"Natural" toiletries vs regular toiletries

kaji

What do you all think of "natural" shampoos, shower gels and face creams, etc? I've been reading up on how normal ones can contain sulphates, parabens and all sorts of chemical things that can strip your hair/skin of it's natural oils. What I want to know is if the majority of the natural products actually work in cleaning you,etc. or are they useless?

mood

I prefer to use natural products as my skin is very sensitive skin and get less allergic reactions for natural products.

uli84

Im thinking of starting using natural ones but just wondering whether it's not too late after years of using all the chemical stuff. Also Hard to find any decent, natural shampoo, heard there are some v good Russian ones online but no clue how to find them.

mood

uli84 wrote: »

Im thinking of starting using natural ones but just wondering whether it's not too late after years of using all the chemical stuff. Also Hard to find any decent, natural shampoo, heard there are some v good Russian ones online but no clue how to find them.

Maybe people could post what products they find good (or bad).

Natural deodorants don't work IMO.

Burts Bees Shampoo is good as is Aveda.

miezekatze

I've used natural products for most of my life and I think they work just as well as ones with more chemical stuff in it - I agree with mood though, natural deodorants aren't great. There are no magic chemicals that remove your wrinkles etc., that's just a marketing thing.

dancingqueen

I have had wonderful success with the Naked hair range in Boots (which are often on 3 for 2)

http://www.boots.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/EndecaSearchListerView?categoryParentId=&storeId=10552&searchv2=true&categoryId=218786&N=4294956601+4294927698&catalogId=19051&langId=-1#container

kandr10

I recently switched to natural products, more from an environmental point of view than because I was concerned about my skin.
I've got oily combination skin - oily through t zone and normal elsewhere. I've got really oily hair too. So with that in mind this is what I've tried:

Skincare: naked cheek softening face wash. This was lovely. No probs getting off makeup with it. Leaves skin super soft.

Naked eye makeup remover: does the job really well. Doesn't leave any residue. Doesn't sting eyes.

Naked toner: as good as any other toner I've used.

Naked cream cleanser: was trying to replace my hot cloth cleanser with this. Worked well but I preferred the cheek softening one.

Lavera face wash: (available from holland and Barrett, nourish, other health shops) : this is really nice. As good as naked but I can buy it in town and its only €6-€7.

Moisturiser: recently started using sanctuary spa mattifying moisturiser. It's really good but not all their products are sls and paraben free so you have to be careful. Also used their clay face mask and the moisturising mask. They're amazing!!

Body wash: have been using naked shower gels. They're nice. Do the job. Available from boots. The coco de mer body butter is gorgeous!

Hair care: I find shampoos difficult to find cos with my oily hair a lot of them don't really get my hair fully clean. I recently switched bacl to pantene to use up a bottle and im seeing a big difference( unfortunately cos id really love to stick to the natural stuff). These were unsuccessful for me: burts bees pomegranate one, naked blond shampoo, naked volumising shampoo.

Ones that work: the body shop rainforest one for oily hair. Smells great, works as well as Pantene but is €10 for a 200ml bottle.
There's a brand called natures best available in health shops. Their shampoo for oily hair worked great for me but smells like head lice shampoo from years ago!

I've used conditioners from naked, dr.organics and a few others and they all worked fine.

So to summarise this epic post, natural skincare is definitely worth trying. I've generally found it to be better than mainstream boots stuff. Same goes for body wash and toothpaste even! Shampoo is tricky if you've got oily hair and takes some persevering to find what works.
My advice would be to check out nakedbodycare.co.uk for affordable options, health food shops like holland and Barrett. Look out for natures best, lavera and the enormous dr.organics line of hair stuff there. Also affordable. The body shop have lovely stuff but are obviously that bit dearer.
Hope that helps for anyone venturing down the natural products route!