Plant-based beauty, while once a niche trend, has become a way of life for conscious consumers. Otherwise known as vegan beauty, products are made entirely with ingredients derived from plants such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and are free from synthetics and irritants.
Thanks to innovative brands and new technology, the plant-based haircare movement is gaining momentum, offering unparalleled benefits and unlocking healthy, high-shine hair.
Contemplating a switch? Here, three reasons to use plant-based haircare.
1. Healthier Scalp
Healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp. Many common hair products come loaded with sulfates; harsh chemicals that strip hair of dirt, and that unfortunately also strip hair of its natural moisture. This process runs the risk of jeopardising the balance of natural oils produced by our scalp.
Plant-based haircare products that contain gentler, antioxidant-rich ingredients work to enhance your scalp’s natural state, rather than work against it. Unlike chemically charged products, these natural ingredient-based formulas often target multiple haircare concerns at the one time. For example: the naturally derived botanical Aloe vera, when applied to hair, can work overtime to stimulate the scalp, nourish hair and strengthen strands.
Innovative haircare brands such as Herbal Essences are tapping into nature’s most active and restorative ingredients to create powerhouse products that boost hair and scalp health. With almost a 50-year history of making amazing haircare, Herbal Essences has partnered with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of the world’s leading botanical institutions with 260 years of expertise in plant science, to identify and authenticate real botanicals in its bio:renew collection. Naturally occurring vitamins and antioxidants found in these botanicals help support the skin’s natural defence barrier to smooth, protect, and repair, resulting in a healthier scalp. Herbal Essences bio:renew collection features shampoo and conditioner that protects hair from the inside out by trapping, neutralising and removing the build-up of free radicals which can wreak havoc on your hair and scalp.
Herbal Essences Bio:Renew Potent Aloe Collection, $19.99 each at Priceline
2. Nourished Hair
Haircare products that contain silicone may give the appearance of smoother, shinier hair but overtime, silicone builds up, forming a thick coating that prevents hair from retaining or absorbing moisture, resulting in dry and damaged hair. Once you make the switch to plant-based, all-natural hair products, you’re ensuring your hair has maximum moisture penetration and can reap the benefits of all the antioxidant-packed ingredients you’re feeding it.
Herbal Essences’ bio:renew collection combines real botanicals and healthy antioxidants to keep hair healthy and protected. An early adopter of the plant-based shampoos and conditioners, singer Thelma Plum is passionate about embracing authentic and natural beauty.
“It feels so good to be using a product on my hair that has been created using botanicals and one of my personal favourite plants, Aloe vera. The products leave my hair feeling moisturised and nourished,” she said.
Herbal Essences Potent Aloe works to help protect hair from damage and renewed with health. The collection nourishes dry hair, making it soft and manageable while balancing your scalp.
3. A Healthier Planet
Plant-based beauty products are not only kinder to your body but also the environment. Unlike conventional haircare, plant-based haircare products are manufactured without the use of pesticides, which are considered to be harmful and can damage soil. Conventional beauty products use myriad chemicals throughout the processing stage which can be released into the air, our waterways and homes, contaminating them and negatively impacting wildlife.
Wanting to make mindful decisions to reduce its impact on Earth’s landfills and water supplies, Herbal Essences partnered with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to certify high quality Aloe vera used in this collection. Herbal Essences bio:renew Potent Aloe collection has restorative haircare powered by antioxidant-rich botanicals (Aloe vera, eucalyptus and bamboo) and free from nasties (gluten, colourants, sulfates and parabens). In addition, the lineup contains responsibly sourced, naturally derived Aloe vera from Mexico that is rich in polysaccharides (i.e. the good stuff).
While not all plant-based haircare products are cruelty-free, Herbal Essences is cruelty-free, as certified by PETA, which means all products and ingredients within its products are not tested on animals. Haircare that cares? Sign us up.
Brought to you by Herbal Essences
