Are the hair products sold at Holland & Barrett any good?

[Erizu]

Greetings, all! :o

For a while now I've been using LUSH shampoo and conditioner (specifically Jersey Bounce and American Cream) but I'm starting to get put off shelling out so much money on them. Before LUSH I was using the regular conventional shampoos and conditioners (my mother and sister still use them) and they're probably full of ingredients that I should avoid. To back this up, when I made the switch to LUSH I noticed an improvement in my hair immediately and I'm much happier with the condition it's in now.

I've been looking at the products at Holland & Barrett as they seem to be a good starting point for a Brit with a love for all things natural but lacking in hair experience, and I was wondering if any of you LHCers have had any luck with the products they sell. I've been looking at Dr Organic the most; their reviews on the website seem pretty good and the ingredients look sweet as well. However, the reviews I see elsewhere such as on the LHC forums aren't as positive. If you've got nothing good to say about the products at H&B, I'd appreciate your own recommendations! :flower:

My shampoo contains SLES and my conditioner contains SLS and I'm not sure what dropping it will do. From what I've seen they're what remove the oils from hair; I don't think I'm someone who suffers from an excessively oily scalp, but I can wait around 5 days until my next wash with these products. Any advice?

Thank you again! :D

[lapushka]

Back in the day they still had Organic Surge, and they were pretty nice. And I think they still had SL(E)S. Inecto coconut (sl(e)s & silicone-free) is also sold there, in Belgium at least, I think, if they still sell that brand there - ages since I went there (still called De Tuinen & later Essenza back when I went, here at least).

[Suze]

I tried the Dr. Organic shampoo and conditioners a few years back. I tried the Honey and the Coconut ones. I couldn't use them because my scalp got really really itchy ans started to hurt. But I have a very sensitive scalp. But if you are so happy with Lush, maybe you could try their shampoo bars? They cost a lot less than their liquid shampoo's. I think the Dr. Organic shampoo's are low poo though, but if your scalp isn't bother with SLS maybe just stick with them. Sorry I am not of much help.

[furnival]

I found the Dr Organic conditioners to be pretty meh, but the shampoos are sulphate-free and fairly OK for my hair. I only tried a couple because they cost far more than they were worth IMO. Small bottles, big prices.

I also don't trust Dr Organic as a company; on the labels of their roll-on deodorants they proudly announce "CHEMICAL FREE!" which is a complete lie. I messaged them asking them what they meant by this and they said it meant that whenever possible they tried to use naturally-derived chemicals instead of their synthetic equivalents. When I pointed out that this didn't mean their product was chemical-free (and that chemicals are chemicals however produced) they replied with a barrage of ingredients and their supposed origins, including claiming that their triethyl citrate was produced from citric acid that was produced from oranges. Triethyl citrate is usually synthesised by mycological fermentation as it is economically unviable to produce it from oranges; when I pointed this out to them they ceased to respond. :p (I'm not surprised...) I ought to have followed it up; "Chemical free" is blatant false advertising and plays upon fear and misunderstandings of what chemicals actually are. I will not buy any more of their products.

[kuroi]

I love the Dr organic tea tree shampoo, it soothes my scalp. But you're not having problems with sulfates so you can look at more shampoos.
I don't know about the prices of the lush shampoo but Holland and Barrett is fairly expensive if you don't buy stuff on sale. I always wait till the stuff I want is on sale so I think its pretty affordable then.

[lapushka]

I see on their site they have Avalon organics! SUPER nice shampoos & conditioners. I've had them a while ago, and I loved them, and I have SD and a "picky" scalp. This was like 5 years ago, so I don't know about their formula's now. I've had their clarifying shampoo (used to be lemon verbena). Top stuff.

[Avital88]

I remember using the nettle shampoo. I can't remember the brand just that I had bought it there. It was really good. Came with quite a plane packaging. Also loving the SLS free shampoos from the body shop. Esp the one with honey

[Tabitha]

I tried the Jason but found the shampoo to be rather harsh and the conditioner made my hair a bit lank. Some people get on fine with it though. Paradoxically my hair seems to hate sulphate-free shampoos - Burts Bees was a disaster.