Neal's Yard Remedies: Nurturing Rose Shampoo & Conditioner reviews

I'm trying to make as many products as I can at home, such as deodorant and perfume - to avoid nasty ingredients and to keep costs down. Buying ready made 'organic' and 'natural' products can be expensive. Add to that the element of greenwashing - 'natural' doesn't necessarily mean safe, and synthetic doesn't necessarily mean dangerous - but 'green' companies really exploit the use of these words.

Only recently have I got myself a dictionary of cosmetic ingredients, and it's helped me decipher ingredient lists and find the hidden ones that I wouldn't expect to find in these 'natural' products.

But first, let me rewind to just before Yule: I was asked what gifts I'd like, and I impulsively picked out some items from Neal's Yard Remedies. As one of my favourite shops, NYR was firmly ingrained into my mind as the best option for natural and organic beauty products (when you can afford to splash out on them).

They score 100 in the Ethical Company Index and are the go-to shop for pursuers of 'green' beauty and for those seeking to avoid harmful chemicals in their lives. I'd already used a few of their products, but did absolutely no research on the ones I asked for. Two of these were the Nurturing Rose Shampoo & Conditioner.

These products are intended for dry, damaged and coloured hair - my hair is very dry and thirsty, so I thought they were worth a try. I've now been using them for nearly 2 months on and off, so thought I would share my experience with the products first before delving into the ingredients.

Reviews

Nurturing Rose Shampoo - £11.50 for 200ml

It smells gorgeous and feels lovely when applied to the hair. The bottle recommends applying sparingly, but I've tried using a small amount (around the size of a 50p coin), and my hair has not been properly cleansed. I could feel that my hair was still quite oily near the roots and in the crown area, which is really the main thing I want to get rid of when washing my hair.

When I used a larger amount of the product (a small palmful), I got a slight lather (though the lack of lather is intentional) and my hair did feel cleaner, but still felt ever so slightly oily and a little heavy and dull. (I have tried the shampoo with a different conditioner and still had this issue, so I know it's the shampoo).

I try not to wash my hair more than twice a week, and I found that alternating this shampoo with another worked, as the other shampoo cleansed my hair more thoroughly. Perhaps it is better for the hair that not all of the oils are cleansed away - but I really don't feel good if my hair is at all greasy - perhaps something I need to work on!

Rating: 2/10

Nurturing Rose Conditioner - £11.50 for 200ml

As with the shampoo, it smells and feels lovely. But unlike the shampoo, I am pleased to say that this product worked beautifully! It has a luxurious creamy texture and coats the hair well. I recommend gently combing it through for really good coverage, and to make best use of a small amount (you're going to want to make it last!). I find that it leaves my hair feeling soft and shiny, without being weighed down. The smell of the conditioner lingers in the hair which I love. I can't fault it.

Rating: 10/10

Thoughts

Firstly, this hair washing regime costs £23.00 - and realistically the two bottles (400ml total) would only last several weeks. That's expensive, in my opinion. However, they were a gift, and I thought they would be luxurious and pure and all natural: the NYR branding certainly worked on me!

But - that's not strictly the case. While many of the ingredients are natural and organic oils, in my opinion there are some questionable ingredients hidden in there too. I like it when you can read an ingredient list and know roughly what each thing is, but unfortunately some of the following ingredients needed a bit of research.

Ingredients list for the shampoo:

Aqua, Ammonium lauryl sulfate, Coco-glucoside, Hydroxypropyltrimonium honey, Alcohol denat., Rosa centifolia (Rose) flower extract, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe vera) leaf juice powder*, Equisetum arvense (Horsetail) extract*, Rosa canina (Wild rose) seed oil*, Hippophae rhamnoides (Seabuckthorn) oil*, Rosa damascena (Rose) flower oil, Pogostemon cablin (Patchouli) oil*, Pelargonium graveolens (Geranium) oil*, Oryza sativa (Rice) bran oil, Passiflora edulis (Passion flower) seed oil, Euterpe oleracea (Acai palm) fruit oil, Ceramide 3, Lauryl glucoside, Levulinic acid, Glycerin, Potassium sorbate, Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, Sodium sunflower amphoacetate, Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Linalool.*Organically produced ingredient. Natural constituent of essential oils listed. Made with 73% organically produced ingredients.

Ingredients list for the conditioner:

Aqua, Acer saccharinum (Maple) extract*, Cetyl alcohol, Olea europaea (Olive) fruit oil*, Behentrimonium chloride, Alcohol denat., Rosa centifolia (Rose) flower extract, Panthenol, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) oil*, Calendula officinalis (Marigold) flower extract*, Rosa damascena (Rose) flower oil*, Ceramide 3, Lauryl glucoside, Levulinic acid, Glycerin, Potassium sorbate, Polyquaternium-10, Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool.
*Organically produced ingredient. Natural constituent of essential oils listed. Made with 89% organic ingredients. This is a vegan product. 

Questionable ingredients:

• Ammonium lauryl sulfate - various sources say this is in the same family as Sodium lauryl sulfate, and while a gentler relation, it still comes with the associated risks. No thanks! 
• Lauryl glucoside - a surfactant made from glucose and lauryl alcohol. Lauryl alcohol, also known as dodecanol, can cause mild irritation to skin and eyes, but more worryingly is classed as harmful to the marine environment. Don't want this ingredient either!
• Potassium sorbate - used as a preservative - in itself not really bad at all, but I read that while it can be found naturally in a few berries, virtually all sorbic acid (which it's derived from) is produced synthetically. I don't want synthetic ingredients in my natural products.
• Cetyl alcohol - originally derived from Whale oil, now (thankfully) produced synthetically or derived from Palm oil - but there is the issue. I don't want synthetics or anything derived from Palm oil - see here. So, either way .. no thanks. 

NYR do provide a thorough ingredients glossary, and go to great lengths to explain what's in their products. I don't feel that they are trying to deceive anyone, but equally I don't think they are squeaky clean. I'm not saying that the ingredients I've pointed out are horrendous - they are a vast improvement on the cocktail of toxins found in mainstream products - but I don't expect to find them in a premium 'natural' product, with a price tag to match.

There are other much cheaper products available which have similar or better (i.e less synthetic) ingredients - I will work on a list soon. If you're going to compromise, why pay top price?

I'm not a scientist by any stretch of the imagination, so would recommend anyone to do their own research - and do inform me if if you think I'm way off the mark.

What do you think of NYR products? Do you think the products deliver on the promises of the brand?

Thriftmaiden

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