The Clunkster

haircare

Act + Acre's Essentials

Beauty, Beauty Review, Cruelty-Free, WellnessKristenComment

Once upon a time, I stepped out of my shower and smelled something disgusting. I had just washed my hair and body, so it couldn’t have been me, right? Wrong! My hair smelled like a bottle of expired Nair. 

I quickly started Googling: “Why does my hair smell?” “Smelly hair after a shower” “My hair smells bad after shampooing.” 

Well, it turns out that my night-showering lifestyle had caught up to me. I knew that sleeping with wet hair could cause breakage, but it turns out that it can also cause *drumroll* mildew

Yes, you read that right! If you sleep with wet hair, there’s a good chance that you’ll grow mildew in your hair. In! Your! Hair! 

Now, it’s not confirmed that I was actually growing mildew in my hair. But the thought was enough to scare me into switching up my routine. I remembered a brand I used to sell at Naked Retail: Act + Acre. The focus of their products was all about scalp health. I knew from reciting my shpiel to customers that they were truly an amazing brand. So, I ordered a pack of The Essentials and excitedly awaited my ticket to non-smelly hair.

Act + Acre is a brand created for all hair types with the Earth in mind. Usually, shampoo and conditioner are made by mixing all the ingredients in a huge vat and using lots of heat. This method boils out all the nutrients in the ingredients that are essential for your hair. 

Instead, Act + Acre uses a cold-processed method, which involves - you guessed it - cold water and high pressure. This consumes 90% less energy than the typical heat method. It’s better for the Earth and better for you and your hair. 

The cleanse (aka shampoo), conditioner, and scalp detox that I purchased smell freakin’ amazing. It’s a very subtle, natural scent of ylang-ylang and basil. Of course, their ingredients are as high-quality as their eco-friendly ideals.

I was most excited to try the Scalp Detox because I had never heard of anything like it. It’s made to get all the product buildup out of your scalp. This helps your hair grow more since your hair follicles aren’t clogged with the crap in dry shampoo and other products. Healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp! 

On the days I wash my hair, I start with the Scalp Detox. I section my hair off and apply the oil directly to my scalp. Sometimes I put some in my hands and rub it on harder to reach areas. 

I leave the Detox on for about twenty minutes. In that time, I’ll do my skincare routine, brush my teeth, take my vitamins, and scroll through Instagram for a bit. By that time, I’m all set to jump in the shower and wash it out of my hair with the cleanse.

The Cleanse works like a normal shampoo, but it’s really important to rinse and repeat. The first application doesn’t suds up as much, but the second time around, holy moly, do you feel clean. And that’s without sulfates, which is usually what makes a product suds up! 

The Conditioner is pretty standard as well: apply it mid-shaft to ends and leave for five minutes. I’ll usually wash my body and shave my legs while it’s setting. 

Across all the products, a little goes a long, long way. I’ve had all of these for around six months and I’m barely a third of the way through all the bottles. Moderation is key with the Detox, since using too much may make your hair oily. But for the Cleanse and Conditioner, all you need is a quarter size and a lot of water. An added bonus is that your hair stays cleaner longer, so you wash less. I typically wash my hair once a week, but I’ve been able to let it go a little longer while using Act + Acre

I can confidently say that my hair is twelve times healthier after using Act + Acre. No exaggeration! Sometimes I’ll look in the mirror at my hair and I’m actually amazed at how good it looks when I haven’t done anything else to it. It’s wild.

And the best part? My hair doesn’t smell anymore! Act + Acre is for a sure a ride or die brand for me. I highly recommend it!

my ride or die haircare products

Beauty, Beauty Review, Cruelty-FreeKristenComment

I’ve always loved taking care of my hair. Part of my fascination is figuring out which products work for me, and which just don’t. My hair is pretty thick and tends to get wavy and frizzy. I know there are soooo many different types of hair out there, so these products may not work for you, but here are the products I couldn’t live without!

Not Your Mother’s All Eyes On Me 10-in-1 Hair Perfector, $7

I got this product in an Influenster VoxBox two years ago and I’ve been obsessed ever since! It claims to add body, strengthen, detangle, moisturize, add shine, control frizz, repair dry hair, act as a heat protectant, mend split ends, and seal cuticles, which all sounds way too good to be true, but I’m telling you, this is a miracle product.

I usually towel dry my hair when I get out of the shower, brush it out, spray some of this in my hair, brush it through, then towel dry some more. I’ve noticed a serious difference in my hair since I started using it. It makes my hair so ridiculously soft. I even got my mom to start using it!

Check out my full review here!

Buy here

T3 Micro Singlepass Compact Straightener, $89

I straighten my hair quite a bit, so when a couple years ago I learned that ceramic straighteners are better for your hair, I did my research and T3 came very highly recommended. So, I jumped on the bandwagon, and never turned back! This is the best straightener I’ve ever used. Ever. 

The first time I used it, I was legitimately in shock. My hair looked amazing. I was upset I hadn’t bought it sooner! For years, it would take me at least an hour and a half to straighten my hair. Now it takes maybe fifteen minutes. I don’t need to pull my hair or keep running over parts because it gets the job done perfectly. I recommend this straightener to literally everyone. All of T3’s products are great, but this one right here is magic. 

Buy here

R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo, $32

I’ve been using different dry shampoos for years, but I haven’t been able to find one that’s perfect for me, until now! I had heard of R+Co before, but learned a lot more about it when we started selling them at Naked Retail. Since everyone was raving about their products, I decided to give the dry shampoo a try, and I’m so happy I did!

Other dry shampoos I’ve used have left a weird powder film on my hair. I even tried a tinted dry shampoo spray, which was just horrible. Death Valley sprays on clear and leaves no residue at all. It also smells so yummy! Not all of your hair products have to smell like chemicals, I promise. 

R+Co is also cruelty-free, vegan, color-safe, sulfate-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free… I could go on. Basically full of the good stuff and none of the bad. 

Buy here

What are your ride or die hair products? Let me know in the comments!

Renpure's Keratin and Argan Restorative Shampoo

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hello, my angels! I’m coming at you live from Long Island, New York, where I’m surrounded by boxes and piles of my belongings. Things are coming together slowly but surely, but I’m still overwhelmed! 

Today, I’m writing about Renpure’s Keratin and Argan Restorative Shampoo. I found it in Target earlier this year and decided to buy it because it had great ingredients and my hair needed some serious restoring at the time. Since then, I’ve chopped a chunk of my mane off (which you’d know if you were following me on Instagram ;) ). My hair feels so happy and healthy!

Anyway, I’ve been trying to use more natural, clean beauty products lately. Renpure stood out to me in the beauty aisle because of this shampoo’s two main ingredients: argan and keratin. I knew that keratin makes hair straighter and smoother, and that argan oil has a ton of healing properties. I’ve learned from Renpure’s website that argan has lots of vitamin E, antioxidants, and fatty acids, which hydrate and refresh your hair. This shampoo was made with berries, apples, and desert lily, so it smells super yummy, which is really important to me all the time, but especially in the shower. 

All of Renpure’s products are free of sulfates, phthalates, dyes, parabens, gluten, propylene glycol, and, my favorite, “bad vibes” :) Renpure donates personal care products to homeless shelters and people affected by natural disasters as well. 

As much as I love Renpure’s mission and practices, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this shampoo. There was nothing wrong with it, but it definitely fell short of my expectations. I’ve been using it for a while, and I saw no difference in the smoothness of my hair or in my split ends, which I had lots of before I chopped them off. With such great ingredients and mission, I really expected more. I wouldn’t be against trying them in the future, but I probably wouldn’t go nuts to buy them again.

Have you tried Renpure’s products? Let me know what you think in the comments!

not your mother's all eyes on me 10-in-1 hair perfector

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty Review, SponsoredKristenComment

Hello hello hello! It’s Thursday and I am so tired from finals and all the other ~fabulous~ things life has thrown at me, but I’m also so excited to share this product with you all! Influenster just sent me a bunch of cool stuff to try in exchange for reviews, and this first one is definitely one of my favorites.

You all know how much I love my hair, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about just how difficult it is to keep up with sometimes. My hair is Rapunzel-long, which I love! But it’s also very thick and tangles very easily. Sometimes just running a brush through my hair is a workout.

Enter Not Your Mother’s All Eyes on Me 10-in-1 Hair Perfector. That’s certainly a mouthful, and definitely sounds too good to be true. This spray claims to add body, strengthen, detangle, moisturize, add shine, control frizz, repair dry hair, act as a heat protectant, mend split ends, and seal cuticles. How can a spray do all of these things?!

I don’t know, but it does! This thing is a legitimate miracle product. You just spritz it in your hair when you get out of the shower and comb it through. It started working almost immediately. I went to my boyfriend’s after I got out of the shower, and he couldn’t stop touching my hair.

I’ve noticed such a difference in my hair since I’ve started using it regularly. Usually when I come out of the shower I just towel dry my hair and let it exist in unbrushed waves for a while, which I still do, but my hair looks less of a ~grungy~ unbrushed mess and more of just cute, beachy waves. And you guys, my hair is literally the softest it’s ever been.

I very highly recommend this product, not just because of how well it works, but also because it’s cruelty-free! I’m so lucky to have received this product, and I can’t wait for you all to try it. Let me know if you love it as much as I do in the comments! 

If you’re interested in going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database and Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands. If you have any cruelty-free recommendations, please comment them below!

Maple Holistics' Tea Tree Oil Shampoo!

Cruelty-FreeKristenComment

One of the best parts of running a fashion/beauty blog is that I'm introduced to so many awesome brands and products, and I get to bring them to you all! It's something I really missed during my hiatus. That's why I was SO excited when Maple Holistics reached out to me to try out their Tea Tree Oil Shampoo

As you all know, cruelty-free beauty is extremely important to me, mainly because I hate that beauty brands test their products on innocent, helpless animals. The way I see it, if products are made with ingredients that have the potential to do things like burn a bunny's eye off, why would I want to use them? Lately, I've been trying to learn more about what's in the products I use every day. Unfortunately, I've had a coule of rude awakenings, but Maple Holistics is all about cruelty-free beauty, as well as all-natural beauty in general. When I use this shampoo, I'm confident its ingredients. All of Maple Holistics' products are all natural and sulfate-free. This shampoo in particular is also GMO-free, gluten-free, and paraben-free. 

And Maple Holistics is truly a holistic company. My beauty routine is my favorite part of the day, and Maple Holistics takes steps to elevate that special part of the day for all of their customers. They meticulously select essential oils to put in their products, which seriously makes the WORLD of a difference. I've been getting into aromatherapy lately, and it's amazing how much a good scent can improve your mental health. This Tea Tree Oil Shampoo smells amazing. Imagine taking a hot, steamy shower, letting hot water wash away your day accompanied by the amazing smell of tea tree oil. It's encapsulating! 

Now that you know all about how amazing Maple Holistics is as a company, I need to tell you about how amazing this shampoo is. I feel like it was basically created for me! Tea tree oil is great for moisture and wound care, so it only makes sense that this shampoo has amazing healing properties for the scalp. Mine is always irritated, especially when I wear my thick, heavy hair in a high ponytail. And now that I'm enduring my twentieth East Coast Winter, my scalp is drier than ever. After I started using this shampoo, my head felt so much less irritated, and my hair was a lot softer and healthier. It even solves dandruff and lice problems! This shampoo is also great for hair growth. I love my long hair, and I'd do anything to make sure it stays thick and healthy. 

Overall, I am so happy I tried this shampoo! It really made a difference for me, and I admire that it comes from such an ethical company. You can get your hands on a bottle of your own here, but if you're interested in trying more products from Maple Holistics, they offer the opportunity to try some of their products through their Free Samples Program, because they're just that awesome. 

If you’re interested in going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database and Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands. If you have any cruelty-free recommendations, please comment them below!