Hair products contain active ingredients that make the product work! For example, a shampoo needs a cleansing agent that will clean your scalp and hair. A conditioner needs an emollient to condition the hair, and a detangling agent that will provide slip. The hair care industry has developed chemicals that are extremely effective at giving you these results.

However, many of these effective ingredients have side effects. Over time, they can damage your hair, skin, and body.

At NaturAll Club, we don’t think you should compromise the results of your products, or the health of your body. So we took the most effective ingredients out there, and created natural alternatives that give you even better results! This is the future of hair care.

Want to learn more about the chemistry of hair product formulas? We have broken down hair product formulas by ingredient function. Under each category you can learn about the most common ingredients used in product formulas, and the substitutions we have made at NaturAll Club to give you the same results without any negative side effects. 

CLEANSER

Also known as a surfactant, any cleansing product needs an active cleansing ingredient to remove dirt, pollutants, impurities, and product buildup from hair and scalp. Surfactants also reduce surface tension of product, make it easier to spread throughout your hair, and enhance the foam and suds of the product.

Commonly used:

• Sulfates: sodium lauryl sulfate, ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, or any ingredient ending in "sulfate." Sulfates act like a detergent in your hair, stripping away not just dirt and product buildup, but also the natural oils produced by your scalp, leaving your hair dry, frizzy, and prone to breakage.
• Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a common alternative to sulfates, but causes irritation and allergic reactions, and can be contaminated with carcinogenic impurities.

What we use:

• Naturally derived from coconut, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate clings to dirt and pollutants and allows them to be washed away. It is extremely safe and gentle, commonly used in toothpaste and baby soaps!
• Shea ButterAmidopropyl Betaine is a safe, cutting-edge ingredient that provides the same results of Cocamidopropyl Betaine (reducing surface tension, providing foam, cleansing hair) without any side effects.
• Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate is a natural alternative to sulfates. Rather than stripping your hair of its natural oils, this cleansing agent gently removes dirt, pollutants, and product buildup leaving your hair and scalp refreshed. This naturally-derived ingredient is also safe and non-toxic.
• Decyl Glucoside: This naturally derived ingredient is a mild, gentle cleaning agent. It produces moderate amount of stable foam in cleansing products. It is biodegradeable, non-irritating, non-allergenic, and does not dry out the skin or hair.
• Disodium Cocoamphodipropionate is another mild cleansing agent. We use it in our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo to remove dirt without stripping your hair. It also enhances the feeling, sheen, and suppleness of your natural hair!
• Tea Tree Oil is also antimicrobial, so it helps prevent many hair problems like dandruff, cradle cap, baldness, psoriasis, head lice, etc. We use it in our Avocado Deep Conditioners.

DETANGLER

A detangling agent provides slip and makes hair easier to detangle. It is needed in any conditioning product!

Commonly used:

• Behentrimonium chloride provides slip and detangles hair, but it has risks of toxicity and allergic reactions.
• Behentrimonium methosulfate is an excellent detangler and provides a lot of slip, but it is also a known skin irritant and allergen. It can cause a burning sensation to people with sensitive skin, and is dangerous to use on broken skin, open wounds, or cuts.

What we use:

• Fresh Avocado is rich in monounsaturated fats, coating the hair strand with oil, providing slip, and making your hair more manageable! Fresh avocado is the primary detangling agent in our Avocado Deep Conditioners.
• Avocado oil is the most direct and pure form of those monounsaturated fats found in the fresh avocado. Avocado oil has a higher ratio of oleic acid and monounsaturated fats than almost any other oil, which is why we use it in our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo and our Deep Conditioners to provide slip!
• Olive oil is also rich in monounsaturated fats that both penetrate the hair shaft with moisture and provide slip. Olive oil is a detangling agent on our Avocado Deep Conditioner.
• Panthenol forms a smooth film over the hair shaft, sealing holes in the surface and giving it a shiny appearance. It provides slip and helps with detangling, but panthenol is also soluble in both water and alcohol, preventing it from causing buildup on your hair. It can also reduce inflammation and itching on the scalp! This is why we use it in our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo and Hydrating Avocado Shampoo.

EMOLLIENT

In addition to providing slip and manageability, hair products also need to condition and soften the hair and scalp. These emollients in hair products also add moisture and shine.

Commonly used:

• Mineral oil and petroleum condition hair, while coating and weighing it down. These ingredients cause buildup and suffocate the hair and scalp, leading to acne, unbalanced oil levels on the scalp, hindered skin respiration, and skin irritation.
• Polyethylene Glycol can cause irritation and can be contaminated with more hazardous chemicals.
• Behentrimonium Chloride has risks of allergy and toxicity

What we use:

• Coconut oil has a high moisture retaining capacity. It keeps hair moist and soft, preventing breakage.
• Shea butter is a natural conditioner for hair as it absorbs easily into the scalp and it does not clog the pores. It provides moisture from the roots to the ends of your hair making it an excellent emollient in our Avocado Deep Conditioners.
• Honey is also an emollient, smoothing and softening hair, making it shinier.
• Jojoba oil in our Growth Serum moisturizes the hair and scalp, soothes the skin, unclogs pores, and prevents skin irritations and dandruff.
• Glyceryl Caprylate (naturally derived) also provides a moisturizing effect to our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo and conditions the hair and skin.
• Brassica Alcohol (naturally derived) is safe, non-irritating, softening, and moisturizing. Unlike drying alcohols, it is a fatty alcohol that is great for natural hair! It improves the manageability of curly and kinky hair, making it easier to detangle and reducing breakage.
• Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (naturally derived) is one of the best emollients out there! It replenishes skin and hair with moisture and prevents moisture loss, without leaving a greasy residue. It is also safe and gentle, great for sensitive skin and fragile hair. We use it in our Hydrating Avocado Conditioner.

REPAIR

We think your hair products should go beyond making your hair feel good- they should actually repair and strengthen your hair! Many active ingredients provide repair and nourishment for your hair and skin.

Commonly used:

• Retinol is a potent and synthetic form of Vitamin A, which is great for repairing damage to your hair, but over time it has potential associations with developmental and reproductive toxicity.
• Retinyl Palmitate is considered a gentler version of retinol, but it is often added to personal care products in greater concentrations than retinol in order to be effective. It still has potential associations with developmental and reproductive toxicity, and has been found to enhance photocarcinogenicity

What we use:

• Vitamin A is great for repairing your hair and skin! It’s just dangerous in the form of retinol or in excessive quantities. That’s why our Avocado Deep Conditioners contain fresh avocado, which are naturally rich in vitamin A. Vitamin A helps repair and protect hair from damage, and encourages hair growth.
• We also use vitamin E oil, another vitamin that is incredibly effective for repairing damage to your hair strands and strengthening your hair. We use vitamin E oil in our Deep Conditioners, our Shea Butter Leave In Serum, and our Jamaican Black Castor Oil Growth Serum.

FRAGRANCE

Everyone loves a product that smells good! Many active ingredients in hair products are odorless, so almost all formulas contain a small percentage of fragrance, a highly aromatic mixture that lends scent to the entire product.

Commonly used:

• Phthalates are used to make scents and fragrances last longer, but they are associated with cancer. They were banned from toy manufacturing in California in 2009 due to this risk. However, they are still widely used in cosmetics.
• Most "Fragrances” (parfum) are blends of natural or synthetic aromatic ingredients. Unfortunately the term “fragrance” is not regulated, so a manufacturer can use “fragrance” to disguise other ingredients they don’t want to disclose on the bottle. One common example of this is phthalates- most fragrance blends contain phthalates to make the scent last longer, and the ingredient “fragrance” allows the brand to avoid putting “phthalate” on the bottle.

What we use:

• Essential oils are highly aromatic and provide scents to our Deep Conditioners and Jamaican Black Castor Oil Growth Serum, along with other beneficial side effects (they are calming, can improve sleep, and even promote hair growth!)
• Natural Fragrance Blend is the fragrance in our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo and Hydrating Avocado Conditioner. It is a mixture of many different natural ingredients and essential oils. We are committed to only using safe and non-toxic ingredients, so our fragrance is 100% natural and phthalate-free!

PRESERVATIVE

In any shelf-stable product (a product you keep in your bathroom or shower, at room temperature), it is necessary to include a preservative that will prevent growth of bacteria and microbes within the product. Preservatives extend the shelf life of the product and prevent it from spoiling!

Commonly used:

• Parabens can disrupt hormones and even pose a cancer risk.
• Methylisothiazolinone has been linked to lung toxicity, allergic reactions, and possible neurotoxicity.
• Formaldehyde is extremely irritating to the skin and eyes. It is a known animal carcinogen, and may increase cancer risk for humans as well. These other preservatives release formaldehyde: Diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, Glyoxal, Imidazolidinyl urea, Polyoxymethylene urea, Quaternium-15, Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate
• Phenoxyethanol and Ethylhexylglycerin are safer alternatives, but still have the risk of irritation and mild toxicity.
• Triclosan is also a known endocrine disruptor and skin irritant
• Benzoic acid can be poisonous.

What we use:

• Caprylhydroxamic Acid is a safe, naturally-derived compound that provides gentle anti-microbial protection in our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo and Hydrating Avocado Conditioner without compromising your safety or results- in fact, it actually helps moisturize your hair! With this ingredient, our products can be shelf-stable without endangering your health.
• Citric acid is a mild preservative that helps kill bacteria and preserves the shelf life of our Avocado Deep Conditioners and Cleansing Avocado Shampoo, while also stabilizing the pH of the product and preventing frizz.

EMULSIFIERS AND SOLVENTS

Hair products contain a lot of ingredients, and not all of them mix easily! This is why we also need an emulsifier, which creates a smooth, stable consistency of the final product and prevents the separation of ingredients from the product. We also need solvents, which dissolve all of the active ingredients into the solution.

Commonly used:

• Diethanolamine (DEA) Triethanolamine (TEA) help emulsify hair products as well as stabilize pH, but they are common allergens and eye irritants. They are also associated with risk of cancer.
• Polysorbates are effective solvents and emulsifiers. However, they are also irritating and can be contaminated with chemicals that cause cancer.
• Isopropyl alcohol is a good solvent but dries out the hair
• Toluenes (including benzene) irritate the skin, damage the respiratory system, and can cause developmental damage
• Polyethylene glycol, an emulsifier, can irritate the skin.

What we use

• Glyceryl Caprylate is a natural, certified safe ingredient that helps emulsify our Cleansing Avocado Shampoo and provides a conditioning effect as well, restoring moisture balance to the skin.
• Guar gum helps bind the incredible natural ingredients together in our Avocado Deep Conditioners, which otherwise do not contain a chemical emulsifier.
• Brassicyl Isoleucinate Esylate emulsifies our Hydrating Avocado Conditioner, but it is also a conditioning and anti-static agent that helps detangle hair!

We are so proud of these innovative changes we have made to hair product formulas, giving you hair products that work! We don't have to compromise safety for results anymore. This is the future of hair care.

Stay tuned for updates to this page, and we continue to make innovations in styling and leave-in natural hair products!