Since I decided to go natural, I’ve realized that I’ve been adding more natural products to my overall beauty routine. Shea butter instead of facial moisturizer, all natural body butter as opposed to lotion…and now – Castile soap instead of body wash! I recently purchased Dr. Bronners Castile Soap in Peppermint after I realized that my delicious cocoa butter body wash had sodium sulfate. Not sexy! Here are the ingredients in the castile soap:
INGREDIENTS:
Water, Saponfied Organic Coconut Oil*, Saponified Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Glycerin, Organic Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Mentha Arvensis Extract, Organic Mentha Peperita (Peppermint) Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol (* Certified Fair Trade by IMO)
Nice…(in South Park voice). I like this stuff much better. No residue and no sulfates! My skin feels much more moisturized after using this in the shower than it has using my body wash, or even conditioner. However, I’m not sure I should have gotten the peppermint one…for reasons I will not mention. Well no, I guess I will. Have you ever put Icy Hot all over your body? Yea, it feels sorta like that. And since I am cold all the time anyway, I feel like I’m dying for a little bit after using it. BUT, I do feel clean!!! I might go pick up the almond version later this week… Oh, and you can also wash your hair with it if you want. I mean…I’m not going to (I have shampoo bars), but I will def consider it once my poo bars are gone.
Anyway, just wanted to write a quick post…what products have you gone natural with?
questfortheperfectcurl.com 
this whole going natural biznass catalyzed a complete revolution in my product regimen (not just hair). I mean, if I’m going to avoid chemicals and SLS and cones in my hair, why would I put them on the rest of my body??
the first thing to go was my Nair. I know. Who uses Nair? Me. Loved the stuff. And it was sad to say goodbye.
Shopping for all this stuff in San Francisco, the land of the crunchers, has been a lot of fun because there are so many options! Rainbow Grocery, this organic bulk store is my favorite place to go! They have everything you could want, and in bulk form. From that Dr. Bronner’s soap (and per your rec, I gotta go try it!) to Aloe Gel/Juice, Giovanni and Natures Gate lotions, condish, to coconut oil, and lots of other essential oils to the amino acids for the cherry lola. All of it you can just fill up in your own containers on the cheap! If you’re ever in the Yay Area, I would happily take you on a field trip there!!!
LOL, I loved Nair!! The acid just melting my leg hair away…giggle. I stopped using that for SURE! And I’m sure San Fran is killin’ it with the natural products (Granola Town!). I’d be so scared for us to have a natural product field trip; two product junkies enabling one another? Oh goodness… And if you get the Bronner’s, get the almond one! I smelled it yesterday and it smelled soooo good, but I didn’t get it because I know I won’t use the peppermint if I have that one! Maybe I’ll start shampooing with it too so I can get rid of it quicker and save my poo bars….lol.
I was recently at SF last September. I did not get enough time to look around though. 😦 Rainbow Grocery sound hot. Is the price any different for the items on bulk? I am glad that we are moving to the revolution of more natural. I was watching Tyra Show yesterday and she is on this BIO Campaign. “Beautiful Inside and Out!!” I cannot wait for the next American Top Model start. I like watching this show.
I was just talking about her BIO campaign the other day because apparently Titi and Miko from Miss Jessie’s were on there…it annoyed me, not sure why.
Yeah I was in and out of watching that particular episode. By the time I went back. Tyra had finished her interview with Titi and Miko of Miss Jessie’s. See I do not understand what they do in their hair salon which get the results than me trying the same process and get different result. Quite pricey. I respect Tyra for doing this campaign because people need to feel comfortable within their own skin, and not feeling like they have to live up to society’s standards of beauty. Sometimes it gets hard for certain people due to marketing tactics and propaganda with fashion, hair, lifestyle, etc.
Btw do you take vitamins? If so what do you take? I was taking One A Day Women version, but then I switched to a whole food vitamin due to reading certain vitamins have more synthetic coating and ingredients which are not easy to dissolve in your system also potential harmful. It’s been day 4 of the natural ingredients which has like 30 vegetarian ingredients. There is an organic/whole food near me called Sprouts. The vitamins have Sprouts logo on it. They also have vegan style vitamins.
Yep, I take MSM, Women’s Hair, Skin and Nails Formula (Trader Joe’s), flax seed gel, and odorless garlic – all for my hair!
I was taking like a Skin, Hair, and Nail vitamin but then I stop taking them. I really wanted the B vitamins and biotin which is really necessary for the hair. Vitamin E helps with skin and hair follicles. Tried to take Fish Oil (disgusting!)…never tried garlic. How long have you been taking this product?
See I have never tried any shampoo bars or pure body wash. I usually just wash with Dove bars because some soap causes skin allergic reaction for me. I can be quite sensitive to certain soaps on my skin. I do like your idea of trying natural soaps on the skin. I really love Body Shop butters and even from Bath & Body Works though I do not know the ingredients. Whether it is pure or not. I love Cocoa Butter. Anything moisturizing for the body and hair. I grew up washing my hair with Suaves, Herbal & Essence, VO5 which I feel only dries my hair out. When I was transitioning my hair from the perm to natural, I used a lot of these type of shampoos including Infusium. My older brother swore by the Infusium causes increase in hair growth. So I tried for a great deal of time when I lived back home in the South. Humidity!! Now I am living in South Cali. Not too bad on my hair.
I am going to start a hair blog once I have a free time to start it. I will start from the beginning of my journey to the current. Hopefully I can remember what I was using on my hair at the time. I did braid outs a lot. Where I wash and condition then braid it at night (not cornrows but loose braids). Hopefully I get started on this soon. I like the idea of discussing products and your experience with them.
I tend to like tea tree oil or rosemary mint ingredients. I like the tingle feeling on the scalp. I cannot imagine this feeling all over the body. There is a really great organic shampoo and conditioner I have in my stash by Trader Joes called Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo. It has Peppermint, Tea Tree and Eucalyptus Botanicals. No Sulfates, mostly natural oils, it does have Sodium Chloride that I know you noted in one of your videos which you dislike this ingredient to be used often. Not tested on animals (Big Plus). They say the Cocoamide Betaine is an essential and really good ingredient to enhance growth and good care on the hair. The Conditioner has NO SODIUM CHLORIDE, all natural ingredients. 🙂
I’ve tried the Organix Soft & Silky Vanilla Silk Shamp and Conditioner. I did not care for it. It made my hair not manageable as I was washing it. Like it felt as though it was getting too thick and bundled together to wear I cannot work my fingers through it. SMELLS SO GOOD!! A big problem for me is being attracted to fragrances in these products. The fragrances has the alcohol content. This line is Sulfate/Paraben free. I was thinking about returning it back. It should go back. I had to start washing it out with my David Babaii Hydrating Shampoo.
David Babaii has really good products! I love the Hydrating Moisturizing Shamp and Conditioner. Free of Sulfates and Parabens. Lots of natural ingredients used. LOVE LOVE the Smell. The Shampoo has this tropical scent like Pineapples. The Conditioner smells like hmm I had to get a quick sniff. Like coconut in a way. It’s own smell in a sense. I love these products. I use regularly as part of my co wash either weekly or biweekly. I just bought the Volcanic Ash Sculpting Gel. SMELLS SO GOOD like grapes!!! You would want to eat it.
I smelled something else good today by Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque. Scrumptious. I don’t like the beads in it and it looks rather gooey. Seem all natural ingredients. No sulfates, parabens. I only tried their Heat Protectant from this line.
Bed Head I love but they have Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate in many of their shampoos. However I bought recently too their Sulfate Free Shamp and Conditioner. I have not tried it yet. Smells really good too. Foxy Curls is what I also like from this line. I found worked well for me when I was experimenting on products. I would do this shamp and cond then use a diffuser to stretch my curls. Kind of how Miss Jessie products say to do with their Curly Pudding, Buttercreme, and other products. Foxy Curls smell good also but it’s not sulfate free. ;( Still would use though with a moisturizing conditioner to balance it.
I do not think that I have any other full natural line products in my stash. I am trying to think… (pause) hmm I think this is it. I only fairly recent like within the last year or two decided to only use more natural, organic products.
Over the last past weekend, I discovered that we have an ULTA. I would hear so many YouTubers say I got this or that at ULTA. I was like what is ULTA. haha I plugged in on a note on my phone a list of natural hair products. Here is my list and I have yet to use them.
Well first I went to a local Organic store and discovered these natural product line: Avalon Organics, Nature Gate, and Desert Essence ( I have a grape shampoo/cond from this line and never tried it yet. I had it for a year or two).
At Ulta, there are these lines:
*Abba Pure Curl Shampoo and Conditioner with Lemon Grass and Orange Peel Oil. Pure Curl Prep. Cost range from $16.75-$18
*Abba Herbal Yucca Geranium Wild Mint Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner $29.50, big bottle $31.50.
*Alterna Hemp Shine Shampoo & Conditioner $23.
*Chi Organics Olive Treatment Shamp & Conditioner $24. They also have a pure Olive Oil version by Chi for like $66 (my eyes popped out the socket on the price).
*DevaCurl No-Poo or Low Poo Daily Cleanser $18.
*Burt’s Bees Very Volumizing Pomegranate Shampoo & Cond for $7,99 also Raspberry Moisture Shampoo/Cond for same price.
*Giovanni (popular among the natural hair ladies) Deep Moisture Shampoo for $7,99
*Lacoupe Orgnx Nourish Shampoo & Conditioner SMELLS REALLY GOOD $4.99.
I also try to use natural makeup products and facial cleansers as well. Tarte sold in Sephora. It is an organic line. I tend to use this and Urban Decay. Sometimes Nars. Do you also use natural makeup products? If so what line?
How about your natural line products?
LOL, you could have written your own blog post with all that! Now where do I begin…the Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle is one of my FAVE conditioners…I love it as my cowash! However, I have not tried the shampoo b/c of the sulfates. My hair is very picky and also doesn’t like cones or glycerin very much. I’ve tried Organix (Tea Tree and Coconut ones), but they both had cones and made my hair frizzy. It wasn’t cute. I used the Organix the other day to kill a spider that wandered into my shower.
And I can’t believe you hadn’t heard of Ulta! I LOVE ULTA! I used to go almost everyday back in MD; it was on my way home walking from the metro. I believe that’s when my product junkie ways started! Now I live in SoCal, and my hair gets dry easier, so I have to be picky about what I use. I went there the other day, and the only line I could buy was the Deva stuff (and Giovanni, but I usually get that @ Whole Foods or Erewhon) because everything else had cones…I like the Set it Free moisturizer, but I actually returned it because I wanted to spray it in my hair, and it leaves white spots. I was definitely wandering around Ulta reading the ingreds list on everything…took me a long time!
For makeup I mostly just use MAC…I’m not sure if it’s natural for the most part, but I love their colors! Everything else I use is pretty much natural though.
haha I am very sorry for the long post. When I saw it post, I was like I don’t want her to trip or be like, Why is she writing all of that? I try to be very respectful of one’s creativity. I will try my best to keep it short. 😉 I think it is best to keep my rants for my own blog.
I’ve noticed my hair has been looking dry for some reason or other. I am thinking what has been causing it. I’ve only used Mixed Chicks yesterday and other week the Aussie Moist and David Babaii… Oh well. I think I just need to stick to strict organic or Sulfate/Paraben free also no cones or anes. It’s hard to bypass them. Like you at Ulta, GIRLLLLL…I was like going up and down the aisle for a good hour or so checking out the entire place. Reading ingredients up the ying yang. It’s how I got my list. I also like word by mouth of certain products which work well on black hair. My hair is quite thick!! Do not even know how to type my hair…maybe a 4a/4b. Yeah I never heard of this place. haha I have been Youtubing it up lately. It’s when I started hearing about Ulta. Started with the wave barrel iron.
I was youtubing for the best wave barrel iron. See I am slow to what’s new and fresh. How do you like South Cal? Are you from LA? I live in the IE. I’ve always been a hair junkie since Georgia. My problem at the time was trying to find things to help my hair grow lonnnger!! I felt having a perm kept less maintenance on my hair. Just a wrap at night. Take down in the morning and go. It grew well. The chemicals just weaken hair. I said to myself one day, “LET IT GO. JUST LET IT GO.”
What is your goal with your hair as staying always natural curly or going back and forth between the curls and straight hair?
If your hair is dry, you might want to nix the cones…my hair doesn’t like them (makes it frizzy), but I have read that some ladies hair felt drier after using cones when their hair dried. I mean, when you think about it, they just coat the hair and aren’t really providing moisture, so I don’t really see the point in using them…
I love SoCal (from DC), but it’s so dry out here in the desert! I feel like I am constantly moisturizing my hair so it doesn’t get dry…what’s IE?
And for now I just want to keep my hair curly; I am afraid to put heat on it because I don’t want to damage it and hinder the growing out process. Perhaps when it’s longer I will straighten it a couple of times a year for a length check, but I want it to be big and curly!
See the only products I’ve used had like only one cone ingredient. I will have to find more pure forms of shampoo and conditioners. I don’t like dry hair or hair feels slightly rough as I run my finger down a strand. It needs to feel smooth and moisturize.
Yeah and the water is very hard here in SoCal as well. I wonder if this has anything to affect the hair as well due to chemicals they put in water to so call purify it. This year has rained quite a bit compared to other years. IE stands for the Inland Empire, all the cities that follow under the Inland Empire.
You know what I notice with my hair. I use heat from a flat iron. I am sold on FHI products. I really prefer them because it does not burn my hair out or make it feel dry. I can go back to wearing natural curls like nothing. It does not revert/change my curl pattern. Prior to wearing it curly again, I wore it straight for about 7 months or so. Not wearing it curly at all.
There is a chic on YouTube who I feel has big curly hair, Taren916. I love her curls. http://www.youtube.com/user/taren916 Do you want this kind of big and curly?
I do a lot of photography especially self for some reason. LOL Generally of my hair. You can see a split view of my straight hair versus curly hair. I think in this photo album for my curly hair (wearing a purple turtleneck). I think I was using the Bed Head Foxy Curls. I stretched them (my curls) with a concentrator. Thought I would share with you to see the difference before I start working on an actual hair blog.
LOL I forgot the link: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/keishamarshall/album/79086
LOL! Great pics! I’m still working to get to your length!
Thank you. 😉 Most of those photos were my hair before I went with a bob haircut around July of last year. The last 3 or 4 is the haircut. Those pictures have been taking within the last 10 years around 06, 07, 08, 09. It took me like 9 years to get the length past my shoulder. My hair grows very slow. Looking at the older pictures makes me wished I had not cut my hair. The style I have is cute. I should not worry.
Yes, big like that! ‘Cept my curls are tighter than hers. But her hair is lovely!!
🙂 I think most of us have tighter curls. Her hair is lovely on her. You can tell how much she loves her hair. I really want to try the KCCC after your review and hers as well. Plus it’s natural ingredients. I just put the Eco Styler on my hair and letting it air dry. I will see how it turns out to look. I was just at Wilshire Beauty like a week ago. I was looking at the products briefly. It’s a hour drive for me to go and get this product. I drove there to get the Miss Jessie’s product.
YES I love MAC products too. They have great Faux Pro Lash Mascara. I LOVE MASCARA. I can wear this along and feel like my eyes just pop naturally. I do love the colors as well including their blushes. Good stuff.