Is Herbal Essences Good For Hair?
This post may contain affiliate links.
There’s no question that Herbal Essences is one of the most popular drugstore hair care brands on the market. They’re known for their wide variety of products, accessible price point, and delicious smelling hair products. But is the brand actually good for your hair? The brand offers a range of different formulas, each of which is designed to target specific hair needs. But is Herbal Essences good for hair? We’ll take an in-depth look at the brand and its products to see if they’re worth your hard-earned money.
Most hair care products today include natural substances in their formulas to cater to customers with various hair types. Herbal Essences is a well-known hair care line that caters to a wide range of hair types and textures. Many of the company’s products include botanical elements meant to hydrate, protect, and nourish hair.
About Herbal Essences
Herbal Essences is a haircare brand that has been around for many years. It’s known for its fragrant and fruity products, which are meant to give users’ hair a boost of vitality. But is Herbal Essences good for hair? Let’s take a closer look.
Clairol, Inc. launched the Herbal Essences hair care line in 1971 and sold it to Procter and Gamble in 2002. Procter and Gamble entered as a hair coloring brand and revamped Herbal Essences’ products and brand.
Today, Herbal Essences is a global hair-care company that sells a variety of shampoos, conditioners, hair coloring, mousse, hairspray, and gel products and more. The brand has created some of the most iconic scents since its first shampoo was introduced in 1971. The formulas have changed over time, and new items have been introduced, but the brand has stayed true to its botanical roots and holistically crafted perfumes.
So is Herbal Essence a good hair brand? Let’s take a look in detail at the products and ingredients.
About Herbal Essences Shampoos And Conditioners
At first glance, Herbal Essences seems like an affordable, drugstore haircare brand that uses natural, plant sourced ingredients. And while a lot of their products do contain a ton of plant extracts that are good for the hair, once you do a little more digging, you’ll see that there are some other not-so-great ingredients in their formulas.
Herbal Essences has a wide range of shampoos and conditioners available in various scents and combinations suitable for all different hair types. Their hair product range includes solutions for various hair lengths, textures, and even colors and products tailored to specific hair goals.
Herbal Essences Ingredients Good for Hair
As with any hair care product, there needs to be certain ingredients in the formula to help hydrate, moisturize and nourish the hair. Thankfully, Herbal Essences does include a ton of good for the hair ingredients!
Herbal Extracts
One of the biggest selling points of Herbal Essences products is that they use natural, plant extracts that nourish hair and provide many different benefits like moisturizing, hydrating, strengthening, etc. Extracts such as manuka honey, argan oil, hemp seed and wild berries are just a few of the many plant extracts the brand uses. These ingredients can help to keep the hair and scalp healthy.
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is a great conditioning agent that helps to hydrate the hair and can reduce breakage and damage.
Coconut
Herbal Essences uses coconut oil and coconut milk in their formulations. Coconut is one of the best ingredients for people with dry, damaged, or frizzy hair. It can help to hydrate and nourish your hair, making it softer, smoother, and more manageable.
Argan Oil
This oil is packed with nutrients that help to nourish hair and improve its overall quality. It also works to protect hair from damage caused by heat styling and environmental factors.
Avocado
This ingredient is rich in fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that help to nourish and moisturize the hair. It can also help to protect hair from damage caused by heat styling and environmental factors.
Honey
Honey is a natural humectant, meaning it helps to lock in moisture. It can also help to improve the overall quality of your hair by making it softer, shinier, and more manageable.
Hemp Seed
Hemp seed has anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory actions on the skin. Its high content of amino acids, vitamins, and antioxidants nourish and soothe the scalp.
Conditioning Agents
Conditioning agents are must haves in any hair care product! These agents help to nourish strands and help to soften and smooth your hair for silkier hair with less frizz.
Antistatic Agents
Antistatic agents are ingredients that help to reduce static in the hair. These can be particularly helpful in the winter when the air is drier. It produces a protective barrier over the strands and aids in retaining moisture, resulting in soft, silky, and healthy hair. Polyquaternium-10 and Polyquaternium-6 are two antistatic agents commonly found in Herbal Essences shampoos.
Apart from the above-listed ingredients, Herbal Essences products include white strawberry, blue ginger, cucumber, jasmine flower, lily of the valley, rice milk and other nourishing elements.
Citric Acid
Citric acid is mainly used as a pH adjuster. It can help to balance the pH of the scalp and hair which can keep your hair and scalp healthier. It can also help to remove product buildup so your hair doesn’t get weighed down.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are ingredients that help to protect the hair from damage caused by environmental factors and free radicals.
Herbal Essences Ingredients Bad for Hair
Alcohol
Certain alcohols like benzyl alcohol, is on the list of harmful alcohols. These types of bad alcohols can dry out your hair and strip moisture, hydration, nutrients and color.
Sulfates
Sulfates are detergents that are used in shampoos to cleanse the scalp and hair. They are known to strip away natural oils, causing dryness, frizziness, and breakage. They can also strip color away from hair so they’re not ideal for anyone that bleaches, tones or colors their hiar. Sodium lauryl sulfate, lauramidopropyl betaine, and sodium xylene sulfonate are the most common types of sulfates used in Herbal Essences shampoos. Sulfates can also irritate the scalp and lead to scalp issues and oilier hair.
Silicones
While silicones give your hair a nice slip for easily detangling and makes hair smoother and shinier, silicones can build up on the hair and leave a waxy like residue that can end up weighing hair down which can lead to limp curls, greasy hair and even dry hair. This residue can be difficult to remove without harsh sulfates that can further damage your hair. Dimethicone is a type of silicone that is commonly used in haircare products.
Synthetic Fragrances
Synthetic perfumes, unlike natural smells, are made in a lab and are commonly found in shampoos and conditioners. Some people are sensitive to these articifial fragrances, even though they mirror familiar pleasant scents like flowers, fruits, herbs, and honey.
Various shampoos and conditioners in the Herbal Essences line contain synthetic and natural fragrance components. Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool, and Coumarin are only a few of the synthetic ones.
Preservatives
While preservatives are important in products to help keep them from going bad, some people can be sensitive or allergic to them, not to mention the health issues they can potentially cause. Herbal Essences commonly uses Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Salicylate, DMDM Hyadantoin, Sodium Benzoate and Methylchloroisothiazolinone or methylisothiazolinone are two of the most common preservatives in haircare products. They’re used to prevent bacteria and fungus growth and keep the product fresh.
Herbal Essences Lawsuits
Unfortunately, Herbal Essences has been at the center of several law suits in recent years. While many of them come down to false advertising and labelling of their products, some have been more serious. In 2013, a class action lawsuit was filed claiming that the company’s “Natural” hair care line wasn’t actually natural. The suit also claimed that the products in the line caused scalp irritation, hair loss, and rashes.
Another more recent lawsuit was filed in 2019 claiming that the company’s “Bio:renew” line was falsely advertised and misleading. The brand claimed this line was natural and plant based, which the lawsuit argues it is not.
And while the false advertising is definitely concerning, what’s even more concerning is that many of their products were found to contain a carcinogen, benzene. Another class action lawsuit was filed against the brand after this discover.
So, while Herbal Essences may not be the worst offender when it comes to haircare products, they’re certainly not perfect. If you’re looking for a more natural option, there are plenty of other brands out there that might be a better fit for you
Is Herbal Essences Good Or Bad For Hair?
Herbal Essences products are an ok brand for the hair. They are an ideal brand because of their wide range of products tailored to specific hair needs such as frizzy, curly hair, thin hair and colored hair just to name a few. The brand is affordable and easily accessible, but they do have some questionable ingredients.
All in all, Herbal Essences is not the worst brand, but it’s not the best brand ever. You can feel safe using Herbal Essences products on your hair, but if you’re looking for something truly natural, look elsewhere.
Is Herbal Essences Good Frequently Asked Questions
Is Herbal Essences good for hair growth?
Herbal Essences products have not been proven to increase hair growth in a clinical setting. Even though they contain botanical substances and ingredients that an promote healthy hair, which in turn, can allow hair to grow longer and thicker.
Does Herbal Essences Cause Hair Loss?
Although rumors have been circulating for years about Herbal Essences causing hair loss, it’s never been proven.
There is no scientific evidence linking Herbal Essences products to hair loss. In fact, some of their products contain ingredients that can actually promote hair growth. However, if you are experiencing hair loss after using Herbal Essences products, it’s best to stop using them.
Is Herbal Essences Good For Curly Hair
Herbal Essences has a line of products specifically designed for curly hair. These products contain ingredients that can help to hydrate, define, and tame frizz. It’s a great, affordable brand that offers shampoo, conditioners, treatments and styling products designed to keep your curls healthy, bouncy and shiny!
Is Herbal Essence Good For Straight Hair
While Herbal Essences products are designed to work well on all hair types, they do have a line of products specifically for straight hair. These products contain ingredients that can help to smooth frizz and add shine.
They also have a great range of volume boosting products which can help to add some body to straight hair.
Is Herbal Essence Good For Thin Hair
Yes, Herbal Essences can be a great brand for those with thin hair. They offer volumizing products to help add fullness and thickness to thin hair. For thin hair, try a silicone free shampoo and conditioner to avoid weighed down, flat hair.
Is Herbal Essences Good For Color Treated Hair?
Generally, Herbal Essences products are safe for colored hair and they even have a line specifically for color treated hair to keep your color looking fresh and vibrant.
Is Herbal Essence a safe brand?
While Herbal Essences does use a lot of plant extract and natural ingredients, they also use some not so great ingredients that can cause skin or health issues.
They’ve also been the center of several lawsuits regarding false advertising. So, while they’re not the worst brand out there, they’re certainly not the safest or most natural.
Is Herbal Essences really natural?
No, Herbal Essences is not natural. In fact, they’ve been the center of lawsuits regarding their false advertising claims.
Herbal Essences products do contain some natural ingredients, but they also contain synthetic ingredients and chemicals that can cause skin or health issues.
Are Herbal Essences products cruelty free and vegan?
PETA has certified Herbal Essences as cruelty-free, although it is not vegan-friendly because it incorporates some animal-based products.
Related post: Is Head And Shoulders Bad For Your Hair?
Is Herbal Essences Good For Hair Wrap Up
Finding good hair care products these days is like finding a treasure chest in your backyard. The simplest explanation for “is Herbal Essences good for hair” is “it depends!” Although Herbal Essences shampoos and conditioners are typically healthy for your hair, they may contain certain potentially harmful ingredients that can damage hair or scalp.
While Herbal Essences products include some effective natural extracts and conditioning agents, they also products contain preservatives, silicones, and aroma compounds that may be harmful to your hair in the long run. So, whether or not you should use Herbal Essences products depends on your hair needs and budget. Because everyone’s hair reacts differently to different products, you should experiment with what works best for you.
It’s also important to read reviews before purchasing to see how others with similar hair liked the products. This can give you a good idea of whether or not a product will work well for you.
In general, Herbal Essences is a good, affordable hair care brand that offers a wide range of products for all hair types. However, they are not the safest or most natural brand out there. If you’re looking for a more natural or safer alternative, there are plenty of other options available.
