Recently, a customer had some questions about my Cleansing Hair Conditioner and her concern about WEN and their class action lawsuit. I'd like to share some of that conversation with you.
Q) What exactly is Cleansing Hair Conditioner?
A) Cleansing Hair Conditioner washes and conditions your hair in one step. I don't want to call it a 2 in 1 because it's not like that. It has no foaming surfactants in it. What it does do is; gently clean your hair without stripping all of the natural sebum from your scalp. A Cleansing Conditioner should become your #1 tool to clean your hair. The shampoo & conditioner you currently use, and most likely contains sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, becomes your secondary cleansing system. You would use your commercial shampoo as a clarifying treatment every 4 or 8 washes, depending on your use of styling products and how dry or oily your hair is.
I'll give you 3 personal case studies:
My Husband: He's a landscaper. He comes home with stone dust, soil, sunscreen, you name it in his hair. He cleans his hair EVERYDAY with my product. He uses a commercial shampoo & conditioner (right now we have Live Clean in the house) every 8 weeks and then goes back to my product.
My Daughter: She has long, straight and fine hair. She washes her hair every other day with my product. I'll have her use Live Clean shampoo & conditioner every 2 weeks or so. However the last time she used Live Clean she complained of having an itchy scalp and dandruff, but that may be due to not rinsing properly. I also found I needed something stronger in the summer months to get all the pool chlorine out of her hair.
Me: I have fine (but lots of it), 50 year old hair that is going through that transformation from smooth and silky to grey, coarse and curly. I wash my hair with my CC every 3rd day, maybe stretch it to 4 with a ponytail or bun. I will use a regular shampoo & conditioner every 8 - 10 weeks.
Benefits I've experienced from using a Cleansing Conditioner:
- My hair colour lasts much longer than it used to
- I don't get split ends anymore
- My hair doesn't experience static electricity in the dry winter months
- I don't get that noticeable bump in my hair after I've been wearing a ponytail all day
Q) What about WEN and their class action lawsuit?
A) I don't test on animals, just my family and we have been using a version of my Cleansing Conditioner for about 3 years now and none of us are losing our hair. I'm not a scientist so I really can't explain why these women are losing their hair and if Wen is the culprit. What I do know is that Wen has at least 29 ingredients in it. One of them is Fragrance which can contain dozens of chemicals to create that scent, many of them possible carcinogens. T•LANGHANS Cleansing Hair Conditioner has 17 ingredients, one is virgin coconut oil and castor oil, another is quinoa and 5 of them are essential oils. That being said, I'm still not sure Wen has anything to do with the hair loss these women are experiencing. When I'm at trade shows I'm shocked to see how prevalent female baldness is! Next time your out and about, pay attention to how many women have thin hair at the crown of their head, you'll be surprised. I think this may have more to do with the nasty ingredients that are commonly used by most personal care, mass market brands and the GMO's in the food we eat today... to just name a few possible causes.
It's time to get back to simplicity. That's why I challenge my self to create an effective product with as few ingredients as possible.
I hope this answered all of your question!