Sometimes in the midst of all my skincare searching, I forget that my hair needs some special attention too. I have curly hair, which means that I don’t get to brush it often — meaning the natural oils don’t get distributed as they do with straight hair. So my hair is prone to drying out and getting frizzy — not my best look.
Aubrey Organics Hair Smoothing Serum ($16.22, amazon.com) has oils and plant extracts intended to give an extra moisturizing and smoothing boost to hair. Instructions say it works if you use it as a pre-wash moisturizer or as a smoothing serum before using heated styling tools. I found that since I wear my hair curly and let it air dry, it worked well for me as something to give my hair a little boost before I wash it.
Giving Hair Some Care
Many of the things we do to our hair regularly — dying, treating it with chemicals, leaving it unprotected in the sun, over washing — can have damaging effects that a regular wash and condition won’t undo.
For example, hair offers a lot of protection for the scalp, ears, and neck from the sun — unfortunately, it’s self-sacrificing. In order to give that coverage it breaks down in UV-irradiation (International Journal of Trichology). The pigment absorbs and filters the radiation, but in the process that breaks down the pigment — which leads to duller, more brittle hair.
Products containing lipids and amino acids have been shown to help strengthen hair (Journal of Cosmetic Science).
[Read More: Why You Absolutely Need to Wear a Hair Sunscreen — or a Sun Hat]
Quinoa Protein
Quinoa is a cereal grain — due to its botanical composition, it’s often called a pseudocereal — grown in the Andes Mountains. It’s known for having an exceptionally high and complete protein for a grain, somewhat more similar to animal protein than to plant protein. It’s also has added benefits with vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. It also contains the all of the ten essential amino acids (Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture).
Amino acids are crucially important in hair. As hair weathers the storm of our daily activity, it’s broken down and damaged — resulting in a loss of amino acids. Studies have shown that it’s possible to reintroduce these amino acids through cosmetic products, strengthening hair. Repeated usages of the product continue to replenish the lost amino acid supply (Journal of Cosmetic Science, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology).
Jojoba Oil
Jojoba is a plant found in the American Southwest. It’s been used be Native Americans as a moisturizer for hair and skin for years, but there’s not a lot of research outside of folk medicine (Plant Biotechnology Reports). While it isn’t backed by a lot of scientific research, anecdotal evidence suggests it’s effective. It mimics human sebum and forms a lipid layer on the skin and hair. Jojoba is a first generation occlusive moisturizer, which means that it helps to coats the surface of the hair and helps trap moisture. That means it will help trap the natural oils of your hair in the strands.
[Read More: What are the Differences between Occlusive, Humectant, and Reparative Moisturizers?]
Personal Use and Opinion
I had to use quite a bit of Aubrey Organics Hair Smoothing Serum to feel like I’d adequately worked it through my hair — though I’m not sure how much you’re supposed to use it or how often. After waiting ten minutes I washed and conditioned my hair and then air dried it to see the results. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of an impact the serum made on my hair in the short time I had it in. The ends of my hair, where I’d more focused the serum, were much softer and smoother than they usually were, and so my curls looked less frizzy. I hadn’t actually realized that I might have been neglecting my hair a little until I used this and saw that a little TLC made a big difference.
Bottom Line
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air needs some extra attention. All the things we put it through can strip the pigment and lead to dull, dry hair. Aubrey Organics Hair Smoothing Serum helps to counteract that. Quinoa protein has all the essential amino acids that the body needs and when put in hair care it can return some of those topically to the follicles. Jojoba oil is well known in folk medicine and has been used for thousands of years. It’s not very well-researched, but it’s been shown to be a first generation occlusive moisturizer that acts like human sebum to help dry skin — or hair. Overall, the product worked well for my curly hair and added some much needed moisture and extra conditioning.
Product Rating: Â 8/10
- High or optimized concentration of key ingredients: 3/3
- Unique formulation or new technology: Â 2/3
- Value: 3/3
- Sunscreen: 0/1