And for my next trick, I will interview myself about two new products from Intelligent Nutrients. (There are two more to come—so check back soon. But for now…)
What do they smell like?
Like the best Aveda product you ever tried, but better. IN, as you probably know, was created by the founder of Aveda, who sold that company many moons ago. Big difference here, of course, is that the fragrance is completely natural and organic—and smells way better as a result. It’s a mix of lemongrass, ylang ylang and geranium and I’m convinced they possesss aromatherapeutic powers. I also like to know that when I go in for a hug, my hair will smell nice. I don’t wear perfume every day other than my Lotus Wei Infinite Love stuff, which fades as natural perfumes should. So this does the trick there.
On a scale from 1 to 10, how good does your hair look when you use this stuff?
Acknowledging that these things are subjective (and relative), I’m going to go with 8. I’ve been using it almost daily for more than a month and I’ve been having really, really good hair days. Since summer is over and I’ve had lots of big work meetings lately, I haven’t been air drying as much as I did all summer. With very little effort and a little heat I’ve been accomplishing hair that’s not flat, not too bouncy, super shiny, and nice at the end of the day, too.
Do you like them better than the other hair stuff you’ve reviewed lately?
Yow. That’s like asking a mom to pick her favorite kid, which I’m more than happy to do because I’m not a parent (and a shampoo isn’t a child, and this analogy is completely falling apart). Anyway, yes. I prefer these products to the others I’ve reviewed recently—namely Acure and Yarok. But I prefer Yarok for air drying (see below) and I prefer Acure for the price, gentleness, and for everyday. So I still have those in my shower caddy, love them, and will replace them when they run out.
How does your hair look when you airdry with these guys?
Not the best. Not terrible, but I don’t get the same lovely waves and volume I get with Yarok, for instance.
Does the shampoo foam?
No, not really. It gets you clean, though, obviously. The bottles look similar, which can make showering a little confusing if you’re pre-coffee. I frequently grab the wrong one first.
So does that mean you’ve been doing that weird thing where you wash your hair backwards?
Yes! IN’s founder was the first person to teach us this trick and, no surprise, it works wonderfully well with his products. My favorite trick these days is to lightly wash just my roots with a dime-size dollop, rinse, condition all over, leave on for a few minutes, then rinse again at the roots with another dime-size dollop.
Are they gluten free?
Si signorina.
Do they cost an arm and a leg?
The shampoo is $18 for a regular size bottle, the conditioner is $20. There’s also a paddle brush I love. The brush is $30.
How excited are you to try this stuff? And are there other Intelligent Nutrients products you swear by?
Shampoo Ingredients: water/aqua, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, glycerin,1 disodium coco-glucoside citrate, glyceryl oleate, cocoglucoside, behenyl alcohol, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, ethyl palmate,1 theobroma grandiflorum (cupuacu) seed butter,1 astrocaryum murumuru seed butter,1 citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) oil, cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) leaf oil, pelargonium graveolens (geranium) flower oil,1 cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil,1 sesamum indicum (sesame) seed oil, nigella sativa (black cumin) seed oil,1,2 cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) seed oil,1,2 rubus idaeus (raspberry) seed oil,1,2 vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil,1,2 vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) seed oil,1,2 cistus ladaniferus oil,1 glycine soja (soybean) seed extract, elaesis guineensis (palm) extract, oryza sativa (rice) extract, adansonia digitata (baobab) oil,1 aleurites moluccana (kukui) seed oil,1 xanthan gum, citric acid, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, benzyl benzoate,1,3 limonene,1,3 linalool,1,3 farnesol,1,3 eugenol,1,3 isoeugenol,1,3 geraniol,1,3 citronellol,1,3 benzyl salicylate,1,3 tocopherol (vitamin e)
Conditioner Ingredients: water/aqua, ethyl palmate,1 behentrimonium chloride, behenyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, pentaclethra macroloba seed oil,1 theobroma grandiflorum (cupuacu) seed butter,1 astrocaryum murumuru seed butter,1 cymbopogon schoenanthus (lemongrass) oil,1 pelargonium graveolens (geranium) flower oil,1 cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil,1 nigella sativa (black cumin) seed oil,1,2 cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) seed oil,1,2 rubus idaeus (raspberry) seed oil,1,2 vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil,1,2 vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) seed oil,1,2 cistus ladaniferus oil,1 glycerin, glycine soja (soybean) seed extract, elaesis guineensis (palm) extract, oryza sativa (rice) extract, adansonia digitata (baobab) oil,1 aleurites moluccana (kukui) seed oil,1 citric acid, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, benzyl benzoate,1,3 limonene,1,3 linalool,1,3 farnesol,1,3 eugenol,1,3 isoeugenol,1,3 geraniol,1,3 citronellol,1,3 benzyl salicylate,1,3 citral,1,3 tocopherol (vitamin e)
(1 means “certified organic”; 2 means “antioxidant Intellimune® seed oil complex; 3 means “aturally occurring component of organic essential oil blend”)
Hello June, and happy Friday! Today we have a deal from the always-amazing team at NuboNau. If you still haven’t checked these guys out, or are new to our site (welcome!), now’s your chance. (Of course, if you’re already hooked then this may be your excuse…) Not only do they have a brain-meltingly good selection of products we love, but you the readers keep telling us how incredible their customer service is. We totally agree and today’s deal is predictably awesome…
So here it is: Spend $50 or more on anything your little heart desires from NuboNau, and get this Anti-Aging Mist from beloved brand Intelligent Nutrients for $15 (valued at $35). Just enter the promo code NMDL at checkout. Translation: Spend $50, save $20, get awesome stuff. The mist is USDA Certified Organic and packed with skin-healthy oils and antioxidants.
For the record we love Intelligent Nutrients, and if you read the book you know all about the company’s wonderfully eccentric founder Horst Rechelbacher—the same man who also brought the world Aveda back in the day (which has since been sold and is no longer clean—IN is its second coming). When we interviewed him, Horst taught us how to wash our hair backwards, made us taste his hairspray (one of our favorite products ever), and mused about soil standards. It was enlightening, to say the least, and we’ve championed the brand from the very beginning. Get with the program, people! (Note: We’re not endorsing the new Harmonic line at this point.)
Important deal details: The deal is valid for one week, or as long as stocks last. It’s so good that NuboNau is only offering one deal per person and you can’t combine offers. If you prefer the phone, want advice, or are ordering from Canada, just call: 1 877NuboNau
Also, new customers will receive 2000 Welcome Points with their first order (worth $20) and returning customers can of course redeem previous points. If you spend over $95 you automatically get free shipping. Booyakasha!
Have a wonderful weekend—and remember to make the most of your down time!
We’re just full of questions today, aren’t we?!
We’ve actually been meaning to ask you this one for a while now, because when it comes to clean beauty everyone has had what we call the “a-ha moment”—and it can make for great story telling. Of course, you’ve heard ours about a billion times now: We got the Brazilian Blowout, found out we’d put ourselves through toxic trauma, started reading the labels on our products, and freaked the frig out.
I was reminded of what that felt like today reading Laura Smith’s story over on MyDaily UK—an AOL site we love, not least of all because they named us blog of the week in January. But back to Laura…
Seems her mother has a habit of cutting out newspaper clippings for her, and a recent one was from the Sunday Telegraph. This particular piece featured our guy Horst Rechelbacher, founder of Aveda and a clean-beauty pioneer, spelling out why our beauty products may be doing us harm. Laura’s reaction:
I read it. I worried about it. And then I started reading the labels on my lotions and potions…and worried even more.
A little further down she realizes that she uses an average of 14 products a day—despite considering herself pretty low maintenance—and that’s before nail polish and makeup. Going down her list:
My body moisturiser (Palmer’s), face wash (Simple) and leave-in conditioner (Keihl’s) all contain methylparaben and propylparaben, which are used as preservatives. They are suspected hormone disruptors and may interfere with male reproductive functions.
My expensive shampoo (Aveda) has cyclomethicone, used to soften, smooth and moisten. It’s another suspected hormone disruptor and reproductive toxicant that’s known to be harmful to fish and other wildlife.
My face wash and toothpaste (Macleans) contain sodium laureth sulfate, a widely used foaming agent that can be contaminated with a chemical confusingly called ‘1,4-dioxane’, which may cause cancer.
Pretty much everything I use contained fragrance, which can also be referred to as parfum, both of which are catch-all terms that can include any of 5,000 ingredients, some of which are linked to cancer or can trigger allergies and asthma.
Oh, we know honey, we know! And boy can we sympathize—right? Go give the girl some support, but also tell us here about your own moment of truth.
