Tresemme keeps coming out with new variations of their Naturals line of silicone-free conditioners, so every time I see a new one, I have to try it. The newest one I found is called 'Vibrantly Smooth' and contains coconut and jojoba oils. The two previous variations I've tried, sweet orange and avocado/aloe, have worked equally well for CO-washing, and I can't speak more highly of them. All of the conditioners have very similar smells, and it's difficult to tell them apart, unless you sniff them one right after the other.I figured it's probably about time to write a formal review on these conditioners, now that I've been using them for months. I think I grabbed my first bottle of Tresemme Naturals in about February. I was combing through the local drugstore for a different conditioner that was perhaps cheaper than what I was using at the time (Desert Essence Organics). I didn't want to use Suave, despite being a very popular conditioner for CO-washing, because it contains methylisothiazolinone.
Starting with the ingredient list, it is not perfectly clean, but it is much less offensive than the majority of other conditioners I've seen. The conditioners, as they advertise, are free of silicones, which is excellent for those on a no poo regimen. Instead of the silicones, they contain stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, which is a lipid-based emulsifier, and also a cationic surfactant. It serves as a conditioning agent, but it is obviously more lightweight than silicones, which prevents buildup that can sabotage your no poo hair. There is some alcohol, although I have not found the alcohol to be at all drying. It also contains lauroyl lysine, which is an amino acid, the building blocks of protein. Although you might suspect this would be bad news for hair that tends to hate protein, I have protein-hating hair and have had no problems with this conditioner. None of these ingredients have any known toxicity or danger of bioaccumulation (unlike methylisothiazolinone).Using the conditioners, they all seem very similar, with the more moisturizing versions (aloe/avocado and coconut/jojoba) being only slightly heavier than the volumizing sweet orange version. You might want to consider this if you have issues with your hair being weighed down, but if that's not a problem for you, then there is very little difference between the three versions I've tried. These conditioners have good slip and coat the hair very well. They also rinse out quite easily compared to other conditioners I've tried. The fragrance is strong, but not overly sweet. I personally think these conditioners smell amazing, although if you are sensitive to strong smells, I think you'll want to give it a sniff before picking it up.
These conditioners do a bang up job of detangling my hair, and leave it soft and smooth with minimal flyaways. In short, these are the best conditioners I've used for CO-washing and I have no intention of switching any time soon.
*photos are promo pictures from the Tresemme website
I found your blog to be informative because I have had problems with silicones and sulfates. I rushed out to the Tresemme Naturals in the Aloe Vera with Avocado and was excited to use until I read the ingredients and found "methylisothiazolinone" as the last ingredient. Thought I would let you know since you wrote of the concern not to use this. They might have added this ingredient later after your blog.
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