I am quite obsessed with haircare especially since my crowning glory is not what it used to be pre-motherhood. Oiling is one of the things I firmly believe in now as against during my teens when I used to quarrel with mom because she wanted me to oil my hair!
While I love trying out new hair oils that are blends of various oils, I stay away from all the “non-sticky” hair oils that the big multinationals have launched because they are mainly mineral oil with a small percentage of seed oils.
Recently, Sand For Soapaholics sent me two products to try out, the Hair Oil Cake “Forever Twenty” and their hair and face serum “Quick Fix”. Did they turn out to be just gimmicky products or did they leave me impressed? Read on to know……..
About Sand For Soapaholics
Our range of products include natural artisan soaps, moisturizers, body creams, shampoos, conditioners etc. Inspired by traditional Indian home remedies for skin care, our creations contain ingredients like fresh ground nuts, fresh turmeric (ambe haldi), finger millet (ragi), gram flour (besan) and several other such skin-friendly ingredients available in most Indian kitchens and gardens. These ingredients are then blended with essential oils and exotic infusions such as goat milk, buttermilk, saffron infused water etc.
Everyone has heard the traditional maxim – “we are what we eat”. We at SaND take it a step further, as we also believe “we are what we use”. Your skin deserves only the best, and it is for this reason that we have used a combination of edible and medicinal plants that repair, nourish and maintain skin health, to make our safe, pure and highly effective products. Meticulous care and innovation distinguishes everything we do. Not only is our entire product range made from scratch, using quality ingredients, but we also do it all by hand, from mixing and blending, to curing and packaging. Once you buy a SaND product, we promise you you will get hooked!
FOREVER TWENTY
An exotic blend of oils with 20 herbs that enhance hair health and came in a solid “cake/bar” form! I simply had to try this out. Of course by the time it reached me, braving the Mumbai heat, it had partially melted and lost it’s shape but hadn’t “liquefied” completely.
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| That’s the quantity of product I have left. I took pictures when I first got it but deleted those by mistake. |
Ingredients
Every 10g contains Oil blend of Narikela (Cocos nucifera), Til (Sesamum indicum), Avocado, Jaithuna (Olea europeoa) & Jojoba (47.91%), Cocoa Butter (20.87%), Madhuchista (Beeswax) (10.50%), Blend of Powders of Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Brahmi (Bacopa monneiri), Kachura (Curcuma zedoaria), Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi), Loha Bhasma (Iron calx), Bhringa Raja (Eclipta alba), Shigru (Moringa oleifera) & Musta (Cyperus rotundus) (2.43%), Ess.Oil blend of Usheera (Vetiveria zizanioides), Bay, Kajuput (Melaleuca leucadendron), Pudina (Mentha piperata), Hapusha (Juneperus communis), Rusmary (Rosmarinus officinalis) (0.93%), Kumari (Aloe vera) (0.27%), Extract of Amalaki (Emblica officinalis) (0.22%)
My Experience
Isn’t that ingredient list super impressive? The oil is just as impressive. It has a balmy texture that melts when you rub the fingertips together and spreads easily without dripping down. I love to massage my scalp with this and it doesn’t feel very oily or greasy. Perhaps that’s because of the beeswax. Though I love my hair oil to be really thick and sticky (I know, weird right?), I like the feel of this one.
The smell reminds me of the oils used in Ayurvedic massages, very herbal and earthy. I like the smell but hubby doesn’t. If you’re the kind who doesn’t really like “ayurvedic” kind of fragrances, then you might not like this one.
The smell reminds me of the oils used in Ayurvedic massages, very herbal and earthy. I like the smell but hubby doesn’t. If you’re the kind who doesn’t really like “ayurvedic” kind of fragrances, then you might not like this one.
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| Sand For Soapaholics Forever Twenty Hair Oil Cake texture. |
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| Sand for Soapaholics Forever Twenty Hair oil Cake texture, partly melted. |
Since I have started using this oil, my hair is slightly less frizzy than it used to be. It also shampoos off quite easily in two washes (like most other oils). Forever Twenty is my second favourite hair oil (my favourite one being the Yves Rocher one that I haven’t yet reviewed) and I also like the fact that it is quite travel friendly. Unless of course it is summer then it might just melt and start leaking…
Price
Forever Twenty is priced at ₹480. The size / quantity is surprisingly missing from the website as well as on the product itself, but it seems to be around 50g. It might seem expensive but it’s quite worth it for all the oils and herbs that have been blended in it.
QUICK FIX
A multi-tasking product that can be used for the face AND the hair??? Sounds too good to be true right? I thought it would be a gimmicky product but was pleasantly surprised to find that it does work quite well!
Ingredients
Every 10gm contains Kumari (Aloe vera) (72.00%), Jojoba Oil (24.00%), Phenoxyethanol (1.00%), Ess.Oil blend of Rusmary (Rosmarinus officinalis) & Ylang Ylang (1.00%)
No silicones and no mineral oil. Yes, it does have phenoxyethanol as a preservative and when I asked the Soapaholics folks about it, here’s what they had to say:
“ We try to keep our products as natural as possible but we need to use preservatives sometimes so that our customers have a sufficient amount of time to enjoy our creations. Yes, preservatives are chemicals, but they are a lot better for the skin than the bacteria or fungi that will form in a product after a while if a preservative is not added. We have used phenoxyethanol in some of our products because it is an organic chemical – it occurs naturally in chicory and green tea. It is a gentle preservative that is used across a range of cosmetic products and toiletries. It offers numerous benefits such as protection against bacterium, moulds and yeasts, which helps to prevent spoilage of cosmetic products, and is a reliable alternative to harmful parabens.
It is also one of the few preservatives that does not release formaldehyde and is on the Soil Association’s list of preservatives that can be used in organic cosmetics. We understand that there are reports of it being a skin irritant but it is important to note that the available research data is from cases where the exposure is to Phenoxyethanol in isolation and to products containing very a high content of the preservative. We use only upto 1% of Phenoxyethanol wherever it is used in our product range, which is the consistent with the current cosmetic regulation.”
I really appreciate the fact that they gave such an honest answer. Would I rather have a harmless one percent of preservative that is naturally occurring or would I like to have bacteria and mould in my product? I’ll the former, thank you very much.
My Experience
Quick Fix has a very lightweight cream texture that melts almost instantly leaving behind a very dewy, almost oily kind of look. It doesn’t feel oily though, it feels slightly cooling when you apply it and makes the skin very soft and smooth. I don’t use it on my entire face though, only on the dry parts like my upper lip and corners of the lips which tend to flake in winter.
Initially, when you use this as a hair serum, it takes some time getting used to since it doesn’t have the silky feel that silicones give other products. Also, less is more with Quick Fix since using more will make your hair greasy and lank. You need just a little to smoothen the frizz and make hair softer and shinier. I love the fact that there are no baddies in this serum and that it is actually nourishing your hair while making it look prettier!
Quick Fix also has a very herby fragrance to it and smells more of rosemary than ylang ylang (to my nose). The fragrance doesn’t linger long though.
Price
Quick Fix is priced at ₹600 for 30g. You actually need a really small quantity per application so 30g will last you for a long time. It is also available in 50g, 100g and 1kg packaging.
Sand For Soapaholics has a wonderful product range comprising of soaps, body scrubs, creams, face care products and hair care products. You can check them all out on their website here. I’m going to order the hair masks because all three variants of the hair masks, especially Hair Force, have wonderful ingredients.
Have you tried out any products from Sand For Soapaholics? What product are you eager to try out?
Wow! both products look very interesting and promising. Would love to try them soon. Moving to their website now 🙂
Thanks.
It sounds great..Thanks for the awesome review…
love
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It looks promising. I will check them out.
They looks very interesting and new