SLS Free Shampoos...

I've been trying to avoid SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulphate) in shampoos after I used a product that irritated my scalp, and I was later informed that the fact the product was laden with SLS might have something to do with it!

Picture Sourced HERE

SLS is a commonly used foaming agent which is in a lot of shampoos, conditioners, shower gels etc which are on the market. It's also found in a lot of detergents and household cleaners. A lot of people don't have any problems with SLS, but others find that the ingredient can strip their skin of natural oils leavng their scalp/skin dry and flaky.

Irritation from SLS can also build up over time, and that seems to be what happened to me. I decided to skip SLS in shampoo and conditioner for a while, just to see if my scalp improved. I'm unlikely to never use hair products with SLS in again, because I like trying different things. But I definitely think it did me good to take a break from the SLS. My scalp is much less itchy and flaky, andd feels a lot calmer. I've also noticed that the skin at the top of my back is a lot less blemished. So if that sounds likes something that might apply to you, then looking for SLS free haircare might help!

The first shampoo and conditioning duo I tried were from the Body Shop's recently launched rainforest haircare range, which are free of silicones, sulphates, colourants and parabens. They are also formulated to respect the aquatic environment, ie are biodegradable and impact less on the aquatic environment once they disappear down the plughole. I used the Rainforest Radiance version for coloured hair, which I purchased myself, I was also sent the Rainforest Shine version but felt that the one I had purchased suited my hair better.

The lack of foaming ingredients means that the instructions for the products recommend mixing the products with a little water in the palm of your hand before applying. Theoretically this is meant to make the product easier to spread through the hair, and foam better, although in practice, I found no difference between doing this or not to the performance of the shampoo.

I always shampoo my hair twice - if I don't I feel like my hair is not really clean. This shampoo foamed much better on the second wash, but this was actually true of all three SLS free ranges I tried. You get the feeling that the first wash is all about cutting through grease, but the second wash is when you feel like you have a good scrub and massage the scalp with lots of foam.

The conditioner seems quite thick and rich when applied, however didn't over condition or weigh down my fine hair. I usually leave conditioner on while I get on with the rest of my shower and then rinse out last, so I followed the same rule with this - no issues there.

I was actually initially pretty impressed with these products, however I did notice after a couple of weeks that my hair seemed to be getting a little oilier at the roots and drier at the ends. Sadly the shaampoo seemed a little too harsh for me, and the conditioner not quite moisturising enough.

This range would possibly work better for those with thicker oilier hair.

The products in Body Shop range have a great price point - at £4 for each 250ml bottle these are very good value in my opinion, considering their credentials.

The next range I tried were from Melvita, which is a Certified Organic French brand. Melvita are apparently the premier organic brand in France, and their range is formulated to be gentle yet effective, and packed with natural ingredients. The range carries the Ecocert label which means;
-At least 95% of the total ingredients are from natural origin (water included).

- At least 10% of the total ingredients are from organic farming (water included).
-At least 95% of the total plant-based ingredients are organic
I was sent the shampoo and conditioner for "Tired Hair" which retail at £9 each for 200ml. These are formulated to revitalise heat treated and chemically processed hair, and are Melvita's best selling duo for hair.

These both have a lovely floral scent - geranium is the main note, however they also contain sage to prevent them from being totally OTT. The scent really lingers in your hair too, which I loved - the mister also noticed that and asked me if I was wearing a new perfume the next day. I really liked that, but obviously if you are not a fan of floral whiffs you might not!

Again this shampoo foamed a lot better on the second wash, and rinsed easily. No problems there. I also liked the conditioner - this one recommends leaving it on for a few minutes before rinsing. Again the conditioner has a lovely scent, which stays in the hair after drying.

I really liked this duo, and felt it left my hair looking shiny and smoother. The one drawback was that I felt my hair needed washing more often when using this range. I also loved the smell that this left in my hair, but obviously this might not suit everyone!

Melvita's full range is available HERE.

I also tested the Morrocan Oil shampoo and conditioner. I've heard a lot about the properties of Moroccan Oil on other blogs so was excited to try this for myself. The range apparently contains Argan Oil, which I am a fan of, so I was interested to see whether this would benefit the dry ends of my hair without making the roots greasy.

These products had more of a "salon product" scent about them - which is probably a good thing, as Argan oil can smell a bit "goat" like due to the way it is extracted (the only exception  to this I have found here in the UK is the MIR argan oil which you can buy HERE).

The shampoo itself feels really rich and creamy - my hair felt semi-conditioned after shampooing alone, but I did condition anyway, as my hair turns into a frizzball if any humidity comes my way, so conditioner always helps with this for me. 

To be honest, I had pretty mixed expectations about the moroccan oil products - I'd heard a lot about them, but I wasn't sure if they might be suffering from overhype, if that makes sense?

I'm pleased to say though that they actually worked really well for me - I was worried that they might weigh my hair down and mean it needed more frequent washing but my hair felt fresh and light afterwards, and looked a lot more smooth and shiny.

The only downside with this range was that my hair felt slightly "flat" so needed a decent blowdry to prevent it from looking like it had no body at all.  It's also the priciest of the three ranges I tried, retailing at almost £16 per bottle and are available HERE.

Have you tried any SLS free shampoos and conditioners? How did you get on? Any more suggestions welcomed!

Disclaimer - as mentioned in the post, many items were sent for consideration for review. Reviews are always honest and based on my own experiences. I was not paid for this post, and neither am I under any obligation to give a positive review for anything mentioned on this site.

EOTD - Daytime smoky featuring Body Shop and Estee Lauder

I haven't done one of these posts for aaaggggeeeesss, and I really miss doing them and seeing what people think (or otherwise) of my efforts...

So, I decided to dig out a shadow I haven't actually tried yet, from The Body Shop - the mineral eye trio in Moonlight Lustre, and tried to create a bit of a daytime suitable smoky... (nice little blemish there , on the left side hey?)


To create the look, I used an Estee Lauder Doublewear Cream shadow in Precious Jade (shade 03), as a base, applied to the lid and blended out to a fine layer. I really love using these as bases - they are stand up eyeshadows on their own, and really do stay in place on me. The paler and shades are obviously more versatile, but it never hurts to have a coloured base (or 20) in your arsenal (least thats what I tell myself)....

I then applied the green shade from the body shop trio over the lid, and blended. The lilac shade was applied to the inner corner, and used the slate blue shade as a crease colour, and blended this out with a clean MAC217. In terms of pigmentation, the colours in this shadow did not blow me away, I had to build it up quite a lot - the slate blue wasn't too bad, but the lilac in particular was not great, and I needed to wet my brush to get a decent result - has anyone else found this with these shadows? The result was pretty enough though...

I then tightlined and waterlined with an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on pencil in the shade "Stash", a dark brown shade.

I finished off by applying a couple of coats of Estee Lauder Sumptuous Colour Mascara in Amber (LE). I wasn't too sure about these mascaras at first - having seen Pixiwoo's video using the blue version, I was expecting major colour payoff, however in reality, the ones I have come off a lot more subtle that the blue one. On reflection though, this is probably a good thing - the result is subtle, but very nice, and the amber works very well with blue eyes.

I really like the brush and formulation of this mascara, and found it gave good lenthening results, and buildable volume without clumping. I applied two coats here, but I felt fairly confident I could have continued applying and got thicker and more dramatic lashes. Even though the coloured versions are LE (and I'm not even sure they are still available), I'd consider buying up this mascara in regular shades in the future...

I used my Clarins eyebrow palette to tidy the brows as best I could (yes, they do need plucking/threading, but I'm trying to grow out the patchy bits at the moment...) I also used the Maybelline mineral concealer as an undereye concealer. I like this product, it was one of the surprisingly good products from the Maybelline goody bags we were given at the recent bloggers event.

The Clarins Palette is a daily staple for me, and again this was given in a goody bag from the Clarins event - the powders are very well pigmented, and I can either use the dark or medium shades, depending on the result I'm after. The pink powder is supposed to be a highlighting powder, but on my skin tone, I find this just disappears - the one bit of the palette that I can happily do without. I use this most days, and I've barely dented it, so I'm happy it will last a long time.

One thing I wish I had done was line the upper lashline with a brown liquid or gel liner, as I think this would have really finished the look off, but you live and learn.

I'm really liking the few bits of Estee Lauder I have at the moment - do you know of any must haves from the range?

MizzWorthy xxx

Five Great.... Body Lotions.

I'm thinking of making these posts a regular feature (each obviously focusing on a different type of product, eg mascara, foundation etc...), so let me know if you find them helpful!

In no particular order...

1. Garnier Hydralock Lotion

Simply the best drugstore lotion I've tried that actually gives lasting moisture - If like me you suffer from dry skin, especially on your pins, and especially a couple of days after shaving, then this is a must try! My days of being kept awake by tearingly itchy legs are at an end thanks to this little beauty. Available in two formulas - for dry skin and normal-dehydrated skin. Also its as cheap as chips - a 500ml bottle usually retails for around £4.99 - currently half price in Superdrug, and needless to say I have stocked up heavily - this is a definite HG product for me!

2. Palmers Lotions

The classic version of this is of course the cocoa butter - which is a massive favourite of mine - it smells divine, and really really reminds me of chocolate and vanilla... For those for whom that sounds a wee bit too sickly though, this is also available in an olive version, which is a lovely fresh scent. The cocoa butter version is also available in a version which has SPF 15 - perfect for the British summer... The design of the bottle has also improved lately to have a flip top, rather than the long kneck, which used to make getting the dregs out of the bottle a bit difficult. I'm also a massive fan of their lip butter which I have also blogged about previously.

3. Body Shop Body Butters

A real treat, due to being slightly higher priced than a lot of comparable products, but available in a vast choice of "flavours" and versions for normal, dry and very dry skin. The Body Shop also regularly bring out various "special edition" scents such as pomegranite or cranberry at Christmas, and it's worth keeping an eye out for special offers online and in the shops to stock up on these - TBS butters are also a celeb fave - Cheryl Cole, Victoria Beckham and J-Lo are known to be fans.

4. Normandie Kieth's "Moisture Surge"

Available at Tesco's in the UK (Sorry, I'm not sure about availability outside the UK...). Normandie Kieth is also known in the UK for writing nauseating "yummy mummy" style columns in You magazine, however, unlike her column, I love her bodycare range! The deliciously clean and refreshing bergamot and grapefruit scent is just gorgeous in the summer, and a supermarket bargain to boot. Currently available in 500ml pump bottles (always a bonus!) at Tesco's on 3 for 2 - the sugar scrub is also a great buy... The range retails for around £5 for decent sized amounts of products.

5. Jergens Naturals

Appealing for all those who like their skin care natural - most of these carry over 90% organic ingredients. Hugely popular in the USA, these have been slow to catch on in the UK, however , they are well worth trying, as a little goes a long way, and they smell fresh and natural too...

What are your favourites?

MizzWorthy x