Thursday, November 14, 2013

Product Review: Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Balance Moisturizing Conditioner

Based on so many positive reviews, I bought the Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Balance Moisturizing Conditioner about a year ago for the sole purpose of co-washing.  It is a great product to co-wash with.  Now that I don't co-wash, I decided to try it another way.  I bought this from Trader Joe's for under $5.

Product Description
When your hair is dry, it needs to be nourished. This balanced hair remoisturizer is ideal for replenishing dry, brittle hair. Perfect for use daily, it infuses moisture and exceptional shine, without weighing hair down. Enhanced with organic botanicals, it does not contain laurel/laureth sulfates.

Ingredients
purified water, organic rosemary oil, organic valencia orange citrus, organic mango, organic lemongrass, organic ginko biloba, organic echinacea, organic willow bark, organic sea kelp, organic chamomile flower, organic textured soy protein, organic lavender, organic grapefruit citrus, tocopherol (Vit E), acetamide MEA, cetyl alcohol, citric acid, methylparaben, propylparaben, botanical fragrance

Directions
Apply after Nourish Shampoo, massaging its wealth of moisture into drenched hair. Rinse thoroughly and style.

My Experience
When my hair was very short and I was swimming almost every day, I co-washed almost every day, and this product was great, especially for slip.  As the weather got colder and my hair got longer, I stopped co-washing as often. Now I wash my hair once a week with shampoo, so I don't co-wash at all.  So, I shelved this conditioner, thinking that I needed something thicker to deep condition with.  I've finally realized that my hair doesn't do well with thick conditioners so I decided to pull the Trader Joe's conditioner out and try it again.

I also have the Nourish Shampoo, and I like it, but I'm trying to stick with one shampoo for a while, so I used a Shea Moisture shampoo before I used this conditioner.  I put some of the conditioner in a bowl and microwaved it for 15 seconds before applying it to my hair.  My hair is low porosity, and I've been making a conscious effort to get more moisture in my hair.  I've realized that heat is actually my hair's friend and heating my conditioners help my hair absorb them better.  I put on a plastic cap and sat under the dryer for about 20 minutes.  When I took the plastic cap off, my hair was so moisturized and shiny that I didn't want to rinse it out!  However, even after I rinsed it out my hair was very moisturized and soft.  My hair was extremely easy to de-tangle, and I even saw some clumped curl definition- which I hardly ever see without twisting! Honestly, I haven't experienced this kind of moisture and soft texture since ORS Replenishing was my staple years ago when I was relaxed.  

I'm definitely going to continue to use this conditioner on a weekly basis.