While the meaning of clean beauty continues to evolve, understanding the root of what it can do for our hair is worth understanding. Editor Trudi Brewer shares the definition of ‘clean’ and the products that live up to this title.
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The term ‘clean’ signals that your haircare is without ingredients such as parabens, oxybenzone, talc, phthalates, formaldehyde, formaldehyde releasers, DEA [an ethanolamine compound], triclosan, and ethoxylated ingredients (like PPG and PEG). However, ‘clean’ encompasses more than just harsh ingredients. This includes sustainable growing methods for plant extracts and new techniques like cold pressing and processing, which uses ice water and pressure to mix formulas, maintaining the integrity of those hardworking plant-based ingredients in clean hair care. Clean hair care is formulated the same way clean skin care is made, so these formulas make excellent scalp treatments in the form of serums, masks, and shampoos. Below are some of our favourite clean hair brands that are good for the planet and great for your hair. The latest Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) announcement to ban polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cosmetic products is a step in the right direction. New Zealand is one of the first countries worldwide to take this step; however, it's important to understand that clean beauty is not interchangeable with natural beauty. Where clean beauty is all about what's left out, natural beauty is what's left in, like plant-based ingredients. A product might still be clean even if it uses synthetic ingredients as long as they don't cause harm or irritation to you or the environment.
New Hask Colour Care Shampoo, $16.
The free-from list on this newbie is long; its name, Hask, stands for hair and skin kindness, and it meets the clean beauty standards list of globally banned ingredients. So without nasties, it’s also cruelty and gluten, without any drying alcohol or artificial colour, just natural hydrolysed quinoa and peach to negate colour-fade and seal in shine. Meanwhile, rose and peach oils nourish and help revive the look of colour-treated hair. There is also a matching conditioner in Colour Care.
Umberto Giannini Banana Coconut Detangler, $25.
Our style director swears by this collection's nourishing, deliciously scented benefits. Certified B Corp since 2021, the collection meets the highest standards of social and environmental impact, and it’s formulated without silicones and parabens, is sulphate-free, and is vegan and cruelty-free. But more than that, this new lightweight, non-sticky leave-in conditioner uses superfoods, including bananas and coconut, to detangle, de-frizz, and moisturise dry hair.
Do clean beauty products work as well as non-clean ones?
Clean does not mean less effective. It's a signal that a brand took its time to source the perfect ingredients to exceed our expectations and has the planet at the top of its mind. Clean beauty products require more ‘elbow grease’, like the difference between cleaning with vinegar versus using a glass cleaner - and invest in formulations and sustainability to meet consumer safety and the environment's purity.
Olaplex No.4P Blonde Enhancer Toning Shampoo, $60.
It’s had the Leaping Bunny Certification since 2021. It’s a vegan product, and you won’t find sulfates, phthalates, or phosphates in any formula. Although its products come in plastic packaging, the brand limits its use of secondary packing. Its sustainable methods save gallons of water, help prevent the emission of greenhouse gasses, and save trees from being cut down. A champion in bond-building (repairing split and broken hair damaged by a chemical process), this new blonde toning shampoo strengthens, softens, and neutralises that unwanted yellow cast to leave flaxen locks brighter, softer, and more manageable.
Pureology Nanoworks Gold Conditioner, $62.
Saving water is guaranteed with this brand. Pureology scores straight As for sustainability by packing its vegan products using 95 per cent post-consumer recycled and 100 per cent recyclable materials. The latest range was created for ageing hair to boost shine and smooth, coarse, brittle, or dry colour-treated hair with Keravis (an alternative to nasty silicones made from a vegetable-derived protein), designed to strengthen, fortify, and revitalise dry and damaged hair. Golden marula oil and a signature aromatherapy blend of dewy pear, Ylang Ylang, and golden amber leave hair soft and delicately scented.
Why should we choose to use clean beauty products?
The skin and scalp absorb everything you apply to its ingredients into the bloodstream, which, over time, can cause complications. Choosing to use clean hair care reduces the adverse effects on the body and our oceans; after all, most of our cleansing and conditioning hair care goes down the drain. Once you start using sustainable hair products, you will notice the difference in your hair's feel, growth, strength, and shine.
Angel En Provence Grapefruit Styling Mousse, $38.
Using pure cold-pressed essential oils and plant extracts from verbena, orange flower, lavender, rosemary, green tea, rose and grapefruit, this brand excludes the nasties and is GMP, FDA Certified and 100 per cent cruelty-free. Along with a hair care range, this medium-hold styling mousse gives hold and boosts volume without leaving the hair feeling tacky or stiff - sporting a zesty citrus scent.
Chloe Zara Hair & Body Perfume, from $58.
Made by a hair stylist in New Zealand, her collection is free from nasties and full of multi-tasking, plant-based ingredients most commonly found in skincare. A case in point is this luxe hair oil, Zara’s first product. It’s a multi-purpose beauty buy made for the hair and body. The blend of oils includes sweet almond, Kakadu plum, moringa, watermelon, hemp, cucumber, camellia and passionflower. Together, they smooth frizz and add shine to the hair, while the brand’s signature fragrance of pineapple, saffron, fig and sandalwood doubles as your perfume.
Safe, volume-boosting, brow dry extending, here the clean beauty buys.