It’s no secret that when it comes to beauty, “budget” is not a word in my vocabulary. Then a couple of things happened: I ran out of my stash of Rahua Shampoos, I was in dire need of a new shampoo & I was at Target. Enter, Acure.
If you haven’t heard of this brand by now, Acure is everywhere: Whole Foods, Target, Vitacost, etc. After giving so many high end lines a try: Rahua, Intelligent Nutrients, Josh Rosebrook, Yarok – I decided why not give Acure a try? And am I glad that I stepped out of my “luxury” only mind frame.
Clarify – Repair – Volume are the three shampoos offered by Acure to address the main needs of customers: clarify for oilier hair, repair for dry/damaged hair, and volume for thin/weak hair. All formulas use natural and organic ingredients, green enough for most green beauty retailers yet at the very easy to handle – $9.99 price point for 8 fl oz (the 24 oz larger size is even better as a deal at $19.99).
Unlike other ‘budget friendly’ lines that tend to use low quality ingredients or only 1-5 ingredients, Acure uses a lot of certified organic ingredients and the typical ingredients list is quite packed with good ingredients like argan + echinacea plant stem cells, organic plant oils (like avocado, coconut, rosehips etc), CoQ10, quinoa, and essential oils like lemongrass, eucalyptus, and lavender. I really was quite impressed at how all these ingredients could be crammed into their price point.
Results Although the shampoos are meant to address different hair types, my dermatologist once told me to think of hair in the same way as we think about skin – an ever changing system where the needs are also changing. Therefore I use all three: clarify for days where I’ve worked out, repair throughout dry, winter days and volume when my hair just feels a little limp, lifeless and flat. I didn’t notice too much different between the three shampoos in terms of how my hair and scalp reacted but that may largely be due to the fact that I use them interchangeably.
The results at first didn’t “wow” me given how impressive the ingredients list is however after about 3 months of use, I realized that they held up and in some cases outperformed higher end green shampoos that I had previously used. My hair felt sufficiently clean, not stripped and my scalp is fairly happy with this system. I was not left yearning to go back to the more expensive brands which in itself is quite a testimonial to the value of these shampoos.
My favorite if I had to pick just one, would be the Volume Shampoo which results wise was like a middle-ground between Clarify and Repair, and smelled the loveliest with peppermint and rosemary. Given the price though, purchasing all 3 wouldn’t be all that outrageous considering that it is still lower priced than a single bottle of a higher end shampoo.
ACURE is widely available, you can try them at your local Whole Foods/Target. I’ve purchased from their website as well and you can check out their extensive hair products collection here.
Nice. I also always come back to acure. Rahua did not work for me at all, i found yarok nice. But acure us a staple. How did you find josh rosebrook’s shampoo? I have not tried it yet.
Author
Hi Laura, I liked Josh Rosebrook’s hair products and have used the Nourishing and Balance shampoo. One of the things that makes his stand out is how absolutely low foaming they are because Josh doesn’t even use coconut derived surfactants. It may be because of this but over time I noticed my hair start to tangle together almost like I wasn’t really washing it well or the cleansing power was not enough but my scalp really liked it. I think if your hair is really dry it might be ok.. mine only gets on the dry side if I’m using a shampoo that is stripping or if I shampoo more than 3 times a week and this was too much for me.
Are Acure shampoo’s safe for color treated hair?
I am really liking Andalou Naturals shampoos–they don’t smell as great as Yarok, but are more gentle. I hate the Acure shampoo packaging and while I liked the shampoo, it wasn’t enough to skip having the neatness of bottled shampoo.
Author
LOL Yes Nancy! I totally know what you mean, it is a little cartoony and stood out like a sore thumb among my other products. I loved Yarok & Intelligent Nutrients scent, in fact in terms of first impression, Intelligent Nutrients was AMAZING! But with the 30 day test, I found Acure kept my hair and scalp happier. It’s a tough case of overlooking the cover however I will continue to try out luxury options to see if there is anything else that might be good (perhaps Honest or GOOP will have something for us!)
I have only used Acure’s skin products and not been overly impressed so skipped the hair products. Looks like I will have to give this a chance next time I go to Whole Foods!
Author
Hi Gina, I think that Acure’s hair products are more competitive than their skincare (I do like their Cell Stimulating Facial Mask though). Definitely give them a try!
I’m currently testing Briogeo’s Ginseng volumizing shampoo and really like how well it performs. My hair is softer and shiner and it really does have a bit more volume. I have the dreaded oily scalp/dry ends combo and this shampoo seems to balance both. My previous fave has been Rare El’ements, but it’s expensive and I actually like this a bit better (though Rare El’ements is amazing for the depths of winter when my hair gets really dry).
At $22 for 8 oz. it’s not the very cheapest, but it’s also not super expensive, and it lathers well, so I need less of it.
I tried Acure’s clarifying shampoo, but it strangely made my scalp more oily and I wasn’t wild about the lemongrass scent that it left in my hair.
Author
Thanks for sharing! I just checked out their website and it looks pretty good in terms of ingredients and like you said the price is fair as well. Maybe the Clarifying was too stripping which caused your scalp to produce more oils? Try the Acure Volumizing and let me know if that works out better.
Any recomendations for a good dry shampoo?
Author
I’m pretty sure Acure makes a dry shampoo as does other green brands like One Love Organics. I don’t use dry shampoo because they all contain baking soda which is bad for hair long term
Our customers love Acure, and I was happy to find this review of the haircare line.
Author
Thanks for commenting! I’m glad your customers love Acure, they’re great!