Brand Focus: Not Your Mother's Haircare

In the past I was never too faffled with my haircare products. Towards the end of last year I discovered that I did have a minor sulfur allergy, and towards the very end of last year I did notice that my hair was falling out at much larger quantities and a much quicker rate than I was comfortable with. I attributed this to part of my recovery from my illness in the middle of Fall as hair loss is a common side effect with your body's recovery. I also attributed the other part of this to the ingredient 'Sodium Laureth Sulfate' in many of my hair products. Sadly as I started looking through most of the shampoos and conditioners in stores they all contained this dreaded ingredient. Most hair products for colored hair on the other hand do not contain this ingredient so I used these for a while. Fun fact, if you have colored hair avoid hair products with sulfate as those will strip the color out of your hair much quicker. I finally noticed in a corner of target a section noting 'Sulfate Free' haircare. Among them was the Not Your Mother's (NYM) brand. The simple yet fun packaging really reeled me in and the actual product is what kept me.

NYM's mission is to create the highest quality, salon comparable haircare items at the most affordable prices.

I really think the brand has nailed their mission and as you can see, I've picked up quite a variety and I am just smitten with the brand. They have changed the way I feel about my hair and overall my hair is feeling thicker and hair loss is definitely down to a bare minimum. Even with brushing my hair, at most maybe 1-2 strands fall out which I believe is rather normal if not great. 

The first product I picked up from the brand was the Clean Freak Purifying Shampoo. During my last trip to Europe I began washing my hair every other day - as I didn't want to be bothered with drying or styling my hair every morning while traveling. This habit has much kicked in and I've carried it on since. With less washes, my hair feels much healthier and getting ready and styling my hair is a cinch. With that I wanted to make sure that each time I did wash my hair it was thoroughly clean as I was spraying a teeny bit of product and hairspray here and there. Note that this shampoo can be a bit stripping so it would be great to alternate this with another shampoo. This particular shampoo has a minty scent (raspberry mint to be specific) and leaves a tingly feeling on your scalp when massaging this into your hair. I personally love this feeling so if you do too, this would be a great choice! 

I recently chopped off six inches of hair (and boy does it feel great)! My hair now falls beneath my shoulders and I've been embracing the short lob-esque hair and have been adding lots of beachy waves into it for that "effortlessly cool" look. I decided to go for a shampoo that would give me the soft waves I wanted and the Beach Babe Moisturizing Shampoo caught my eye. This one is infused with coconut oil to help moisturize and add volume into your hair. It reminds me of summer and sand and relaxation when I use it and I'm glad that I'm pairing my short hair with this shampoo as Summer really starts to kick off. It is a rather faux-coconut scent (does that even make sense?) so if you're sensitive to scents or not a fan of coconuts I might stay away. I'm personally not all too fond of coconut but as of late, I've just been digging the scent. If you're looking for a sea salt spray, NYM has their own version which comes with some pretty stellar reviews. I may need to give this one a go myself!

I needed to pick up a conditioner so I decided to give the Way to Grow, Long & Strong Conditioner a go. Since I was trying to grow my hair out and prevent any further thinning, i thought this would be the perfect addition. This one smells absolutely delicious, somewhat sweet yet clean at the same time. Some people aren't a huge fan of it, so I'd be sure to sniff it beforehand if I were you. It has a thick and moussey texture and helps my hair feel so soft and clean. I would definitely say this one has helped my hair feel strong again and less prone to breakage. We'll see if this one passes the test of helping my hair grow out long! My hair already grows relatively fast, so we'll see where I can get by the end of Summer / beginning of Fall.

NYM is cruelty free and does not sell their products in China. All products are gluten-free while most products are vegan (with the exception of a few items that contain keratin from sheep wool - taken from shearings!) No animals are harmed in the making of NYM products, these are only tested on human heads! 

For all my non-U.S. Readers:
NYM PRODUCTS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE OUTSIDE THE U.S. IN: AUSTRALIA THROUGH I-GLAMOUR.COM; CANADA THROUGH AMAZON.CA; CHILE THROUGH THE REPUBLIC OF BEAUTY; MEXICO THROUGH WALMART; UK & EUROPE AVAILABILITY THROUGH URBAN OUTFITTERS! 

Have you ever converted all your hair care products to be sulfate and paraben free? If not, give it a go and see if that helps strengthen your hair! 

If you haven't heard of or given this brand a chance, definitely do! As they have impressed me from day one and continue to impress me as I try new items.

(PS This post is totally not sponsored in any way by the NYM brand. I just wanted to share my discovery of this amazing haircare brand.)