Review it Wednesday -- a break from no-pooing

What does a no-pooing gal like me do when asked to review shampoo and creme rinse? She hops in the shower!

Morrocco Method Int'l makes 5 shampoos and 5 conditioners using 100% natural raw vegan wild-crafted ingredients. Quite honestly, after a long hiatus, I couldn't wait to lather up my hair again ... problem was, the Morrocco Method shampoo doesn't lather. It's natural and I should not have expected it to react to hair and water like Suave. But I did expect a sort of Herbal Essence experience.

I opened the bottle of Chi Essence shampoo, squeezed out a little bit into my hand and breathed in the fragrance. What a disappointment. Again, it's not what I expected. When I later looked at the ingredients, I understood why:

Aqua, Whole Leaf Aloe Vera, Sea Plants and Marine Proteins of Kelp, Nori, Kombu, Shea Butter, Horsetail, Nettle, Yarrow, Comfrey, Cherry Bark, Fucus, Blood of the Dragon, Cactus, Klamath Falls Bluegreen Algae, Tibetan Crystals (liquified into a crystalline solution), Pure Essential Oils of Wild Rose, Moroccan Jasmine, Myrrh, Frankincense and Mediterranean Olive; Raw, Unfiltered and Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar, 92 Trace Minerals (natural preservative).

Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think any amount of wild rose and Moroccan jasmine oils are going to disguise the scents of sea plants and kelp ... or apple cider vinegar for that matter.

Then there was the color and consistency, which I found equally unpleasant. It was an orangy-brown with a bit of grit. And I seemed to need a lot of it to properly clean my hair. Keep in mind, for those of you who are familiar with no-pooing, I am used to pouring a cup of baking soda-infused water over my hair, rubbing it around a bit and then rinsing it out. The result is soft, squeaky-clean hair. That is not how my hair felt after washing with the Morrocco shampoo.

So, I popped open the Pearl Essence Creme Rinse, expecting the pearly essence of something like... oh, what was it? There used to be a shampoo that was thick and pearl-colored, I just can't remember what it was called. I'm sure it was filled with toxins, but that's beside the point. 

I guess it was the 'pearl' part of the name that garnered my unrealistic expectation. Again, these products are made with natural raw vegan ingredients that are safe and healthy for my hair. The pearly essence I was hoping for only comes in unsafe and unhealthy products. Bare with me ... it's an adjustment.

End result -- my hair felt clean and had a surprisingly wonderful scent. Maybe the essential oils of cedarwood, lavender and patchouli in the creme rinse were able to overpower everything else. Or maybe the shampoo and creme rinse smell better on hair then they do right out of the bottle.

To be honest, I loved washing and conditioning my hair in products that were safe. It was just the vegan part that threw things off a bit for me, I suppose. Give me some honey in my products, and I'm happy.

After I tried the shampoo and creme rinse on my own hair, I decided to try it out on my granddaughter's. Laura is 3 1/2 and has beautiful fine long curly hair. I was certain that I'd have better luck with the shampoo with her and that I wouldn't need nearly as much. However, I definitely needed more than I anticipated. This shampoo just didn't spread through the hair easily. 

Laura, who is accustomed to washing her hair with shampoo from Earth Mama Angel Baby, didn't like the brown color, nor did she like the smell. By this point, however, the scent had grown on me. Laura didn't mind the sand-colored creme rinse, though. Both the shampoo and conditioner rinsed easily out of her hair, but left it in pretty much of a tangled mess once I towel-dried it. I had hoped to avoid that with the use of the creme rinse, but no such luck.

Now, don't let this mostly negative review sway you, especially if you're living a vegan lifestyle. If your goal is to use products that are natural, safe for your family and effective, the Morrocco  Method Int'l shampoos and conditioners are worth a try. The conditioners use simply pure raw vegan ingredients.

• A Synergistic Blend Of NATURAL Botanicals, Marine Proteins, Herbs and Minerals
• RECONSTRUCTIVE AND CONDITIONING
• STIMULATES, REJUVENATES, REVITALIZES
• Excellent For Dry, Split Ends, Gray, Dandruff and Post-Surgery
• Color Safe, Non-Allergenic, Non-Toxic

Morrocco Method Int'l recommends that in order to encourage healthy hair growth, rotate all five conditioners for optimum hair rejuvenation.

The flyer for their products lists the same points as above for their shampoos except it eliminates the part about being color safe. I'm not sure why.

Using truly natural hair products is really important. Once you adjust to the difference between commercial brands of shampoos and conditioners laden with toxins, you just might fall in love with the Morrocco Method products. Even supposedly "natural" commercial shampoos often contain artificial colors (that pearly essence I was talking about), perfumes and detergents that dry and damage hair, clogging follicle openings rather than actually cleansing your scalp. These detergents and additives leave harmful coatings on the hair and the synthetic fragrances dry it out, damaging the shafts by making them overly brittle. The natural pH balance is thrown off and the results are often dandruff, itchiness, premature thinning and significant, eventual hair loss. Yuck.

Morrocco Method Int'l shampoos eliminate the dryness or excessive oiliness brought on by commercial, unsafe shampoos. Again, the company does recommend rotating their shampoos, as your scalp and hair can become resistant/immune to a single product, which upsets the alkaline pH balance. When you alternate your shampoos, it helps your hair and scalp to be receptive to actual cleansing and nourishing.

The 5 Morrocco Method shampoos are formulated according to the 5 elements -- Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Ether. All 5 cleanse, detoxify, nourish and stimulate blood flow to hair and scalp, they all offer specific treatments:

• Air Essence nourishes and heals
• Earth Essence detoxifies
• Fire Essence stimulates blood flow
• Sea/Water Essence cleanses
• Heavenly Chi energizes and conditions

Again, by alternating between the 5, your hair will be in optimal condition. 

The trial size shampoos are sold in a gift set (seen above) for just $29. What a perfect way to give each one a try.

Now, on to what is perhaps my favorite part of Morrocco Method Int'l: their Green Environmental Statement... and who doesn't want to support a company that is consciously green? They only use recycled paper for all of their paper goods, including their brochures. All boxes and packing materials are recycled and they use 100% recyclable product packaging, avoiding superfluous boxes and containers. This is something I really appreciate. There's nothing like receiving eco-friendly products to review that are wastefully packaged. Drives me crazy! But that's not the case with Morrocco Method Int'l. Even their bottles and other containers are made of 100% recyclable plastics.

Plus, according to their website, the company "strives to honor fair trade principles of sustainability and equity in all of our products." 

And one more really cool thing about the company -- they choose to have their label and packaging needs fulfilled by a cottage industry rather than in a large impersonal factory environment. They work with OPTIONS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities meet their wants, needs and desires as citizens within their community. How cool is that?!

Fair trade. Environmentally conscious. Socially conscious. Safe and natural for adults and children alike. These are winning elements when you're looking for a company that sells the types of products you already buy. Why not give them a chance? Morrocco Method Int'l sells 2 oz. trial sizes of their shampoos and conditions for only $4.95, so they're not asking for a huge investment from you if you want to give their products a try. And don't let my initial aversion to the shampoo and conditioner dissuade you. What I might not like, you just might love. Many people do! 

Reviewing it for you honestly,

Hana

Disclosure: I received these products from Morrocco Method Int'l for review at no cost to me, according to FTC Guidelines.