Product: Pro Salon Multi-Function Hair Styler (Generic-brand Hot Air Brush)

I've read in a blog somewhere that a hot air brush is the most flexible hair styling tool that you can own. Depending on the setting and you hair condition (i.e. if it's wet, dry or somewhere in between), you can use it to straighten your hair, tame frizz but maintain sexy waves or create luscious curls. Being someone who is constantly frustrated with her hair, I knew I needed this.

It's basically a brush and hair dryer/blower combo. And I know from experience that styling your hair with a blower on one hand and a brush on the other is often cumbersome and doesn't always deliver the desired result, so having only one tool to deal with seems like a much better option. But I don't have the budget to buy those expensive brands (upwards of P2000), so I opted for one of these generic hot air brushes that retails for P200 at SM Appliance Center.

Right out the box, it looks like it's good enough to do the trick. But when the sales crew who assisted me emphasized that this tool is for personal use only, I should have known that there's going to be an issue with the product. And the perceived issue, as I was told, is I won't be able to use it continuously for more than 30 minutes. But the real issue was the hot air brush stopped working already somewhere between the 5-minute and 10-minute mark. It overheated.

So I promptly returned it the next day for replacement (actually D returned it for me). Again, he was told what I was told and he countered that it hasn't even been used for more than 10 minutes. Good thing they agreed to replace it with a new one and reiterated that the product tends to overheat quickly. Now, I count to 120 whenever I use it and let it cool before I continue to avoid the overheating issue. I also only use the low setting. It's not the most convenient and efficient tool to use, I know but it still beats our good old hair dryer + brush for drying my hair. As for styling, I think I will need the more professional and pricey brand for that.

Product: Zenutrients Gugo and Tea Tree Shampoo

In this country, when a local product claims to be all-natural, moreso if they claim to be organic, you have to take it with a grain of salt. I got curious about Zenutrients shampoos as they are one of those who brand themselves as natural and organic. A page on their website reads:

So, being someone who's looking for natural/organic hair products that will finally put an end to my bad hair days, I went to the Zenutrients kiosk in Festival Mall, Alabang to see for myself. The first thing I did was look at the back for ingredients. Immediately, I saw that their shampoos contain SLES.

What is SLES? Let Wikipedia define it:

Sodium laureth sulfate , or sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), is an anionic detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products (soaps, shampoos, toothpaste etc.). SLES is an inexpensive and very effective foaming agent.^[1] SLES, SLS, ALS and sodium pareth sulfate are surfactants that are used in many cosmetic products for their cleansing and emulsifying properties. They behave similarly to soap.

Is it bad? Yes, according to this article, it is very bad and no natural or organic product should list SLS or SLES as one of its ingredients. Because of this, I hesitated at first to buy Zenutrients shampoo. But I know that back at home, I have nothing but commercial shampoo that most likely has SLS, too along with a bunch hard-to-pronounce ingredients that are just as harmful.

I argued that Zenutrients, although it has SLS, has no more 10 other ingredients, so it is essentially a lesser evil. In other words, I convinced myself to buy. D bough one for himself as well. I got the Gugo Strengthening variant while he got the Tea Tree Scalp Care. Each 250 ml bottle costs Php250.00.

 

Gugo is good for strengthening the hair and promoting new growths which is what I need.
But I also need something that can moisturize sana.

It has real gugo tree bark

 

Tea Tree is good for the scalp and for treating dandruff

These lists of ingredients would've been perfect if SLES was not included.

 

 

 

The Verdict

 

We used the Zenutrients shampoo for almost a month. They have natural scents and just a slightly thick consistency in clear liquid form. The first few days that I started using it, I noticed that I was developing some bumps on my scalp. The bumps are similar to white heads, and I also had a few pimples growing on my head. But I ignored them and kept using Zenutrients.

 

A few more days and my scalp started to itch, and the bumps and pimples persisted. I wasn't using anything else - no conditioner, nothing - so I was sure that it's because of the shampoo. I tried switching to D's Tea Tree shampoo but had the same reaction. I continued using Zenutrients anyway. I was just too lazy to find something else, but I already told myself that I won't be purchasing this shampoo again.

 

As for its effect on hair, there's nothing significant to rave about. I noticed that I have almost no visible hairfall while using Zenutrients Gugo shampoo, but my hair became static and dry. I did say that I wasn't using any conditioner so that could be the cause. But still, I don't find Zenutrients shampoo to be suitable for my hair type. Also, D's dandruff persisted with the Zenutrients Tea Tree variant so I can't say that it's effective. Some say that it's the Moringga variant that's best for treating dandruff. But we won't probably be purchasing any of Zenutrients hair care products anytime soon, or not ever. I just find them too expensive for something that is not a true organic product and something that doesn't work very well.

Product: Giga Shampoo Bar

I used Giga Shampoo Bar for only a few days, when I would normally use a product for at least two weeks before I give my review of it, so expect that this is going to be short.

I was (and still am) on a hunt for harmless - and by harmless I mean non-paraben, non-SLS/SLES, non-phthalate and non-toxic, or best, if organic -  hair care products that will tame my dry and frizzy hair, when I saw a Giga booth selling natural health and beauty wares.

This Shampoo Bar caught my fancy. The ingredients seemed harmless enough, so I bought one bar to try. It costs less than Php100 (forgot the exact amount).

The first time I used it, I noticed instantly that it has a drying effect on my hair. And my hair is already dry to begin with so something that makes it drier and frizzier is definitely a big no-no. I gave it another try and thought that maybe my hair needed to adjust to the new product. I had hoped that the different oils it contain will somehow do wonders but after a few days of using it with still the same effect, I decided to stop.

My husband used it as a bath soap instead and liked it. He said that ironically, it didn't dry his skin. But we didn't purchase another after he finished that one bar. I guess he didn't like it that much to remember to buy again.

NOTE: Apparently, TEDTA and BHT are questionable and potentially harmful chemicals.

Product: Jason Shampoo and Conditioner (Long & Strong Jojoba)

Because of great results I had with Jason Thin to Thick products, I decided to buy another Jason, this time their regular shampoo and conditioner. And here is my review of Jason Shampoo and Conditioner, [Long & Strong] Jojoba variant.

Jason is known for natural products. In fact, my favorite hair oil is their Pure Jojoba oil. So when choosing a regular shampoo and conditioner after using Jason Thin to Thick (I would like to continue using this product if only it wasn't expensive, read my review here.), I still stuck to the brand.

Jason shampoo and conditioner line has a lot of variants and I remember having a hard time deciding which to get. I was choosing among Aloe Vera, Vitamin E and Jojoba. In the end, Long and Strong Jojoba won me over because it promises healthy hair growth. (Yes, I was still in that "I want to grow my hair more" phase).

Right off the front label, it says No Parabens, SLS, Phthalates, which is very good for me. I think the 16 oz bottle cost around P300 more or less. It's a big bottle so I find the price reasonable (or cheap) enough.

The scent reminds me of baby powder. It's floral but not too strong like most commercial hair products. It doesn't linger much on the hair, but you still get that clean, fresh smell. The shampoo is a yellow and transparent liquid, while the conditioner is white with a thick consistency.

So, okay - on to the results:

The shampoo feels sticky on the hair especially after I rinse it off. The conditioner is okay, but I feel it barely moisturizes my hair. In fact, using both these products made my hair dry and brittle. I mean, my hair is dry and brittle to begin with, and using them didn't help at all.

At times, my scalp would itch. I think it's because I wasn't able to rinse thoroughly. It can be hard to wash the shampoo off my hair.And I'm having hairfall again, though not as bad as before. But the increased amount of strands that collect on the bathroom drain and on our bedroom floor is definitely an indication. Maybe it's because my scalp is dry and not healthy.

So overall, Jason Long & Strong Jojoba Shampoo and Conditioner are a big flop for me. I won't buy them again, either together or separately. However, I might buy another Jason hair product. After all, this shampoo and conditioner combo didn't promise to have moisturizing properties, so I really can't hold them against something they didn't claim to do.

Product: Jason Thin to Thick Hair Products

Rewind to a few blog posts ago, when I was ranting about this. And then fast forward to now, when I will review Jason Thin to Thick hair products.

It was a time when I was almost crying as I was combing my hair, because it's clearly thinning out and I was afraid I'm going bald. Although more often than not, I struggle with a frizzy, it-has-a-life-of-its-own mane, I don't want to lose a single strand of it - and certainly not all of it. I'd choose frizzy over nothing any time.

And as sick and lifeless and hopeless as my hair was then, I just knew that subjecting it to chemical-laden hair products will do more harm than good. So if I didn't want to try out the commercial miracle hair growers and none of the local natural shampoos and conditioners will do the job, I thought maybe I should check out the "imported" natural ones. And Healthy Options is the best place to find just that.

Jason Thin to Thick easily caught my eye because in a shelf full of organic hair products, it's packaging looked the least "organic" of all. I saw a small ad where it is lauded as an effective hair-thickening product by a men's magazine, so I figured the target market for these products are the balding male species. And being natural, they boast of not having parabens, SLS or phthalates. Sounds good enough.

There are three products - extra volume shampoo and conditioner, and energizing scalp elizir and it is recommended to use all three for best results. But you can buy each separately for P475. All three would set you back by almost P1,500.

According to the label of the shampoo and conditioner, they contain biotins, panthenol and natural proteins that help strengthen and volumize fine hair, while the scalp elixir has biotins, folic acid and lactic acid that revitalize the scalp for healthy growth.

All products are mentholated and I thought my head was on fire when I used the shampoo and conditioner for the first time. It felt good actually. Both the shampoo and conditioner have thick white consistency, with the conditioner almost like whipped cream. The scent was manly, but okay. My only gripe was the bottles, probably because they're suitable for men's strong grip, were hard to squeeze.

The scalp elixir is even more minty. The instruction on the bottle says to apply on the scalp at night and let it stay overnight. But since I'm just at home most of the time, I applied it as soon as I stepped out from the shower. I squeezed lines of elixir on areas where I have thin hair and massaged it on the scalp for a few minutes. Then I wash it off when I take a bath the following day.

It's a little sticky and leaves white flakes on the scalp when it dries, but it's not itchy. It smells "medicated", others may find it off, but it's not bothersome at all for me.

So, it is effective? I used this trio for more than a month. The shampoo lasted longer than the conditioner, which lasted a little longer than the elixir. Due to the degree of my falling hair, I really splurged on the elixir.

First thing I noticed after the first week of use: my falling hair was reduced by almost 80%. Honest. I measured it by the amount of hair that collects on the bathroom drain after every bath, and the amount of hair on our bedroom floor and the amount of hair on my hand when I ran my fingers through my hair. There's definitely a visible and significant decrease.

Second thing I noticed, and why I didn't go easy on the elixir: my hair was growing back. I'll let the photos below show proof.

I took a photo of my hair on the first day that I used Jason Thin to Thick. These were taken March 23.

Then I took photos again after I used up the products (by this time, I'm on my second bottle of the scalp elixir). These were taken April 28, a little more than a month later.

I used one bottle of shampoo and two of the conditioner and scalp elixir. They lasted for about a month and a half. I stopped using them after that because they're so expensive and because I feel they've done well already. I don't have problems with falling hair anymore and the new growths are now thicker and longer.

But here's a disclaimer. The extremeness of my falling hair was due to thyroiditis and it's possible that as my thyroid gland got better (my function test results are all normal now), the falling hair got fewer. But I still believe that the Jason Thin to Thick shampoo and conditioner helped in reducing the falling strands. I also believe, and with more conviction, that the scalp elixir was largely responsible for all the newly grown hair.

So if you want to try, go to the nearast Healthy Options branch. I'm not sure if you can buy it elsewhere.

Product: Human Heart Nature Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner

Normally, I wait until I used up a product before I make a review. But this time, I'm not sure if I'll ever use this product again so I'm writing the review now. I'm talking about Human Heart Nature Strengthening Conditioner (I haven't used the shampoo so I can't comment on it.)

First, a brief background. I was a satisfied user of Human Heart Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner. But when I started having excessive hair fall, I thought these products have something to do with it. Maybe their formulation has changed, or I developed an immunity or a late reaction. I'm not using anything else on my hair, so I really can't put the blame on something else.

Then I found out that I have thyroiditis, and one of the symptoms is falling hair. Human Heart Nature Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner were cleared of the crime I accused them with. But despite that, I decided to switch to another variant, Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner, as I thought these are more apt for my problem at hand.

The Strengthening conditioner has the same thick, creamy consistency and white color as that of the Moisturizing variant. They smell different though, and I like the scent of the Moisturizing better. The price is also P144 for the conditioner and P139.75 for the shampoo.

I bought both the shampoo and conditioner but have only tried the latter because I still have half-bottle of the moisturizing shampoo left. So I paired the Strengthening conditioner with the Moisturizing shampoo. And the result was catastrophic.

On the first day that I used it, I noticed that it felt sticky and heavy on my hair. After my hair has dried, it went stiff and the strands seemed to clump together, I thought I wasn't able to rinse it thoroughly. The next few days saw the same result so I thought of using the conditioner alone thinking that combining the two variants might not be a good idea. But I still got stiff, sticky, heavy hair. Like something was coating each strand and it's weighing my hair down.

The hair fall wasn't lessened a bit. It even seemed to make it worse. After almost two weeks of waiting for things to turnaround, the fear of going bald and the frustration of dealing with bad hair everyday finally dragged me to buy another set of shampoo and conditioner.

And yes, after the initial use of the new shampoo and conditioner, my hair went back to normal - still a little frizzy but a lot softer, lighter and more manageable than when I was using Human Heart Nature Strengthening Conditioner. So it was clear that the conditioner was the one wreaking havoc on my hair.

I haven't touched the Strengthening shampoo yet and have stopped using the conditioner since. I also have some Moisturizing shampoo left. And I'm not sure if I will use them again. Maybe when my hair stops shedding or when I have grown back the hair that I lost. I just hope that they're not yet expired by then.

Product: Human Heart Nature Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner

I've read about Human Heart Nature before, but thinking that it's just another product-oriented brochure-advertised MLM company (such as Avon, Natasha, etc. ), I wasn't exactly thrilled to sample their product offers. I've nothing against those type of companies, but sometimes their products turn out to be more expensive and not as effective as store-bought counterparts.

But one can't always ignore good reviews. Human Heart Nature products continued to pop up in forums whenever the topic skewed to effective and affordable natural beauty products and I thought to pay attention.

One, if not my biggest frustration is my hair. I remember mentioning this rant in my Opal Conditioner review. But rather than seeking another chemical-laden hair product, I thought that my hair would benefit more from products that are natural and have less chemicals. This hunch was confirmed when I started using Ilog Maria Honey & Propolis Shampoo. Hairfall was lessen, scalp itchiness was gone and my hair simply felt healthier.

My only complain was my hair remained coarse and unmanageable. It didn't lose it's buhaghag texture at all. And I blamed it on not being able to find a natural hair conditioner, which means that I wasn't using conditioner on my hair everyday. I felt that using a non-natural conditioner would just defeat the purpose of using a natural shampoo, so I only use a hair conditioner when I have to go out of the house, which was not very often. If only there was another natural hair conditioning product that can go tag-team with the Honey & Propolis Shampoo. Unfortunately, Ilog Maria doesn't carry such item.

Human Heart Nature does though, which made me decide to try their hair product line up. The more popular ones are Human Heart Nature Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner. And from the name itself, it sounds exactly what I need.

Product: Beauty Products for Pregnant Women

Pregnancy made me more conscious of the things that I take in and put on my body. I learned a lot that we deemed okay, even healthy, prior to pregnancy can be in fact harmful to an unborn child. On top of the list are the beauty products that we use everyday. This prompted me to carefully examine every product that I use, and discontinue those that are suspect or proven to be unsafe for pregnant women.

Ingredients that I took note of and labeled as "unsafe" are Salicylic Acid, Retinoids, Tretinoin, Hydroquinone, Parabens, and Phthalates. I also discarded anything that says "whitening".

PRODUCTS THAT I KEPT USING

Ilog Maria Honey Propolis Shampoo
While a lot of pregnant women complain about falling hair, I didn't have that problem at all thanks to Honey Propolis Shampoo. I actually have fewer hair fall now since I started using this natural shampoo.

Human Heart Nature Moisturizing Shampoo and Body Wash
The problem with Honey Propolis Shampoo is I feel my scalp is not clean enough because it doesn't bubble (as much as I want) and it's leaves my hair very rough and sticky. This is why I used HHN Moisturizing Shampoo for when I want a clean-scalp feeling, although it also makes my hair coarse and sticky, but not as much.Plus, it's better scented than Honey Propolis Shampoo.

Product: Ilog Maria Products

The first time I learned about Ilog Maria products was when it was featured in a TV show (which I forgot). I got interested in their natural bee-derivative products because at that time, I was getting frustrated with my pimple breakout. But I thought that Ilog Maria HoneyBee Farm was too far away from where I live and there's no way I can purchase their products without going there. Fast forward to a few years later, I learned that they have a website where I can order online and the products will be shipped to my house. The beauty of online shopping.

So after scoring forums and blogs for feedback and recommendations, I proceeded to their website and made my first order. Below is my short review for each product:

1. Ilog Maria Soaps. I ordered their mini soaps first to try and test. They come in flat round shape that is about half-inch thick, more than 2 inches in diameter and weigh 45 grams. They smell very natural and are softer than most commercial soaps so you have to keep them in a dry place to make them last longer. My first orders were Bamboo Charcoal Bergamot and Lime, Milk and Honey, and Kalamansi Ginger.

Product: Opal Conditioner

Opal Conditioner (One Minute Treatment) has been getting a lot of raves from forum members in Girltalk. It's supposed to make your hair softer and smoother. So being someone who's always frustrated with her hair, I have to try and see what the fuss is about with this hair conditioner. My hair, by the way, is what they call "buhaghag" and it is my lifelong dream to wear a black, shiny and naturally straight hair (without having it treated at the salon). I don't expect Opal conditioner to give that to me though, but if it can tame my hair, then that's good enough.

Opal Conditioner is a product from HongKong and locally, it is available at most Watson's branches. They said it comes in many variants/colors, but I bought the pink tube because it's the only available variant at the Watson's branch that I went to. This variant is for deep repairing treatment.

Opal One Minute Treatment (Pink "Deep Repairing" Variant)

The directions on how to use this conditioner can be found at the back of the tube. There it says that you must apply and leave it on your hair for about one minute and then rinse thoroughly. It is also to recommended to use this conditioner twice a week only.