So in order to give organic certified hair care products a chance, I tried Dr Bronner’s Organic Shikakai Conditioning Rinse, despite my reservations about its potential crunchiness.

Now I know for sure the stuff’s way too crunchy for me.

Why? Well, let’s start with the ingredients. This rinse is made of organic lemon juice, fatty acids, and oils — as well as a mysterious substance called “organic shikakai powder” that, according to the back of the rinse bottle, comes “from the seed pods of the small South Asian tree Acacia Concinna” This powder, unfortunately, makes the rinse look a lot like very runny diarrhea — exhibit right.

The problem’s not just aesthetics, however. There’s ease-of-use issues too. One has to pour a couple capfuls of the rinse into a separate glass, add water, then “slowly pour while massaging into hair.” This process — although not terribly lengthy — seemed to me a unnecessarily involved compared to regular conditioners.

But I duly created the watery cocktail and and poured it into my head — to find the stuff stung my skin! I’d accidentally scratched myself with a fingernail earlier in the day (it happens), and when a bit of this rinse got on it, the scratch smarted as if I’d squeezed lemon juice directly into it — which is essentially what I’d done by using the rinse.

The pain aside, the rinse left my hair feeling slightly oily after I washed out as much as I could. Some people may like this moisturizing effect — vikas1985 of Health and Skin Care Tips recommends shikakai for dry hair, for example — but I don’t have dry hair and didn’t like the residue at all.

To be fair, the oil did, rather surprisingly, absorb into my hair after it dried. And the rinse did work well as a detangler, which I appreciated. And although reader Elise got ripped off at Whole Foods and paid $10 for her 8 oz bottle, I got mine at my local co-op for just $4.85.

But I’m just not willing to put up with a more cumbersome hair care routine — especially one that requires that I never have any scratches or paper cuts for fear of stinging pain.

Just to be clear, I do like Dr. Bronner’s and use its soap. The company even makes a Shikakai Soap, which cricket at plucky tree recommends. Another Dr. Bronner’s product — Organic Baby Shaving Gel — also contains shikakai and is recommended by Hali Felice at Damn I Like That! I may actually try giving that one a whirl in the future –

But to get back to conditioner: Since this hair rinse is the only organic certified hair conditioner-like product on the market, I’m now going to have to move on to the non-certified, but still green as possible hair care options. Next up are Miessence and Aubrey’s — wish me luck and less pain!

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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