Acure Organics (Hair Care Holy Grails)

So... my dad complimented my hair today. Now, my dad is a Superintendent for a major construction company in  town and is not the type to compliment (in a serious tone) on appearance. I feel like that is necessary information for reference. Anyway, I told him that I had stopped using a shampoo and conditioner that was full of silicones and other interesting things that only camouflaged the problems and caused breakage. The new shampoo and conditioner was full of beneficial ingredients like organic Argan oil, Blackberry, Acai, Pomegranate, Rosehips, and Rooibos. The shine and softness are from actual moisture and condition and not just from the silicones. Silicones coat the cuticle of the hair, they just sit on top of the hair and build up over time causing the hair to feel sticky and weighed down. My dad didn't bust my non-existent balls after that so I think it's safe to assume that he thought it made sense.

After I went vegan (about 2 years ago) I tried a brand called JĀSÖN. I used their Aloe Vera Shampoo and Conditioner as I have sensitive skin and baby fine hair. I liked it at first and used it for several months when I started to experience severe scalp irritation. I assumed it was dandruff so used Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Special Shampoo and Conditioner. It soothed my scalp a bit but was very harsh on my baby fine hair and caused hella breakage. I then tried Organix's TeaTree Mint Shampoo and their Moroccan Argan Oil conditioner. I loved them for about as long as I loved the JĀSÖN products as they made my hair feel soft, had a lovely scent, and were fairly inexpensive and easy to find. However, back in October I started to have unbelievably itchy and irritated scalp and at about the same time I realised that I was losing more and more hair in the shower, styling, and literally anytime I touched my hair. Now, I'm not talking one or two strands, every time I washed my hair I was pulling chunks of strands out of my hair. As a girl who has fine hair in the first place this is very noticeable and distressing. So I stopped using it and searched for a product that was natural and didn't have tons of chemicals in it and ended up going with California Baby's Supersensitive Shampoo and Bodywash as well, I have baby fine hair, sensitive skin, and allergies to several essential oils. This calmed my scalp down and I immediately stopped losing insane amounts of hair. However, it was really difficult to work into my scalp as I have a lot more hair than an actual baby and I started to suffer with severe breakage again. --I still use this but as a bodywash. I was using Cetaphil which is not vegan but a first bought of eczema was triggered by a different vegan soap. I highly recommend California Baby's Supersensitive Shampoo and Bodywash for this purpose. It's just as gentle as the Cetaphil cleanser was and is cruelty free and economically priced.--

Finally, whilst browsing on Amazon one afternoon I came across a brand called Acure. I was put off by the $14 price tag but as the ingredients weren't listed on Amazon I looked them up on the company's website where I discovered that they were only $10 if you ordered from them. I ended up doing some research and found that VitaCost was selling them for about $9 with free shipping (a deal at the time but shipping is always free over $49) and decided to give them a try. The problem was that I couldn't decide which line to go for (the curse of being a Gemini is that I literally cannot make a decision without flipping a coin) so settled on two. The Pure Mint + Echinacea Stem Cell Shampoo and Conditioner (the blue bottles) that are meant for normal to fine hair and the Lemongrass + Argan Stem Cell Shampoo and Conditioner (the green bottles) that are meant for all hair types. The Blue ones smell like SeaBreeze astringent... I strangely like the scent, probably because I remember my dad using it all the time whilst I was growing up. The Green ones smell like green tea with lemon, not my favourite scent in the world but pleasant. It's what most people would describe as an "herbal" or "medicinal" scent. At first I couldn't tell a major difference between the two but then definitely preferred the Green ones. They were more moisturizing. Neither weighed my baby fine hair down at all and both left my hair and scalp feeling calmed and normalized AND didn't make my hair fall out in protest.

I then decided to buy the Moroccan Argan Oil + Argan Stem Cell Shampoo and Conditioner (the Red bottles) that are meant for dry or curly hair after watching this review. I figured that even if it is a bit heavy for my hair I could at least use it as a weekly treatment. Turns out, it is PERFECT for my hair. It left my hair and scalp sooo moisturized that I literally could run a brush straight through my hair from roots to ends with NO breakage. It also did not weigh my hair down at all! The scent is very sweet and reminds me of cherries. It's supposed to smell of sweet almond extract and it definitely does. Again, it's not my favourite kind of scent but I think it'll grow on me. I'm not sure how it's great from someone who has curly or dry hair simply because it worked for my baby fine hair. (For curly or dry hair they recommend adding a dropper full of pure argan oil to the conditioner.)

Which brings me to my last holy grail product from Acure, their Certified Organic Argan Oil. I originally bought is to use on the ends of my hair at night but noticed after a couple of days that it made my dry hands impossibly soft and then decided to try it on my face. I have sensitive skin that is prone to breakouts (cystic acne) and VERY dry and easily irritated (I can only Cetaphil face wash) so when I say I was hesitant to put this on my face I truly mean it. It didn't make my face greasy AND actually decreased the number of blackheads around my nose... those bad boys have been around since I was 16 (8 years) and let me tell you I was not sad to see them go. After the great results I had seen using the oil on my face I recently decided to try applying it directly to my scalp, as I still had some irritation left. The next morning after I washed and conditioned my hair with the Red Acure Shampoo and Conditioner and dried my hair my scalp felt so soothed and rejuvenated like I cannot explain. My scalp hasn't felt that good in so long that I honestly cannot recall a time when it felt remotely as nice as it did then. I now use it on my scalp every other night and my scalp has only improved AND I've noticed increased hair growth which is always a plus. 

I only have positive things to say about Acure and their products (still haven't tried one I don't like). They're cruelty-free, mostly organic (clearly labeled which ingredients are and aren't organic) and fair trade AND $1 of every bottle of the Argan oil that is purchased goes to Bright Pink, a non-profit breast cancer organisation. They also donate 5% to mammograms for at risk women. For more information visit Acure for a cure. 

*All of these products were purchased by me. Acure products were purchased through VitaCost. I highly recommend giving them a try.