Lush/wen/moroccan oil

[BambooBeauty]

I'm trying to go as natural as possible with my hair. I'm sorry if this has been discussed before but I am new and need some advice. When reading ingredient lists I'm not sure what I should be looking for, and what I should be avoiding. Any advice on ingredients would be very helpful.

I bought wen cleansing conditioner and it makes my hair very soft. It is marketed as a natural product but it has lots of ingredients in it so I'm not sure. Same with Moroccan oil. I bought some from my salon and it smells nice and makes my hair soft but I'm not sure how natural it is. Does anyone use these products or give advice about them?

Also are shampoo bars better then liquid shampoo? (If there is already a thread about shampoo bars please let me know :) ) I just bought my first shampoo bar from lush but I've heard lush isn't a natural as it claims to be?

Thank you! :)

[lmfbs]

I've never use Wen and never will - personally, I think you can get just as good results for a fraction of the price, but others may be able to tell you more about it.

The Moroccan oil probably full of cones, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there are definitely more natural things you can use, like straight oils.

I found shampoo bars very drying. I CO wash, but if I use shampoo, I dilute it lots with water. You can't really do that as easily with poo bars, so I prefer liquid shampoo.

Regarding 'natural' and what you should be looking for in your products, it really depends on what you want to achieve. Personally, I'm not too bothered about using natural products because I find very few do what I want. However, others use exclusively natural products, so will be able to tell you more.

If you can give us more info on your hairtype and what you want, we can probably help a bit more!

[BambooBeauty]

Well my hair is straight, 1b and medium thickness. My roots are oily and my ends are dry. My hair is damaged from getting highlights but I dont use heat. I'm trying to grow my natural hair colour out and stretch my washes.

[lacefrost]

I've heard Wen can really irritate scalps so I wouldn't try it.

Lush doesn't claim to be fully natural, merely mostly natural. There are some products that are 100% natural. But more often than not, there are a couple of synthetic ingredients in their products like food coloring, baking soda, and SLS.

Honestly, I wouldn't be so focused on what is supernatural and more what works best for your hair.

[furnival]

Lush shampoo bars are based on sulphates, unlike other shampoo bars. They are basically an SLS shampoo in solid form.

[lmfbs]

Well my hair is straight, 1b and medium thickness. My roots are oily and my ends are dry. My hair is damaged from getting highlights but I dont use heat. I'm trying to grow my natural hair colour out and stretch my washes.

Here's my advice - of course, others will probably have different advice, and this advice may not work for you!

1. Oily Roots
For me, my oily roots were caused by overdrying my scalp with harsh shampoos which caused my scalp to go into overdrive replenishing moisture on my scalp. Before I learned about CO washing, stretching washes and diluting shampoo I was washing my hair every day, and by 20 hours it was looking oily and disgusting.

I now CO wash, which is much more gentle on my scalp. When I do use shampoo, I dilute it in water so it's about 1/4 teaspoon of shampoo to lots and lots of water. I squirt it on my scalp and massage lots. Rather than adding more shampoo if I feel I don't have enough, I add water to spread it around more.

I can now go 10 - 14 days without washing my scalp with anything other than water. You might not like to go that long, but it sounds like less oil would be useful for you. I would recommend diluting your shampoo as well as stretching washes where you can. If the smell bugs you when you're stretching washes, dilute some essential oils in water and spritz - it helped me get over that issue.

2. Dry Ends
I would do a deep treatment, leaving it on as long as you can. I rarely do them overnight, but I like to do them as soon as I get home from work and wash off before I go to bed. I get home at 630ish, then wash at about 11 so that's a decent time for a DT to be on.

There are heaps and heaps to choose from, so have a play around and find what works for you. My favourite is coconut oil, conditioner and honey, but other common ones are SMT, just conditioner or oil only (coconut/EVOO are common).

I like to do deep treatments weekly, but my hair is very damaged and dry as I swim a lot. Play around and see what works.

3. Highlights
Ah. Bleach damage. My nemisis. I have terrible bleach damage from highlights in my hair (if you're interested, I just posted the evolution of my hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=98651) earlier today). My hair hates protein, but because you're a 1b, you might find that all of your hair needs a protein treatment, or even just the bleached bits need one.

The only thing I can advise here is be patient and baby your hair. Learn as much as you can and don't worry about what works for other people - just focus on what *your* hair needs. Try new things slowly, and take lots of pictures over your journey so you can look back and see how far you've come.

Unless you have a particular reason for wanting to use natural products (ie no animal testing, biodegradable products etc), I wouldn't stress too much about it. I don't think there's anything inherent in natural products that make them somehow better for your hair (though I'm sure there are many here who would disagree with me on that!).

Regarding cones, I use them a lot less than I used to because although they make my hair feel soft and silky, in order to remove them again to prevent my hair from drying out over time, I have to use harsh cleansers. They really dry out my hair, and cause more damage. Right now, I CO wash most washes with cone free conditioner and once every 3-4 washes I CO wash with coney conditioner. That way, I only need to clarify every 4 or so months, which is perfect for me.

Good luck, and I'm sorry this post turned out so long! Happy to share any more info if you have questions, but as always, I'm sure other people have the exact opposite advice!

[Sakuracha]

Well my hair is straight, 1b and medium thickness. My roots are oily and my ends are dry. My hair is damaged from getting highlights but I dont use heat. I'm trying to grow my natural hair colour out and stretch my washes.

My hair is relatively straight too, but quite thick. I've used Moroccanoil in the past when I began learning how to better care for my hair because I also had the issue of oily roots and dry ends. It worked for a little but then started making my hair dry and crunchy or at least not helping improve my hairs condition. It's mostly chemicals with a itty bitty little bit of oil added in.

I've transitioned over to using coconut oil and shampoo bars. I use Chagrin Valley shampoo bars, there is a thread on the forum regarding shampoo bars if you want to find others opinions of them and how to use them. Personally, I wash my scalp with shampoo bars and follow with a diluted distilled white vinegar rinse. When my hair is still damp I put a little coconut oil in and let it dry. I used to have to put in the coconut oil after every wash and my hair was crunchy for about two weeks while it adjusted to the new routine but I just had some patience and my hair got better and is relatively soft for coarse hair. Now I need to put in some coconut oil every here and there. Maybe once a week I'll wash the full length of my hair, after I do that I always make sure to follow up with oil or the hair will be crunchy. I really like coconut oil because it absorbs well in my hair but in the future I'll probably experiment with other oils.

[Amber_Maiden]

Lush, Wen, and Moroccan oil are not natural brands. You can get better organic and natural products, and REAL pure moroccan oil.

[bunnylake]

Since Wen contains a lot of silicone you should periodically use a clarifying shampoo to avoid build up. Try buying some pure oils with no other ingredients... pure coconut, olive, camellia, argan, etc. If you like cleansing conditioner, try a cheaper silicone-free conditioner such as Suave Naturals, VO5, Tresemme Naturals... There are lots of organic product lines out there if you look.

[bunnylake]

Also I'm pretty sure Lush poo bars contain SLS, just so you know in case you are trying to go sulfate-free. Sulfates aren't "bad", just too harsh or drying for some people.

[BambooBeauty]

Thank you so much! Everyone has really good advice!

[Wildcat Diva]

I use Chagrin Valley shampoo bars, and like them very much. They do not contain SLS. I use a white vinegar diluted rinse at the end, and often a catnip infusion to condition and prevent long term split ends. I have to use some kind of leave in on my hair to prevent frizz. Nightblooming's Panacea Hair Salve works well for me. I have also used two drops of mineral oil as a leave in too, and that has worked well. I am trying to transition into being able to wash less often, now I wash with a shampoo bar about every three days. I will use water only washes as I try to stretch out the time in between.