Thursday, September 2, 2010

L'Oreal EverPure Shampoo and Conditioner Review

Not In The Hair Care Biz

Even though I don't create shampoos and conditioners, I have been asked by my mineral makeup and skincare clients about any plans in producing them. At the present, there isn't any plans for now to do this. Now, since I don't have any to offer my clients, I have at least been asked the question as to what haircare products I use or would recommend.

Recently, I have been using the L'Oreal EverPure Shampoo and Conditioner for moisturizing dry, brittle hair since I do color my hair on a regular basis. The claims are the shampoo is:

  • Vegan Friendly
  • Sulfate Free
  • Natural Botanicals
  • Protects Color From Fading
  • No Animal By Products
  • No Animal Testing

Shampoo Description:

Sulfate-free color care system. Anti-fade system. UVA/UVB filters. 100% sulfate-free. Natural botanicals. 100% vegan. Free your hair from harsh sulfates and salts that can strip and dull your hair. No harsh salts. Color-treated hair requires special care. So in this color-preserving formula there are no harsh sulfates and salts that can strip and dull your color. The EverPure Sulfate-Free Color Care System (EverPure System of Moisture Shampoo and Moisture Conditioner) protects and conditions hair for long-lasting color purity. EverPure shampoos create a luxurious and rich lathering experience, while natural aromatic properties from rosemary and juniper help energize and invigorate the senses. EverPure Moisture Shampoo gently cleanses, deeply nourishes and revitalizes dry, damaged hair. Its rich moisturizing formula reveals your hair's natural softness and shine, helping your color shine through. Not tested on animals, no animal byproducts.

Ingredients: Aqua/Water/Eau, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfo- Acetate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, Glycol Distearate, Glycereth-26, Decyl Glucoside, Parfum/Fragrance, PPG-5-Ceteth-20, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Amodimethicone, Polyquaternium-7, Polyquaternium-10, Methylparaben, PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Carbomer, C11-15 Pareth-7, Benzophenone-3, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Glycerin, Trideceth-12, Laureth-9, Linalool, Tocopherol, Limonene, C12-13 Pareth-23, C12-13 Pareth-3, Benzyl Alcohol, Juniperus Communis Fruit Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Rosmarinus Officinalis Oil/Rosemary Leaf Oil, Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid.

Conditioner is described as:

Color-treated hair requires special care. The EverPure Sulfate-Free Color Care System* with UV filters helps protect and condition hair for long-lasting color purity. EverPure conditioners are creamy, protective formulas that help preserve and maintain color brilliance. Natural aromatic properties from rosemary and mint help energize and invigorate the sense. EverPure Moisture Conditioner deeply nourishes and revitalizes dry, damaged hair. Its rich moisturizing formula reveals your hair's natural softness and shine, helping your color shine through.

Ingredients: Aqua, Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Esters, Isopropyl Myristate, Quaternium-80, Polysorbate 20, Parfum, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Polyquaternium-37, Paraffinum Liquid, Mineral Oil, Benzophenone-3 , Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Limonene, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Linalool, Rosmarinus Officinalis Oil, Rosemary Leaf Oil, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol

What Do I Think?

As a whole I find their premise for the namesake to be a bit pretentious and not sure I understand the everpure name....pure of what? Okay....so, it is sulfate free. Yes...this can be a good thing, but in terms of causing harm to us as a toxin which has been attached to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, this is meaningless and again the science does not support the theory, especially in terms of rinse off products...but this issue is best served for another time. My concerns in regard to sulfates are more about the irritant factor and the drying nature of sulfates can have on skin or hair.

So like most packaging today, it is a great marketing tool to get you to buy at first glance. The label screams this very benefit at you from the shelf. It contains botanicals....uh yeah...a drop or two, but really...at the bottom of the list does not constitute a botanical formula, but legally they can say this if it has a single drop in there. But it hardly qualifies for a labeling declaration of benefit!

It has UV filters for protecting color from fading and with gentle surfactants being used in place of drying sulfates, this protects hair from color being stripped away prematurely.

Yes.... there are many synthetic chemicals used within the formulas, but in certain circumstances, such as in hair care products, synthetics can actually do a better job. The majority of surfactants are coconut derived for gentle cleansing and the other synthetics give hair its' overall finished texture. They will provide a higher quality of smoothing the hair cuticle without weighing hair down, since many botanical oils, such as in a conditioner made up of these, tends to flatten hair or leave it feeling a bit heavy or oily looking.

These types of organic shampoos and conditioners may work on thick, dry, coarse textured hair, but on someone with fine, limp even if it is dry hair, will not have hair that will present with volume or thickness. So, basically, us fine limp, yet dry haired people struggle with finding something that will perform to our special desires.

I personally have tried the "all" organic products, and though my hair felt nice and soft, it never looked good or held a style. The weight of the organics literally pulled the curl out of my hair, and then to hold the set, I was spraying tons of hairspray on myself to hold the style. What's my health worth in terms of sucking up hairspray vapors? Since sticking with conventional shampoos and conditioners and hair serums made up of silicone, my hair styles beautifully and holds all day and sometimes into the next even after sleeping on it.

Hair is "dead" it does not absorb nutrients as many commercial brands would have us believe, but is coated by ingredients to smooth, create softness and body. The heavier the ingredients in terms of oils with little surfactant action, you end up with dull, lifeless hair. Organic ingredients work wonders in skincare because skin is a living organism so it responds to nourishing ingredients, whereas hair just goes limp when you try to apply the same to haircare.

Sometimes they just aren't interchangeable and our faces should be treated with better care since what we use on them remains as leave on moisturizers. Hair products are rinsed down the drain except for a topical serum for smoothing hair follicles, always remembering to keep the serum away from the scalp to avoid an oily texture.

Performance Of L'Oreal EverPure Haircare System

The shampoo smells wonderful and it does gently clean my hair without leaving it feeling stripped. You also only need a small amount, about the size of a nickel. My hair color lasts longer than it has with other brands, so I am able to go longer between colorings since my color is not so discernible in difference at the root line of regrowth. This proves to me that my hair color is no longer fading between treatments, and that is a good thing.

The conditioner is nice and just okay. It smells of mint and does have a slight cooling sensation to the scalp. I find it takes a bit more of the product to get a nice smooth, soft texture and to gain a better degree of detangling, but not so impressed with leaving my hair smooth and without frizz when I dry it, whether it is air drying or blow dried. In fact, when I run the conditioner through my hair unless I have placed plenty on my hair, my fingers still get a bit stuck, so I wouldn't say it goes far at providing enough slip.

When it comes to smoothing, detangling and leaving my hair very soft and shiny without heaviness, I still love my Pantene Pro V Restorative Conditioner Breakage Defense (pictured on right) for giving myself a hair treatment.

However I fear this product is being phased out since I could not locate it on store shelves this past month. Also could not locate it on Pantene's latest website release of all their products either.

It appears they are replacing it with a product named Restore Beautiful Lengths Breakage Defense. (pictured on left) So, I'll have to let you know on this one, once I have an opportunity to check it out!

Overall Opinion

I think for what EverPure shampoo and conditioner offer, it is a decent gentle cleansing system along with what I would constitute as a light conditioner, definitely not going to work for very dry, or brittle hair. There are better conditioning treatments available. It protects hair color for the most part and leaves hair with volume and texture.

Can skip days between shampoos for me, so instead of everyday, I can go every other day and sometimes I have actually been able to go to the third day, but that is pushing it.

So for standard everyday, rinse off products, this is a good and basic haircare system that will work for some, but not for others depending on your hairs' condition. Personally, I just need a touch more conditioning emollients due to the coloring of my hair. If you don't color your hair, then this would probably provide the level of perfection one is looking for and the scents are mild and not overpowering.

If I had to rate it overall, I would give it a 7 out of 10 stars.

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