Beauty therapy: My new hair heroes

Beauty therapy: My new hair heroes

By Edwina Ings-chambers For You Magazine

Published: 00:02 GMT, 3 March 2019 | Updated: 00:02 GMT, 3 March 2019

In all honesty, natural haircare is something I struggle with. Not that I have an issue with its existence, but I often have difficulty with its performance: it can leave my hair feeling heavy and lank. Mind you, mainstream hair products can be disappointing too. 

Enter Yolanda Cooper of Northern Irish-based brand We Are Paradoxx. Yolanda used to work at the self-tanning brand Vita Liberata, where she fell in love with the beauty biz and started to care more about organic products. One day she had her lightbulb moment: ‘I was being so careful about what I put on my body then buying anything for my hair.’

Super Natural Shampoo and Secret Weapon 3-in-1 Conditioner

She researched the natural haircare market and found the offering limited: products not luxe enough, packaging too twee and she felt there was too much compromise, so she set out to change that. In the space of a year she found a manufacturer and worked with a chemist to create organic products that performed on all fronts: no sulphates, no parabens, PEG-free, vegan and fragrance via essential oils. Irish ingredients run throughout, from hops (think beer rinsing to give your hair gloss) to carrageen moss to condition.

Eco and organic credentials aside, I love this stuff 

She tried to be ‘clean’ in other areas, too. The packaging is all in recycled aluminium – ‘When I was about to place an order for my first 100,000 bottles I realised I couldn’t bring myself to do it in plastic,’ she says. She’s planning to launch non-plastic recyclable tube refills and will be donating one per cent of all revenue to 1% For The Planet, a global environmental organisation.

Hangover Hair Elixir

Eco and organic credentials aside, I love this stuff because it works. The Secret Weapon 3-in-1 Conditioner (£20) can be used as a mask and styling product. The Super Natural Shampoo (£18) still lathers but they both leave my hair feeling clean, looking shiny and in tiptop condition. My hair has a natural kink that most products weigh down, but not these and though more expensive than many off-the-shelf options, you don’t need a lot of it. The Hangover Hair Elixir (£30, all asos.com from Thursday), complete with Irish whiskey (the only alcohol in the range), is a top-notch hair oil, treatment and frizz-tamer. 

Although Yolanda makes no claim about this, the products have also done wonders for the psychodermatitis (a bit like cradle cap) that I have developed in recent years.

Mad about the gel  

Trinny London BFF Eye

High praise to Trinny London and not just because the woman herself is a columnist for this magazine. Her new BFF Eye (£26, trinnylondon.com) is a fab hybrid of a good coverage concealer that’s lightweight as it’s also part serum – with hyaluronic acid for moisture and peptides to depuff. It gives a natural finish and doesn’t leave the eye area feeling tight or dry. I also use it on my face if I don’t want full foundation but just need to touch up here and there. 

 

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