June 2, 2020
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Do you want to use safe, natural haircare products that leave your hair silky, smooth and soft to the touch? Is your current routine leaving your hair dull, dry or frizzy?
Healthy hair can be tricky to maintain as we age. Little girls have naturally shiny locks. But for adult women, hormonal changes and stress can begin to affect our hair in the 30's.
Many of us also add in heat styling and constant coloring to keep gray roots at bay. This can really wreak havoc on our hair. And for women transitioning from color to natural gray hair, keeping hair healthy during the grow-out phase can be a real challenge.
If you're thinking of going gray, check out my story on Katies Goes Platinum.
Don't worry - choosing quality products can quickly improve your hair's appearance! Choosing gentle formulas with natural ingredients can go a long way to improve your hair's health over time. This is especially true for those of us with silver, gray or white hair, which often tends to be dry or even a bit coarse.
In the past few years, I’ve learned about many ingredients that aren’t safe or desirable for hair or skin products. Here is a partial list:
For more information, you may want to visit EWG.org. Unfortunately many of the “luxury” brands at department stores contain one or more of these ingredients.
As with skin care, less can be more with haircare as well. If your hair is damaged, over processed or normal to dry, its best to wash less frequently. You may want to style with less (or no) heat to help keep hair in better condition. A favorite stylist I see in North Carolina actually bragged to me she washes less than once a week to keep her hair healthy!
The focus should be on nourishing and stimulating your scalp and hair, as opposed to cleansing. Cleansing is important, but many of us are conditioned to over cleanse. If you must wash daily, you may want to wash with water only every other day. Cleansing less often with mild products can improve your hair's appearance in as little as a few weeks.
Allowing your natural oils to coat the hair can keep your strands shinier and smoother. Unless your hair is oily or you sweat heavily every day, there’s usually no need to wash every day.
I stopped coloring my roots in late 2016, but still had inches of faded, damaged hair until early 2019. For this reason, I am always looking for products that add shine and bounce my frizzy strands. So I was excited to try Moor Spa’s Botanical Shampoo & Conditioner.
Moor Spa is a Canadian spa brand manufacturer. All the products in this comprehensive line contain the unique Moor essence. This essence is a nutrient rich complex that consists of compressed flowers, plants and herbs. The complex contains minerals like humic acid, fulvic acids, antioxidants and mineral salts that feed your skin and scalp.
Unlike many products which claim to be natural, Moor Spa is completely free of synthetic preservatives, parabens, sulfates, artificial colors and fragrances and petroleum-derived chemicals such as PEG, propylene glycol or mineral oil.
Moor Spa is ranked a “Champion” by the EWG (www.ewg.org) in terms of product safety.
Moor Spa’s Botanical Shampoo key ingredients include Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Austrian Moor, Vitamin C, Hops and Nettle.
The Botanical Conditioner key ingredients include Austrian Moor, Grapefruit & Rosemary essential oils, Coconut Oil, Hops, Nettle, Keratin and Shea Butter.
First of all, these products are an absolute pleasure to use. The essential oil blends make you feel like you're on a spa vacation. They are fragrant but in a subtle way, so can be enjoyed by women or men.
The shampoo doesn’t later much, as it’s free of Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) and detergents. This is a small adjustment, but if you wash a second time you'll get more lather. However, my hair felt clean without that overly "squeaky clean" feeling after using it.
The conditioner felt relatively light during application, which concerned me. I usually like a heavy luxurious feel for my dry hair. But it still left my hair smooth, hydrated and tangle free. I also noticed that the products brightened my color, so the new gray growth appeared a bit lighter.
I definitely noticed that my hair appeared shinier than usual! Most days, I use a leave in or styling cream to tackle frizz. But with these two products, my hair was less frizzy even without styling aids.
My hair appeared healthy and shiny after one use. Another unexpected bonus was that my hair looks thicker!
Moor Spa is sold in a limited number of spas in the US. If you’re interested in these products you can order directly here.
If you have questions, please let me know in the comments below!
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Please note: I only share products I’ve used personally and wholeheartedly recommend. All products are Cruelty-Free.
Michelle Ray is a skin care brand consultant with 13 years of experience in medical aesthetics sales, product development and marketing. She is also a former yoga teacher/massage therapist and a lifelong beauty-product junkie.
Michelle operates the Smart Beauty Rituals website where she shares honest, accurate information about quality products that can make a real difference in your skin's health and appearance.