by Annette
I'm in my 50s, and while aging and menopause are starting to take a toll, my hair still looks fabulous. When Truth In Aging asked me to review the Juice Beauty Organics Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner ($10 each), I went into it with high hopes. There are so many chemicals in our personal hygiene products today, and a “healthier” alternative would be a welcomed change. At the same time, I was a little worried. Would it keep my processed and lovingly cared for blonde locks beautiful, smooth, hydrated and lustrous – or would it turn them into a ruined, frizzy, dry rat’s nest of a mess?
To be honest, at first I was disappointed with the product. The shampoo and conditioner left my hair frizzy and flyaway, though not particularly dry. Determined not to throw in the towel, I kept playing around with the amount of shampoo and conditioner I used until I found the right quantity and balance for my hair. Using a good deal more than what I would consider a normal amount of shampoo and conditioner for the length of my tresses (a couple of inches below the jawline), it left my hair soft and shiny but still flyaway.
This shampoo has a runny consistency, and I had to use three to five times the amount of other shampoos to make my hair feel clean. So, while this product, according to Juice Organics, is “luxurious and affordable,” if you have to use more of it to achieve clean hair, this must be factored in when determining the real cost of use.
The conditioner is thick, creamy and easy to apply. But similarly to the shampoo, I found that I had to use two to three times the normal amount compared to my normal, chemical-rich conditioner. Decidedly, the conditioner did work. Without it, using the shampoo only, my hair was essentially unmanageable. With a combination of ingredients such as coconut oil, hydrolyzed rice protein, organic vegetable glycerin, jojoba oil, argan oil and panthenol B-5, it definitely hydrates, revitalizes and conditions your hair.
What’s appealing about the shampoo and conditioner is the organic ingredients. True to its name, the shampoo contains organic white grape, apple and aloe juice. Aloe reportedly helps hydrate hair among other things. Apple juice may help prevent dandruff. Grape juice may encourage hair growth and diminish hair loss. The shampoo is high in organic extracts, too, including green tea, cucumber, rose hip, gingko biloba and chamomile. Coconut extract is also listed, and since the container displays a cracked open coconut on the front, I homed in on the ingredient cocos nucifera — coconut extract from the common coconut palm, which conditions and adds shine. Juice Organics also highlights rice protein as an ingredient, a well-known hair strengthener and volumizer.
I did note that both the shampoo and conditioner contain sodium benzoate, a preservative that is controversial because of its potential to interact with ascorbic acid. But Juice Organics contains citric acid, not ascorbic acid, which are different compounds.
Bottom line, I’m giving Juice Organics Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner a single thumb up but with a word of caution because it takes some getting used to and probably won’t work well on hair that is super dry or over-processed (mine is neither). If it’s important to you to use hair care products that are formulated with organic ingredients and without parabens, petroleum, propylene or butylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfates, pesticides, phthalates, artificial dyes or synthetic fragrances, then Juice Organics Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner is at least a must-try. Also, Juice Organics products are never tested on animals. If all this is less important to you than having drop dead gorgeous hair, you may prefer to use another product most of the time, perhaps alternating with the Juice Organics products as I have been doing.