What should I buy from.....IHERB.COM?

In honor of Spring I decided to blog about my recommendations for products to buy at various places. I thought I'd start with http://www.iherb.com/  --  because I get asked frequently what people should buy from there. I also have a coupon code you can use for $5 off your first order (it's at the top of my blog) if you haven't ordered before. I love ordering from iherb because they ship super fast and I always get my stuff in a day or two. I've never had a mixed up order and they responded to an email I sent very quickly. Excellent service!

So ....  you've got some money earmarked for product and decide to go shopping on iherb--what are some good options?

Shampoo's and Conditioners brands:

EO  -- There are several types. My favorite is the Sweet Orange but others like the Chamomile and Honey.

Giovanni  -- we love the 50/50 shampoo and the Tea Tree shampoo/conditioner. I like the Root 66 volume conditioner as well. We were not overly fond of the Smooth as Silk shampoo (has cones) or the condish (didn't work all that great).

Beauty without Cruelty -- LOVE the Leave In. It has great slip (but not too much for me) and works wonderfully underneath almost any styler. A little goes a long way. Not too fond of the smell but it doesn't linger. Have not tried the poo or condish (if you have leave a comment below!)

Aubrey Organics -- Of course you simply *must* try the Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner. Many like it (we thought it conditioned o.k. but T had a problem with waxy type build up). GPB is the only Aubrey condish we still have and we use it occasionally. I did not like the Aubrey shampoo's. Their liquid curl activator had the most horrendous smell (see other blog article on that!). We also tried the Island Naturals conditioners and were not fond of the smell. The trend seems to be that we don't like the smell of their products. Another product I strongly recommend you pick up is the Mandarin Magic -- this stuff is great to use to add to a gel to help it spread and as an all around moisturizing gel you can add with a curl jelly or as a leave in. This is, by far, my favorite Aubrey product! I tried the B5 Design gel and hated it--left my curls droopy and sad.

Avalon Organics -- You have to read the labels on these as some contain cones. I really like the Olive and Grape Seed (thanks Solidgold for turning me onto these!) poo and condish. I haven't tried the others.

Jason Natural -- my two favorite products are the Thin to Thick conditioner and the Curl Defining Cream.  Although the condish does not smell great (see previous blog posts) it does work well. The Curl Cream is really fabulous! It works wonders for me!

I am planning another iherb order for some Alba Botanical Gel and Leave in as well as Desert Essence shampoo and conditioner along with a few other products. Once I get them I'll review and post!

More OnGround conditioners with shampoos

On Ground conditioners part 2!

Here are some more conditioners that are available on ground. You may have to hit up Sally's, Marshall's/TJMaxx, health food store like Whole Foods or your local beauty supply store for these.


Healthy Sexy Hair Pumpkin Conditioner: We love this conditioner! It has been discontinued so those of you who want some jet into your local TJ Maxx and Marshall's to see if they have any left. It smells like pumpkin and fall and has no protein. It's moisturizing and can be used as a rinse out or leave in. One of the few that works well either way. It's medium thickness and has o.k. slip--if you get tons of tangles though I can't say this will help you get them all out. It didn't for my daughter. I love products that are unique and this one is certainly that!

Mop C Mixed Greens Conditioner: We love how this condish works. It is protein free and really does a great job at imparting moisture to my daughter's hair. Most of the ingredients are organic. It's a little pricier option but it works fabulously. You don't need the amount of conditioner you do with something like a cheaper condish so that's helpful at least. I must say we are not fond of the smell--it's a bit gaggy--nature/herb type.

EO Sweet Orange and Honey conditioner: I got this at Marshall's and it seems to come in two versions--Sweet Orange and Sweet Orange and Honey. There is a difference in the ingredients. The SOH one seems more like what I'd seen at Whole Foods with the Chamomile and Honey. This condish has protein and BTMS. It has very good slip and is really moisturizing. When you put it in your hair it almost seems to expand and feel foamy. It leaves your hair incredibly soft. For my son this is his favorite conditioner as he loves the sweet orange essential oil smell and it leaves his hair softer than any other conditioner. Given it is about $9 for a big bottle at Marshall's this really should be a condish in your arsenal if you can find it. There are other EO conditioners available at Marshall's but we haven't tried them--the ingredients are all similar. Word of warning: For some reason the Coconut conditioner has cones in it so just stay away from that one!

Terax Life Drops: This is a unique leave-in conditioner. The smell is VERY sweet and it's very thin and opaque. It is FULL of protein. I love this leave-in! It is not heavy and gives my hair a nice protein boost which, in turn, activates more curls. Highly recommended! It is VERY pricey but a little goes a long way and I feel it is worth it!

Aubrey Organics GPB and various other assorted conditioners: The only AO condish we use regularly is GPB. I love the smell. All of the AO conditioners are very thick and smell like herbs of one sort or another. We tried and swapped several others including Honeysuckle Rose and White Camellia along with Island Naturals. The HSR gave T build up--not good. Neither of us liked the smells of the other two WC and IN--to be honest we found the smells overpowering and they lingered f-o-r-e-v-e-r in our hair! There is a LOT of love for the AOHSR on both naturallycurly.com and the LongHairCareForums (LHCF) as well so these are probably ones you should pick up right away to test out.

Taliah Waajid Enhancing Herbal Conditioner: This can be had pretty widely and in many states at CVS pharmacy. It smells like Pina Colada but I find it kind of a fake and overpowering smell. It works well enough but after several uses both T and I thought our hair had some residue or something. It is very moisturizing but we prefer many of our other conditioners.

There are also a few shampoo's we've used and like OnGround so I thought I'd mention them:

Healthy Sexy Hair Chocolate Soymilk is very chocolate smelling as you would expect. It cleans very well--and leans towards very good cleaning (not necessarily stripped but not as moisturizing as other SLS/ALS free poo's). My son loves this shampoo and we use it regularly on his hair.

For my daughter's hair the HSH CS was a bit too stripping (remember her hair is VERY dry) so we instead use the Mop C Hydrating Shampoo--this smells sweet and has a thick consistency. It is very moisturizing but clean's well. Non stripping it is a blend of organic ingredients. As you can see by the bottle you do not need alot. This is used when we do my daughter's hair and we've had it almost 2 months and we haven't used tons of it. So although it's expensive it is another case where a little goes a long way.