natural Archives

When I first became a mom, a SAHM, I swore that the day I stopped doing my hair (make up has never been mandatory for me on weekends), or any of those little things we do to take care of ourselves, that I should just throw in the towel. Well, I don’t do my hair every day any more, which isn’t so bad, but the fact that I do very little for myself is something I definitely need to work on.

A recurring conversation I’ve been having with other moms lately is how we, as mothers, rarely make/take time for ourselves. It’s not the ‘doing hair & make up every day’ type of time, it’s the ‘ME time away from household/kiddo obligations’ kind of time. It’s the ‘thinking of myself every once in a while’ type of time that I’m talking about here. A perfect example of this is that I will take the time to make sure that my son has sunscreen on whenever we go for walks or spend any time outside…but I don’t take the extra couple of minutes to put some on myself. The end result? I’ve gotten unnecessary burns, and the amount of unprotected sun exposure I’ve received is horrible — why don’t I think about myself too, even for something so minute?

I recently decided that I have to take the time to do little things for myself, carve out a little time or add an extra step, because I’m no good for anyone else if my needs aren’t met and I’ve not been caring for myself. For many of us, this concept looks great on paper, but is very difficult to put into practice, and for that reason, I started doing baby steps towards having some ‘Lauren time’. The first step? Putting lotion on after my morning shower.

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* I was provided a product in exchange for my review. All opinions expressed are my own. This post does contain affiliate links.

I’ve written about using soap nuts for my laundry, and liquid soap nuts for both laundry and as a household cleaner, but only recently have I started using NaturOli Soap Nut Shampoo.

I have a dry, itchy scalp on a normal basis, which is exacerbated when I’m pregnant. I have tried a lot of different organic & natural formulas which help, but often contain ingredients that strip color from my hair or irritate my skin further — tea tree oil irritates my skin, and many natural shampoos contain citrus oils, which strip.

Earlier this summer, I asked Jessica, from NaturOli, whether their soap nut shampoo worked well with color. Jessica responded with an emphatic “Yes”, and sent me a bottle to try. I hope she doesn’t mind me saying, but she is a red head (one of the fastest fading hair colors & difficult to maintain), and said that soap nut shampoo works really well with her red color.

Jessica warned me that the shampoo would take a little getting used to, as a.) no sulfates means little to no suds, and b.) my hair would likely take a week to detox and be a little wonky. Before I talk about how great this shampoo is, I’d like to share the ingredient list with you:
– Sapindus Mukorossi Aqueous Extract
– Aloe barbadensis Gel
– Vegetable Glycerin
– Lauryl Glucoside
– Saponified Olea europaea Oil (Olive Oil Soap)
– Panax Ginseng Extract
– Japanese Green Tea
– Olea europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract
– Nasturtium officinale (Water Cress) Extract
– Hibiscus Leaf Extract
– Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil
– Hamamelis virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract
– Olea europaea (Olive) Oil
– Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum
– dl-Panthenol (Provitamin B5)
– Citric acid
Nothing scary, right? All of those chemicals, fragrances and dyes are what likely cause the annoying (and sometimes embarrassing) scalp irritation I have on a regular basis. When I’m pregnant? Forget it – my scalp is an absolute mess. Thankfully, I’ve found a product I can trust to help my scalp and bring it back to normal: NaturOli’s Extreme Soap Nut Shampoo.

I’ve got to tell you, I noticed results after my first use. I have curly hair that I often straighten. When I straighten my hair it gets really dry (blow dry w/ a ceramic brush and then finish with a straightening iron), so I’ll skip a day of washing my hair. By the evening of the second day, I just have to wash my hair, so I’ll do a quick wash without putting conditioner in it. For some reason, I view skipping the conditioner and product as giving my hair a break (plus, I’ll be washing it again in the morning). Typically, my hair will be insanely frizzy (no shampoo+no product=scary hair). However, the first time I used NaturOli shampoo, my hair was not super frizzy afterwards.

NaturOli’s Extreme Soap Nut Shampoo did take a little getting used to. I love that the shampoo looks as clean, clear, and natural as it really is. But, I didn’t create a soapy lather full of bubbles, while washing my hair – it was a little like rubbing conditioner into my hair and waiting for it to lather. Once used to that (and mentally convincing myself that my hair was, indeed, getting clean) I realized that less really is more with soap nut shampoo. I do have short hair, but I really don’t have to use a lot to get my hair clean. After a couple of washings, I noticed that my hair was looking shinier (rather than dull), and had a bit more body. I’m assuming that these were the effects of detoxing and getting rid of buildup.

I’m two months into using soap nut shampoo and my scalp is doing great! No irritation, no super dryness. I highly recommend giving NaturOli Soap Nuts Shampoo a try if you are prone to dryness or sensitive scalp issues. The shampoo comes in two different formulas: Dry to Normal (this is what I use) and Oily to Normal. What about my color? Despite the shampoo having citric acid in it, I’ve noticed that my hair color hasn’t faded as fast as it usually does. Win-win!

NaturOli is offering my readers a special coupon code to try Extreme Soap Nut Shampoo at 10% off! This coupon runs from now until midnight 8/7. Only one code per order. To redeem, enter the code at the bottom of the shopping cart where it says, “Redeem a discount coupon,” then click “submit”:

For Oily to Normal formula shampoo: OILY2013
For Dry to Normal formula shampoo: DRY2013

You can connect with NaturOli, for the latest product information and specials, via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Feeling lucky? NaturOli is giving one of my readers a 16oz. bottle of Extreme Soap Nut shampoo (Oily or Dry formula)! Enter below for a chance to win: