Review: Organix Cherry Blossom Ginseng Shampoo

This is one of those brands that I’ve avoided purchasing for the longest time because of the name. Why? Because I’m always suspicious of brands that call themselves Organic, Organics, or anything that sounds close. Come on now, there is not one organic ingredient in the product and this is a typical example of greenwashing. So why did I purchase this then? Well, I’ve had people coming to tell me that this is a good organic shampoo and I feel that some clarifications is required. At S$12.90 after sale, I thought I’ll give it a go just to see if it lives up to its claims, given that I’ve already taken the Organix Hydrating Teatree Mint for a couple of washes last year and it was not bad in terms of performance.

For extra hydration, shine and volume
According to the description, Organix Cherry Blossom Ginseng Shampoo is supposed to cleanse and balance our hair for extra hydration, shine and volume. The cherry blossom extracts and Asian ginseng root help to rejuvenate the scalp and hair follicle to add volume at the root while the rice milk and bamboo extract nourish our hair to give it hydration and shine.

Ingredients analysis

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Dimethicone Copolyol, Cocamide DEA, Glycol Distearate, Parfum, Panthenol, Polyquaternium-11, Cetyl Alcohol, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, DMDM Hydantoin, Panex Ginseng Extract, Prunus Yedoensis Flower (Cherry Blossom) Extract, Bambusa Arundinacea (Bamboo) Extract, Oryza Sativa Rice Extract, Silk Amino Acids, Tocopheryl Acetate.

Although this shampoo does not contain SLS or SLES, it has as many as five surfactants and hence, foams and lather up very well. The shampoo is transparent and the texture speaks of silicones in the formulation. In addition, it has a distinct sweet fragrance from the parfum. Here’s a closer look at the top 10 ingredients:

  1. Aqua (Solvent)
  2. Disodium laureth sulfosuccinate (Surfactant)
  3. Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate (Surfactant)
  4. Cocamidopropyl Betaine (Surfactant Antistatic Emulsifier)
  5. Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine (Surfactant Antistatic)
  6. Dimethicone Copolyol (Antistatic Emollient)
  7. Cocamide DEA (Surfactant)
  8. Glycol Distearate (Emollient Emulsifier)
  9. Parfum (Fragrance)
  10. Panthenol (Moisturizer)

I shan’t comment much on the safety level of these ingredients except that some people will probably have issues with ingredients like Cocomide DEA and parfum. And while this shampoo is not formulated with parabens, it contains DMDM Hydantoin as the preservative and this ingredient has been flagged out as an allergen and irritant, as well as being contaminated with formaldehyde.

Above average results
In terms of results, this shampoo does deliver in terms of making my hair soft, smooth and shiny. My hair is easier to style and it did look fuller, most likely because of the silicones. I usually avoid shampoos with silicones as silicones can be bad for our hair with prolonged usage so I don’t use this shampoo daily but just a few times a week.

Price and availability
You can find the Organix range of shampoos at Watsons going for S$14.90 prior to any discounts. I’ll say they’re pretty affordable, given that each bottle has 385ml worth of shampoo. They’re not bad for the price point really and will likely suit those with normal and dry hair well, and aren’t particular about silicones or that this isn’t organic despite the name. Although I’m unlikely to re-purchase this again but given their shorter ingredient list and above average performance, I’ll pick this over the usual non-organic, commercial brands anytime.

Comments

  1. MissTeaAddict says:

    I got a sample sachet of this and it’s one of the few shampoos which gave me huge, sore pimples along my hairline. Other than that it wasn’t a bad shampoo but I hate the way the brand is marketed, so many people think it’s organic because of the pricetag and name. I especially hate how their Brazillian Keratin treatment is advertised as Formaldehyde free but uses so many other equally harmful chemicals, how is that “organic” or even “natural”?

  2. EcoBeauty says:

    I have the Tea Tree version of this. And true, there aren’t any organic ingredients! I bought it while rushing and didn’t have time to look through the label. Just zoomed in on the word, “Organix” haha. Anyway, it did make my hair nice and smooth without having to use conditioner BUT although I bought the version that is supposedly anti-dandruff, it gave me dandruff if I used it for 3-4 days consecutively. I think the smoothness was due to the silicones in it and probably, the build up of it was what’s causing me the dandruff.

  3. kay says:

    I saw this brand sometime ago in mid year and thought that the packaging is cute, but I was wary about the brand name. With my sensitive scalp, I didn’t want to risk having itch after every wash, I decided to wait and now you finally reviewed it. Maybe I’ll grab a bottle to try after I finish my bioglo yogurt shampoo my mum bought for me.

  4. sesame says:

    Well, I hope you’ll like it. I find it quite good but I won’t use it daily cos of the silicones. Yeah, the brand name is dubious…fortunately the quality is not so.

  5. sesame says:

    So the name does play up! Well, it caught my attention too. I think this shampoo is probably better if used on alternate days.

  6. sesame says:

    Yes, the name is misleading. I mean without reading the ingredient list, many people will just fall for it. If I’m not wrong, when it was first introduced, a few ingredients were indicated as organic but now, I see none.

  7. Reena says:

    oohhh wow… it def is misleading!!! Thanks for the heads up… I’ve been thinking of buying it because of the word “organic”…

  8. sesame says:

    Yeah, definitely misleading. And the funniest was someone selling organic products telling me this is a good organic shampoo.

  9. Xi Xi says:

    Oh no, this brand? It gave me pimples, rashes and a huge bout of nasty dandruff that wouldn’t go away. I tried many brands of shampoo and treatments until Kerasys Scalp Care shampoo managed to keep the dandruff under control.

    For Organix and some of those reactions, the culprit could be the amount of surfactants without anything else to really make up for all the loss of moisture and nutrients. I don’t believe those few natural ingredients are even enough!

    Btw, do you have any lip balm with SPF32 and above to recommend(with zinc oxide)?

  10. sesame says:

    Oh that’s a shame. Going by some of the comments, it seems the range is not suitable for those with dandruff.

    For lipbalm with SPF using zinc oxide, I can only think of Badger off hand. But the SPF is lower.

  11. Jasmine says:

    Oh dear. What a shame. I love the scent of this shampoo! ?

  12. Nat says:

    I fell for the same thing a while ago while shopping in drug store. As my own line doesn’t offer a shampoo for adults, I was shopping for one. The name misled me big time, but I wanted to try it and bought it anyway, as cheap as it was. Yes, after reading all the ingredients, I haven’t found anything Organic about them. It was OK and smelled really good (Rosemary Mint), but my scalp was kind of itchy. Anyway…
    Did you know that nowadays you can’t trademark your business name containing word “organic” unless you prove that your products are really Organic or very close? Apparently USPTO is catching up on that and all the companies who mislead a consumer by such name. I’ve run into that while registering my trademark for my other Organic Spa company. I had to provide them all the decks of ingredients and prove that my products are in fact Organic. That was a lot of work but I sure appreciate that they do it now. There are just too many so called “organix” wanna bees.

  13. sesame says:

    It has quite a sweet scent.

  14. sesame says:

    Oh that’s good news! At least the trademark requirement will ensure less greenwashing via the branding. And like you mentioned, it’s good for business like yours that sell true organic products.

  15. wendy says:

    Great post! Love the breakdown of the ingredient and their possible downfalls. We’re always trying to find good shampoo that leaves our hair with shine and volume. One closely related shampoo that we’ve found good for the hair is one with green tea ingredient!

  16. sesame says:

    I don’t think I’ve ever used a shampoo with green tea…or maybe I can’t remember.

  17. Mai says:

    after reading & seeing y0ur ratings, i th0ught i will give this a g0 but reading all the c0mments scared me!! with such weak scalp, i better n0t take the risk!!

  18. sesame says:

    If your scalp is weak, or prone to dandruff, then perhaps this one may not work for you.

  19. Xi Xi says:

    No, I didn’t have dandruff before I tried the ginseng shampoo.

    Thanks for the recommendation for the lip balms. ? I’ll look into them.

  20. Amanda says:

    I just ught the moroccan argan oil I was not really looking for a organic shampoo but something that was sulfate free. I now want all organic hair products. I just need to know a great brand, though I do love the way organix makes my hair feel afterwards it just doesn’t seems like it is really doing its job in terms of quality.

  21. sesame says:

    Try A’Kin…I love their shampoos. Not organic but natural.

  22. Teresa Morrisseau says:

    This shampoo is real good and smells good

  23. sesame says:

    It smells good and to an extent, it does a good job of keep hair smooth and all. However, I am not too sure if it is really all that good as it’ll probably perform differently for others. I can only say it does an above average job for my hair.

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