REASONS FOR PURCHASE

As someone who suffers from problem skin (allergies, eczema and blemishes. How lucky am I!?) I have come to the conclusion that natural products work best for me. Mainly, products that do not contain laurel sulphate (the stuff that makes shampoos and body / face washes lather up).

It's surprisingly difficult to find shampoo without these nasties in it, especially on the high street. I ended up bulk ordering shampoo and conditioner from Liz Earle, which was a bit of a pain because it runs out so quickly when used every day!

So when I discovered the Naked hair care range at my nearest branch of Boots I figured I'd give them a try. I originally used the sensitive / gentle shampoo and conditioner, but moved to this one when I had my hair coloured!

ABOUT THE BRAND AND ABOUT THE PRODUCT!

The company claim that all their products are 97% natural, and they pride themselves on taking out all the baddies and providing their customers with products that are effective, yet as natural as possible. The 3% 'unnatural' ingredients are the preservatives that would be necessary to stop the products going bad, separating, etc. So they're as natural as possible without compromising on quality basically! They're packaging is also natural - they apparently use as much recycled packaging as possible. Even better!

To sum them up, they do hair products, as well as all other types of beauty products. I'll focus on the shampoo that I'm reviewing though!

Naked Colour Protection Shampoo: "We use Sunflower extract, proven to reduce the harmful effects of the sun, to protect your hair. Cinnamon extract helps enhance all shades of hair colour to help prevent your hi-lights becoming low-life. Vegetarian and vegan friendly.

Apply to thoroughly wet hair for a feather soft lather. Rinse really well and repeat if necessary (you will achieve a better foam second time around). For best results finish with Naked Colour Protection Conditioner."

PRICE / AVAILABILITY / APPEARANCE

So I seem to be paying a little more than the RRP when I'm buying this shampoo in my Central London branch of Boots! I've discovered that the actual RRP of this is £3.99 for the standard 250ml bottle, but I've been paying £4 something. Note to self: buy locally, not near work!

You can buy these shampoos directly from the website for £3.99 each, from Boots online or in store for £4.07. Or for a little bit more if like me, your Boots branch is in Central London! (They usually add 50p extra to the price of each item in inner city branches).

The tubes are fairly simple, and may not look as 'flashy' as some beauty products because of the use of recycled plastic. This can be a bit duller / inconsistent at times. The packaging does reflect the product and brand though: all nice and natural!
The product information is nice and clear, and the shampoo comes out nice and neatly from the top lid. You press part of it down and the applicator pops up. No messing around with screwing and unscrewing lids!

USING THE SHAMPOO

I squeezed the usual amount of shampoo into the palm of my hand and lathered up my wet hair. The liquid was clear and smelled pleasant enough, not as delicious as some of the brand's other shampoos, more of a subtle scent with a whiff of ginger (though on reading the bottle I realised this scent is probably the cinnamon!).

I'd read that I may need to wash my hair twice with this to get a descent lather. That did seem excessive to me, but on first application, I really couldn't get it to lather up nicely. The lack of chemical nasties causes the lack of lather, but some other natural brand shampoos have overcome this issue. Liz Earle for example. I'm sure my hair would still be clean with the one wash, but out of curiosity I gave it another go, and this time got a full on foamy lather. I don't know why it works better second time round, but it really does!

When I've just had my hair coloured, I'll notice some pinkiness in the water when I rinse my shampoo away. My hair is dyed a very dark plummy red and this always happens for the first 5 or so washes after a colour. I can say that with this shampoo, I still lose the colour a bit and notice the pinky water, although ever so slightly less than usual. I'm hoping this will mean my colour lasts longer!

After using this shampoo for a while, I can say that I'm having far less breakage with my hair, and that it does feel more shiny and healthy. My colour hasn't faded yet, but it has only been a couple of months. So far so good though, and fingers crossed it lasts well!

OVER ALL

I like this shampoo and it seems to be working well so far on my coloured hair. For a natural product, it is very reasonably priced, and it's great that Boots are stocking the brand.

I would highly recommend the Naked shampoos and conditioners in general. If you haven't got coloured hair, have a look at what else they have available. They're all the same price. The sensitive scalp shampoo and conditioner smell delicious too!