Weleda Week: Weleda Oat Replenishing Shampoo

I think it's important that I begin this review by saying that the Weleda Oat Shampoo smells really good. I know that fragrance is a very subjective thing and this particular one is tricky to describe but I just feel like most people will enjoy the way this smells. Also, as if you would expect an oat shampoo ( or an oat anything, let's be real) to smell fantastic! Oats are just bland, beige little fibrous things some of us like to eat for breakfast aren't they? Apparently not, if this shampoo is anything to go by.

As it turns out, the humble oat is actually really good for your hair. This is because oats absorb silica in liquid form from the soil that the crops grow from, and silica is an important mineral that promotes healthy, shiny hair.

Phosphorus and Iron are also found in oats and are beneficial to the hair as, along with the silica, they smooth the hair cuticle, therefore reducing hair breakage and split ends.
Who knew?

The shampoo has a Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate base, which is essentially an alternative to SLS made from vegetable oils and Disodium Coco Glucoside Citrate which is a Sugar Surfactant ideal for people with sensitive skin and scalps.
Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acids ( a salt made from the fatty acid Lauric Acid and amino acids from oat proteins) is 4th on the inci list. I mention it's position on the inci as the higher an ingredient is on the list, the higher the percentage (hopefully that makes sense) and it's great to see a product marketed as an oat shampoo actually have oat as a vital component. You know when you see shampoos or body products with things like 'with lemon extracts' or worse, just called 'lemon shampoo' or 'lemon body lotion' (no idea why I'm using lemons as an analogy here) and then you look at the ingredients and lemon is listed right at the bottom, as if the bottle was once just in the same room as a lemon and that's it and you feel a tiny bit ripped off? There's none of that here. This is an oat shampoo and oats play a major role!

Using this shampoo is a slightly different experience to washing your hair with a typical SLS based shampoo (I don't have a problem with SLS as a side note) and the first time I used it my hair felt a little too clarified if you know what I mean. While it was still wet it felt quite stripped but bare in mind that I rarely actually use a conditioner after I shampoo (I prefer leave in conditioners) so that could have been a factor. Once it was dry, my hair went oily quite quickly and it didn't look or feel excellent by the next day. Not one to write off a product after one use, I persevered and washed with it again and things started looking up. Now I've used the shampoo four times and I'm really pleased; my hair is shiny and healthy looking with natural volume and it smells magnificent too.

Maybe the first wash was a bit weird because the formula was getting rid of some kind of build up left behind from my previous shampoo? Maybe I didn't rinse it out properly the first time round? Who knows. Either way, I think it's a lovely shampoo that's worth a shot whether you exclusively use natural products or not.
Weleda Oat Replenishing Shampoo is £11.95 for 190ml at Feel Unique.