Aubrey Organics, Nature's Gate and homemade hair moisturizer

After my recent hair chop, my hair has been doing great! I have less breakage and my hair is softer than ever. I was going to make a post about my regimen, but so far my regimen is really simple and not really long at all. I usually wet my hair everyday and apply a conditioner.. I then follow with a leave-in and seal with an oil. I wash and deep condition when needed, usually about once a week. I've been alternating between, Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose, Island Naturals, Giovanni smooth as silk and the Magnetic conditioner. I like all of these for my hair so far. I was using Nature's gate but on further investigating the ingredients, I've discovered that it's not so great due to the Phenoxyethanol preservative. According to the FDA "Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that is primarily used in cosmetics and medications. It also can depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration in infants." The article was referring to a nipple creme for breastfeeding that contained that ingredient. Even though we are technically not ingesting the chemical, I still would like to be safe. I will finish my Nature's gate bottles but will not purchase them again. The Giovanni direct leave-in also contains this as a preservative, but I will still continue to use it until I finds something else. I also noticed that some of the Nature's gate conditioners and shampoo contain some form of paraben in them like methylparaben. The ones I use, Jojoba conditioner and biotin do not have it. If you look it up, it says that methylparaben has been proven to be safe for cosmetic use, although some natural sites and pro-organics would say otherwise. I guess you have to research everything and come up with your own conclusion. I still think Nature's gate is a much better selection then many of the conventional brands out there if you are on a budget. I found my conditioners for $1.50 at Big Lots and they retail for about about $7.00 a bottle.

So far I have been pleased with the Aubrey Organics line because the conditioners can double as deep conditioners as well. All the ingredients seem pretty safe and most importantly, the products work. The prices are really good and each bottle lasts me a good while since the conditioners are rich and thick. You will definitely get your money's worth with these conditioners. I also have tried some of the shampoos but found them to be too drying. I ended up using them as body washes. I plan on trying the white camellia next since I've heard good things about that one.

I've been experimenting with a homemade moisturizer since I finally got my aloe-vera juice in the mail. Here is the recipe that I have been using:

4 oz of distilled water
2 oz of aloe juice
2 tsp of jojoba oil
1 tbs of glycerin
10 drops of orange EO or EO of choice


I love this mix! I'm not so crazy about the smell of the aloe juice so I recommend using an essential oil to cover up the scent. I applied this with a squirt bottle after I rinsed my hair with conditioner and my hair was so soft and moisturized. Once my hair was dried, I applied a little more to see how my hair felt and I'm in love with this recipe. My hair was so so soft and I had not felt my hair that moisturized in a long time. I keep the bottle inside the refrigerator to avoid spoilage.