We’ve been investigating hair care merchandise that do greater than go away your hair feeling clear and smooth. Such as you, we wish merchandise with secure substances made by an environmentally and socially accountable firm. AG Care is making strong progress in direction of sustainable hair care merchandise.
Within the effort to embrace a greener hair care routine, you will have tried some approaches you didn’t love. For instance, shampoo bars require much less packaging, however is likely to be onerous to make use of when you have thick hair. Or maybe you make your personal personal care products however haven’t ventured out into making shampoo or conditioner.
AG Care produces a line of pure hair care made in Toronto, Canada, and packaged in refillable aluminum or plastic bottles. Its hair care merchandise are 100% vegan and cruelty-free. As well as, the corporate offers again by partnering with One Woman Can to advertise gender parity for women in Kenya. The corporate was based in 1989 however not too long ago relaunched its brand as a sustainable magnificence firm, so we had been curious to be taught extra.
The Merchandise
We sampled two AG shampoos and two conditioners to offered by the corporate. The Balance Apple Cider Sulfide-free Shampoo and the Boost Apple Cider Vinegar Silicone-free Conditioner promote for $34 every. We additionally tried the Simply Dry Shampoo for All Hair Types, which retails for $24, and the Conditioning Mist Detangling Spray, which retails for $28. The primary three are available aluminum bottles, and the detangling spray is in a plastic bottle.
We appreciated the AG hair care merchandise we sampled and located them efficient. Specifically, the rinse-out merchandise left our hair mild and smooth, and we loved the mild scents. Though we don’t often use leave-in merchandise, we discovered them helpful. For instance, on days we didn’t wash our hair, we may freshen it up rapidly with a number of sprays of dry shampoo on the roots.
About AG Care
AG is a vertically built-in firm that formulates and produces its private care merchandise at its personal manufacturing plant. Vertical integration can allow an organization to carefully management the manufacturing course of, making it simpler to implement sustainability enhancements, lower waste, and handle their provide chains. The corporate is working towards B Corp certification, which features a rigorous verification course of and a plan for steady enchancment.
“Care is in our title as a result of it has pushed our selections since 1989,” says Karla Cheon, chief income officer at AG Care. “Look after folks and planet have at all times been on the core of what we do. We had been clear earlier than it was coined. We launched our first refill middle [no longer in operation] in 1989. This model renewal is about making sustainable decisions simpler and accessible to a wider viewers. Excessive-performance, naturally derived hair care in packaging folks can be ok with.”
There are areas the place AG may enhance its sustainability practices — equivalent to by gaining third-party certifications like Leaping Bunny, offsetting carbon emissions from transport, and eradicating regarding substances from merchandise. Nonetheless, there are additionally many commendable issues the corporate is doing.
Decreasing Packaging Waste
AG Care makes it simple to cut back packaging waste with shampoo and conditioner pouches you should use to refill the aluminum bottles. Additionally it is extra economical to go this route. For instance, the 1-liter refill pouches are $68 and may refill the 12-ounce bottles practically 3 times. Plus, it retains the sturdy steel bottles productive and limits packaging waste.
Though the pouches aren’t recyclable, the web site states, “the caps are recyclable and our pouches use 73% much less plastic and take 62% much less vitality to provide than our earlier litre bottles leaving a smaller footprint and producing fewer CO2 emissions.”
AG additionally makes use of 30% post-consumer regrind in its plastic bottles, and plans to extend this quantity over time, beginning in 2023. Our order arrived in a recyclable cardboard field with no further plastic packaging.
Principally Pure Hair Care Merchandise
Buyers usually must put a whole lot of effort into deciphering product labels to search out private care merchandise freed from poisonous and regarding substances. We like that the AG web site not solely lists its merchandise’ substances but additionally features a hyperlink for added data.
AG hair care merchandise are freed from sulfates, equivalent to sodium lauryl sulfate, which might irritate the pores and skin and scalp or go away hair overly dry. Nor do they include diethanolamine (DEA), parabens, DMDM hydantoin, gluten, or PABA. So long as AG doesn’t use different irritating substances, the corporate’s merchandise needs to be good for folks with delicate pores and skin — notably if they’re freed from artificial perfume.
Sadly, some AG merchandise include “parfum,” though it was not too long ago faraway from others. Parfum or “perfume” on a product label refers to an artificial perfume, which will be made from many undisclosed chemical compounds. Artificial fragrances are related to allergy symptoms and respiratory misery.
The dry shampoo accommodates isobutane, which might irritate the lungs if inhaled in addition to the eyes. It additionally accommodates hydrofluorocarbon 152A, a propellant that contributes to global warming.
EWG-Rated Merchandise
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep Database is a shopper database that assesses the protection of private care merchandise. Some AG Care merchandise are on this database, together with the rinse-out shampoo and conditioner, however they had been final up to date just a few years in the past. Since then, some substances might have modified, so these scores may not be fully correct.
The EWG product ranking is on a scale from 1 to 10, with a low rating indicating a safer product. Additionally, it lists scores for particular substances, so you possibly can discern which substances are regarding.
AG merchandise are cruelty-free and PETA-approved Vegan. Lately, the corporate modified a few of its product formulation. We hope the model’s renewed deal with sustainable magnificence will consequence within the elimination of parfum and different substances of concern from all merchandise.
Charitable Giving
AG Care is a powerful supporter of One Girl Can, a company devoted to training and gender equality in Kenya. It supplies highschool and school scholarships and operates mentorship packages in an effort to alleviate poverty and empower ladies and younger girls.
Since 2008, AG has offered One Woman Can with hair care merchandise, meals, and monetary assist, totaling about $1.2 million. Organizations like One Woman Can want long-term supporters to fund ongoing packages. AG has actually confirmed to be such a supporter.
The Backside Line
We just like the AG hair care merchandise we sampled and are impressed by the corporate total.
The corporate’s use of refillable packaging and pouches, deal with secure substances, and assist of One Woman Can for 15 years are all good steps for a sustainable magnificence firm. Because the model focuses on sustainable magnificence, we hope to see extra third-party certifications from trusted organizations, the elimination of artificial scents from its merchandise, and the adoption of efforts to mitigate local weather change, equivalent to by utilizing renewable energy and offsetting carbon emissions.
All photographs courtesy of AG Care
