Fight Frizz, Strengthen Strands, and Boost Shine
Posted on December 5, 2024 Written by: 100% PURE®
If you’re committed to the lifestyle of natural beauty, navigating the market of hair serums can be daunting. It’s a minefield loaded with parabens, toxic dyes, and synthetic fragrances. You’re in for lots of trial and error with brands you thought were natural.
These so-called natural brands put a major emphasis on healthy ingredients like argan oil, coconut milk, and keratin. However, their versions of argan oil and coconut milk are diluted by alcohols, synthetic chemicals, and fragrances, while the keratin could be from boiled animal fibers rather than from natural vegetable sources. It’s time to step away from the minefield and nix the hair-harming chemicals.
At 100% PURE, we’re focused on creating the best hair serum with healthy ingredients and hefty hair benefits. Our Pro-Vitamin B5 Smoothing Hair Serum comes with a natural ingredient list that will tame and transform your tresses!
The Best 100% PURE Pro-Vitamin B5 Smoothing Hair Serum
Our Pro-Vitamin B5 Smoothing Hair Serum doesn’t have anything to hide in its ingredient list, because this formula is totally safe and non-toxic. We’ve found that a natural ingredient list goes a long way when it comes to personal care and hair health.
This formula specializes in serving smooth and shiny hair, to help tame flyaways or repair stressed strands after a hot blow dry. It has a bright lavender scent, and delivers vitamins and nutrients to thirsty, brittle strands. The result: hair that grows stronger with each use.
Key ingredients in Our Pro-Vitamin B5 Hair Serum:
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein (strengthens, smooths the hair cuticle, controls frizz)
Sodium PCA (retains moisture, softens hair)
Lavender essential oil (calms and soothes scalp irritations)
Coconut (promotes scalp health, hydrates hair)
Pro-Vitamin B5 (moisturizes, strengthens, calms scalp irritation)
How to Use a Hair Serum
Getting your hands on the best natural hair serum can be like the ultimate hair-apy! Think of a hair serum as the best advisable product for those hassling hair troubles. It can solve some of your biggest hair problems from frizz to dryness to style management.
If you’re not sure how to properly work a hair serum into your haircare routine, we got the best tips to break it down for you.
Dispense hair serum into your palm. Start with 1 pump for fine hair; start with 2-3 pumps for dense or coarse hair.
Emulsify by rubbing hands together. This will help to warm the serum, and eliminate any stickiness.
Apply to the ends of clean, damp hair. Work your way upward to the mid-length of your hair, then style as usual.
Do not apply to roots, or massage into the scalp as you would a leave-in conditioner or detangler. This hair serum has no water content – a big reason why it’s so effective – meaning it can feel heavy when applied at the root. We don’t recommend applying it directly to the scalp; this could increase hair’s chances of looking and feeling greasy.
Another reason to stick to the ends? When you apply any hair serum directly to the roots, you risk clogging the follicle. A clogged hair follicle can lead to root damage and potentially, permanent hair loss.
How Does the Pro-Vitamin B5 Smoothing Hair Serum Differ from Conventional Hair Serums?
Since our hair serum is formulated with natural ingredients, it’s important to understand how it will work and feel. If you’re used to those slippery, silky, and synthetic hair serums, you may be expecting something that isn’t quite natural.
Those heavy hair serums can weigh down your strands, causing your hair to become greasy and weighed down throughout the day. Plus, there’s a good chance of those heavy serums clogging your follicles, which can cause problems like redness and discomfort, inflammation, and irritation of the hair follicles, or worse, hair loss.
Our serum is still silky, but thinner than those thick formulas you’re used to. We use cooked and soaked wheat protein to smooth frizz. We added plant-derived Sodium PCA to retain moisture within the hair shaft and cuticles, to nourish dry hair. Wheat protein is best absorbed by damp hair, and can weigh it down with too generous an application.
We recommend starting small and finding the amount that works best for you. The amount you use all depends on your hair type, and every head of hair is different! So, let’s help you find your hair type to get the maximum benefits and results from a hair serum.
How to Choose the Right Hair Serum for Your Hair Type
Hair types are like a box of chocolates – you know how that goes. And once you find what ‘you’re gonna get’, you’re often wishing for another hair type, who, in turn, is wishing for yours. Funny how we are as complex as the hair spectrum. However, it doesn’t need to be a hair-rowing experience to find out.
Different hair types require specific formulations, so understanding your hair type is crucial. You’ll find that the sooner you know your hair type and how it behaves, the quicker you’ll be on your way to better hair days. Hair yeah!
Let’s delve into the four most common hair types so you can choose the best hair products for your strands and needs.
Type 1: STRAIGHT HAIR:
Straight hair is considered the most resilient of the hair types, and often reflects the most shine. For some straight hair, volume and body is also enhanced. A downside to this hair type can be that it’s super resistant to curling, making it difficult to style; a heartbreaking roadblock when all you want are those full, lovely curls! Since the strands hang straight down from the root, this hair type also tends to get oily faster. This category includes fine and thin, medium, and coarse variations of straight hair.
Which natural hair products will work for this hair type?
This hair type will benefit from an invigorating serum with the correct percentage of organic rosemary that’s been clinically proven to be as effective as prescription drugs that stimulate hair growth from active and inactive hair follicles for visibly increased fullness. It also will help straight hair types hold curls with the Rosemary Grow Serum.
Type 2: WAVY HAIR:
Wavy hair is defined by its “S” shaped strands – essentially a very elongated version of a curl. This category includes fine and thin, medium, and coarse variations of wavy hair. Fine and thin wavy hair has the longest “S” shape, and is generally easy to style. Medium wavy hair can be more finicky, with a tendency to frizz at the crown of the head. Coarse, wavy hair will boast a tighter “S” wave that isn’t quite a curl, but comes pretty close.
Type 3: CURLY HAIR:
Curly hair includes two variations: loose and tight. These strands can range from loose, semi-wavy curls to tight and bouncy corkscrew curls. The former boasts more loopy “S” strands, and tends to get frizzy more easily. The corkscrew variety is tightly wound, and tends to be thicker or coarser and more voluminous. Curly hair types are pretty sensitive to changes in climate, meaning conditions like humidity will make them frizz up and more difficult to style. Curly hair is also more prone to damage.
Which natural hair products will work for this hair type?
Curly hair types love anything that will enhance brightness, softness, and bounce. Frizz-controlling formulas are saviors for curly locks, since frizz can cause curls to look ‘poofy’, detracting from the beautiful curves of this hair shape Our Multi-Vitamin Healthy Hair De-Frizz Serum will help banish frizz and flyaways with this hydrating, yet lightweight serum that’s fortified with nourishing vitamin E and other hair and scalp beneficial vitamins to repair and protect.
Type 4: KINKY HAIR:
The kinky hair type is a level-up from curly, flaunting tightly wound coils and “Z” patterns in the strand. Varieties of this hair type include soft, and two types of wiry. Soft kinky hair is more susceptible to breakage, with tight coils. There are two types of wiry, kinky hair: one with a bit of curl pattern, and another without – this type follows a stronger “Z” wave rather than a circular coil. Kinky hair shrinks up when wet, then expands when dry. Much like curly hair, kinky locks need plenty of nourishment to battle breakage.
Which natural hair products will work for this hair type?
Our Argan Oil is a lightweight and restorative formula that is naturally rich in vitamin E, phenols, carotenes, squalene, and essential fatty acids to deeply moisturize, nourish, and soften unruly strands. All natural and cruelty-free, argan oil’s restorative nutrients are beneficial for application all over the body, including face, around the eyes, décolleté, hands, and even your hair.
Why Go with a Natural Hair Serum?
A natural hair serum can pack some serious strengthening power, without using harmful chemicals. Pro-vitamin B5 (also known as panthenol) in this serum strengthens the hair follicle, meaning healthier hair growth. It also means less dandruff, thanks to its humectant (moisture attracting) properties. Shine, bounce, and conditioning are also great benefits of our plant-derived pro-vitamin B5.
This hair serum is designed to deliver vitamins and nutrients to your strands, and to help promote hair health. Plant-derived vitamin E stimulates your scalp’s capillaries, aiding in healthy hair growth and proper circulation at the root. After all, to treat hair, it’s best to start at the root!
If you’re looking to smooth frizz, this hair serum won’t disappoint. It leaves your strands with healthy shine, thanks to pro-vitamin B5 and natural fatty acids. This hair-smoothing serum feeds hair roots, shafts, and cuticles beneficial nutrients to protect and strengthen each strand. Add this hair serum to a glossing shampoo and conditioner, and hair will be shiny and healthy as it can be!
Supplement Hair Serum with Shampoo and Conditioner
If you’re serious about smoothing hair and adding shine, a hair serum is only a piece of the puzzle. You’ll need to add a glossing shampoo and conditioner, too.
Our Yuzu & Pomelo Glossing Shampoo is made with an energizing blend of citrus fruits, to bring vibrancy to strands and remove buildup that can dull the color of your hair. Flax, pro-vitamin B5, and coconut oil in the Yuzu & Pomelo Glossing Conditioner boost bounce and shine. When these two are used with our Pro-Vitamin B5 Smoothing Hair Serum, the result is sure to be beautiful.
Common Chemicals in Hair Serums
There are plenty of useless, harmful, and unnatural ingredients in many popular hair-perfecting hair serums. Brands will claim glorious benefits from anti-frizz to silky strands. But when you turn the bottle around, there’s that pesky phrase: “best used with related so-and-so products.”
It’s a red flag that their serum ingredients are more potent when activated by the chemicals in their other products. You might be unknowingly dousing your hair with lots of ingredients that don’t really work.
What We Left Out
The other tricky part of hair serum shopping is avoiding the top offending conventional ingredients.
Synthetic Fragrance
Synthetic fragrances are on our list to avoid: nearly every perfume can be traced back to a petrochemical. Most of which have been classified as hazardous waste by the FDA! But rest easy: the only scent in our natural hair serum comes from Lavandula Angustifolia, better known as lavender essential oil.
Silicones
If you love the silky, slippery texture of drug store hair serums, it’s probably thanks to a type of silicone. Silicones are processed using non-eco-friendly petroleum, and are generally pretty bad for long term hair health. Fine hair types especially should avoid silicones, as these ingredients can be very difficult to rinse from the hair. This means heavy, greasy strands that require constant clarifying and detoxifying.
Alcohols
Alcohols are another ingredient to use sparingly in a leave-in hair serum. They can strip hair of natural oils and hydration. This can cause strands to snap and break, and will even dry out your scalp. The result can include itching, irritation, and dandruff.
Parabens
Parabens are considered xenoestrogens: synthetic agents that mimic natural estrogen produced by our bodies. For this reason, studies have linked parabens to breast cancer and reproductive issues. While studies are still trying to quantify the dangers of parabens, we feel it’s safer to avoid them altogether.
Excluding these hair-harming ingredients and their effects was paramount in formulating a truly natural hair serum. We wanted our serum to be not only safe, but beneficial for hair. Avoiding complex chemicals, synthetic fragrances, and drying alcohols was easy with the right natural, plant-based ingredients.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hair Serum
What are the benefits of using a natural hair serum?
Natural hair serums provide comprehensive hair care benefits without relying on harmful chemicals. They work by strengthening hair follicles to promote healthier growth while helping to reduce dandruff through their moisture-attracting properties. The serums enhance shine and bounce while delivering essential vitamins and nutrients directly to your strands. Plant-derived vitamin E in natural serums promotes better scalp circulation, while the overall formula feeds beneficial nutrients to hair roots, shafts, and cuticles, ultimately protecting and strengthening each strand throughout its length. This holistic approach to hair care supports overall hair health from root to tip.
How do I apply hair serum for the best results?
The application process is straightforward but requires attention to detail for optimal results. Begin by dispensing the appropriate amount – one pump for fine hair or two to three pumps for dense or coarse hair. Warm the serum by rubbing your hands together, which helps eliminate any stickiness and ensures even distribution. Apply the product to clean, damp hair, starting at the ends and working your way up to mid-length. Importantly, avoid applying the serum to your roots or massaging it into your scalp, as this can lead to greasiness and potentially clog hair follicles. Once applied, you can style your hair as usual.
Can hair serum help reduce frizz and add shine?
Natural hair serum is indeed effective at managing frizz and enhancing shine through its carefully selected ingredients. The combination of pro-vitamin B5 and natural fatty acids works to provide healthy shine, while wheat protein specifically targets and smooths frizz. The formula includes plant-derived Sodium PCA, which helps retain moisture within the hair shaft and cuticles, contributing to overall smoothness and shine. For maximum results, the serum works best when used as part of a complete hair care routine that includes glossing shampoo and conditioner.
What ingredients should I avoid in conventional hair serums?
The blog post identifies several problematic ingredients commonly found in conventional hair serums. Synthetic fragrances are particularly concerning as they often derive from petrochemicals that the FDA has classified as hazardous waste. Silicones, while creating a temporary silky feeling, are processed using non-eco-friendly petroleum and can be detrimental to long-term hair health, especially for fine hair types as they’re difficult to rinse out. Alcohols should be avoided as they strip hair of natural oils and hydration, leading to breakage and scalp issues. Finally, parabens are problematic as they’re xenoestrogens that mimic natural estrogen, with studies linking them to potential health concerns including breast cancer and reproductive issues.
How does Pro-Vitamin B5 improve hair health?
Pro-Vitamin B5, also known as panthenol, serves multiple functions in improving hair health. It acts as a humectant, attracting and retaining moisture, which helps reduce dandruff and maintain proper hair hydration. This vitamin strengthens the hair follicle, promoting healthier hair growth over time. Beyond its strengthening properties, Pro-Vitamin B5 enhances shine and bounce while providing excellent conditioning benefits. Working in conjunction with other natural ingredients, it helps deliver vital nutrients to the hair strands, contributing to overall hair vitality and appearance.
We hope you’ll love the result! Check out our super natural hair care guide for more healthy hair tips!