Green grooming: The best products for ditching chemicals from your hair and skincare routine
By Will Stroude
Each month, celebrity hairstylist and Attitude Hair and Grooming expert Jason Collier is sharing his wealth of experience to help keep you looking razor-sharp and ready for any occasion…
Trying to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible is one of the main topics of conversation I have with many of my clients in the salon. Wanting to live a cleaner, greener life has become a priority for many of us, particularly when it comes to skincare and grooming.
The summer months are a great time for a refresh, so if you’ve been thinking of switching up your hair and skincare routines, there are a number of interesting brands out there now with the emphasis on natural ingredients that you may not have come across yet.
Our skin is our body’s largest organ and absorbs up to 60% of whatever we put on it, so it makes sense to stick to natural products. The ageing process, the weather, illness, stress and the environment all play a part in how our hair and skin looks and feels, so it’s always worth looking around for specific skin-type solutions if you feel your current routine isn’t working as well as it once did. Many brands now offer small, travel-size products, which is a great way to try something out before splashing out on an entirely new range.
Natural skincare solutions are also often sought when dealing with particular problems. Look out for products with clay, charcoal or zinc if you want to detoxify and deeply cleanse skin. Fairly new to the UK is all-natural unisex skincare brand Aster & Bay, whose products use plant-based ingredients, are 100% vegetarian, have no preservatives, parabens or phthalates, and are not tested on animals. The Charcoal Face Wash is great for cleansing and detoxifying skin, without stripping it of any natural oils, while the Purify Facial Serum works well on oily and blemished complexions, dissolving toxins and hydrating at the same time.
Another skincare brand keeping it all about nature is MBotanicals, which uses plant-based ingredients in products to help repair and treat the skin. The Gentle Enzyme Cleansing Clay is a nice one for sensitive, reactive skin. Simply mix up with water to create a foamy cleanser. Skin feels really clean, without any tight, taut sensation that sensitive skin can be a little prone to. The Daily Rejuvenator is a great one for protecting and hydrating more mature skins, or those suffering from dry patches. Packed with vitamins and hyaluronic acid, this was formulated for dehydrated and ageing skin – massage it well into skin, using a firm pressure to improve the look and feel of your skin. I like to use something like this in the evenings, to really let it go to work on skin overnight.
For those sporting facial hair, Braw Beard has a great range of natural conditioning beard oils and butters. All handmade in Scotland, the Heather Beard Oil Conditioner blends ylang ylang and sandalwood for a sweet and woody scent, and a healthy-looking beard, while the Thrilla In Vanilla Beard Butter, aside from having a great name, will hold stray hairs in place and act as a moisturiser for skin under your beard too.
When it comes to natural haircare, I came across a fantastic brand on a trip to the States, IGK Hair, which, it is rumoured, will be available in the UK soon. This luxury line is inspired by life and culture in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. I love the 30,000 Feet Volume Shampoo and Conditioner, which is a gorgeously lightweight volumizing pairing formulated without parabens, sulphates or phthalates.
Dry Shampoo by Aster &
The demands of a busy life, a festival weekend, quick holiday trips, or those days when there just isn’t the time for prolonged hair washing, Aster & Bay’s dry shampoo is one to reach for. Made with natural clays and plant powders, this is a super-absorbent dry shampoo that allows you to skip shampooing. You only need a little of the powder applied directly to the roots of your hair, then massage it in until it disappears before styling as usual.
So there you have it – my collection of all-round natural winners!
Jason Collier is an award-winning hair colourist and stylist to the stars, and Creative Director at the Matthew Curtis Hair Salon at The Rosewood London.
For more visit jason-collier.co.uk and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.