shelf. I'd never noticed these products before, so naturally I stopped to check them out. By the font and label design, I could tell they were made by the Shea Moisture people - a good sign. The Evoo & Moringa shampoo was clear and pretty thin in consistency - good signs. I checked the ingredients - all natural, decyl glucoside being the main cleanser. I smelled it as best as I could through the seal - smelled great, a good girly-hair-product sort of smell, rather than a powdery rank-diaper-coverup smell like some of the Shea Moisture stuff. *cough*yucca-and-baobab-repair-mask*cough* Sold.

It lathered really well for a sulfate-free shampoo. I only needed a tiny bit of it. It did not dilute well in a bottle of water (became too weak), but it lathered well enough undiluted and distributes so easily that I'll be thrilled to give up that extra step in my routine. It rinsed out easily - with some of those olefin sulfonate shampoos, it takes FOREVER to get all the suds out. My hair felt clean, but not stripped and tangly. It was ridiculously easy to comb out when I was out of the shower. It smelled lightly of the shampoo (and my conditioner) but it wasn't overpowering. My hair is shiny, feels strong, and has volume. Woo! My other shampoos are now laundry detergent. :cheese:

Ingredients as listed on the bottle (because I couldn't find them in any links): Deionized Water, Decyl Glucoside (Sugar Beets), Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Lauroyl Lactylate (Lactic Acid), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Oil*, Moringa Oleifera Seed oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Lawsonia Inermis (Henna) Leaf Powder, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Proprietary Essential Oil Blend, Chenopodium Quinoa Extract, Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Stearic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract

They don't have the little no-cruelty rabbit on the bottle, which I didn't check until I got home. I assumed because it was made by the Shea Moisture people that it would also be cruelty-free. The Googles assuaged my fears: PETA verification of cruelty-free (http://features.peta2.com/shopcrueltyfree/cruelty_free_companies_company.aspx?Com_Id=2882&Donottest=-1&Product=Cat_5&Dotest=-1&RegChange=-1) for those for whom it matters. :) It was $11.99 at CVS, which is generally more than I would like to spend on 12 fl oz, but I needed so little of the stuff that it's definitely well worth it. (Also, no more buying stuff that doesn't work! :happydance:)

Sorry for the long-winded review, but I'm really happy with this product and wanted to share. :flower: Hopefully this helps out someone else!

TheHowlingWolf
May 23rd, 2014, 01:24 AM
Hmmm....interesting! I'm going to have to check that out! (& maybe the conditioner too!) Thanks for listing the ingredients!

schnibbles
May 23rd, 2014, 07:01 AM
Great review...I find olefin sulfonate to be very drying also.

Just wondering, what kind of water do you have, PraiseCheeses? I have well water (moderately hard...not horrid, but I might try this line anyhow)

PraiseCheeses
May 23rd, 2014, 09:29 AM
Great review...I find olefin sulfonate to be very drying also.

Just wondering, what kind of water do you have, PraiseCheeses? I have well water (moderately hard...not horrid, but I might try this line anyhow)

Ah, good point about the water. We're spoiled with insanely soft water here - there's never any mineral buildup on fixtures or in the tub. I've never needed to chelate, and acid rinses, however strong or mild, have just made my hair feel weird. How do milder cleansers function in harder water?

Kaelee
May 23rd, 2014, 09:32 AM
I never knew Nubian Heritage was made by Shea Moisture! I love their lotion and soaps- my skin loves shea butter, my hair, unfortunately, doesn't play nice with it.

schnibbles
May 23rd, 2014, 03:19 PM
How do milder cleansers function in harder water?

Well, not so hot. At least in my experience. I don't know if it's because something harsher is also ridding the mineral buildup that was on the hair from the last wash, or if the milder ingredients can't "penetrate" through the minerals or what. (Maybe a combo of both)
My water has more limestone/calcium than anything, but no iron really.
I have to clarify about once a month. I know it's time when my hair gets really tangly.
It's hard to strike a balance - use something more gentle and have to clarify more often, or use something not as mild more often and keep the mineral buildup at bay?

I've thought about getting a shower filter but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Charybdis
May 24th, 2014, 02:36 AM
Thanks for the product review, PraiseCheeses! I will probably pick up a bottle next time I'm in the U.S. :)

ErinLeigh
May 24th, 2014, 02:56 AM
Can the henna leaf powder in the shampoo add red tones to hair?

Wiggy Stardust
May 24th, 2014, 04:48 AM
Ah, good point about the water. We're spoiled with insanely soft water here - there's never any mineral buildup on fixtures or in the tub. I've never needed to chelate, and acid rinses, however strong or mild, have just made my hair feel weird. How do milder cleansers function in harder water?

I remember using soft water once... It was in Cuba. I never got over the shine. *w*

In my personal experience, "mild cleansers" give my hair a waxy feeling in my hard water area. I'm not sure how to define mild though... I've used CV soap bars, Lush shampoo bars and even some organic free this free that shampoos (Canadian brands). All didn't suit me at all and gave me zero shine and a lot of "heavyness" and like I said, waxyness... Not like grease per se but more coated and dull without being dirty. Heavy cleansers like SLS give me body and shine like none other, but then we get into the vicious cycle of conditioning and stripping... The only time my hair thrived with the mild cleansers (even CO) was during my BLEACH THE LIFE OUTTA IT stages.

For now I'll live out the natural wonderful shampoo love vicariously.