Herbal Aloe Body and Hair, explained
Herbal Aloe is a body and hair range made with aloe vera and a blend of desert plant extracts. It covers a hand and body wash, a soothing gel, a shampoo and a conditioner for everyday use by men and women.
From Herbalife, tap to play
What Herbal Aloe Body and Hair is
The Hand and Body Wash is a 250ml all-over cleanser for the shower, the bath and hand washing through the day. The Soothing Gel is a 200ml fragrance-free gel you massage into clean, dry skin.
The Strengthening Shampoo and Strengthening Conditioner come in 250ml bottles and are designed as a pair. Herbalife's breakage test result only applies when you use both together.
All four products are dermatologically tested and have no added parabens. The wash and the shampoo also have no added sulphates.
Herbal Aloe Concentrate is the aloe you drink, while this range only goes on your skin and hair.
What's in it, ingredient by ingredient
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (aloe vera)
Aloe barbadensis is the botanical name for aloe vera, a cactus-like succulent grown in hot, dry, subtropical regions. Leaf juice is the watery liquid taken from its thick leaves.
In the Soothing Gel it is the second ingredient, straight after water, so it makes up a large share of the gel. In the wash, shampoo and conditioner it sits further down the list, after the cleansing or conditioning ingredients.
Why it's in Herbal Aloe Body and Hair: Aloe vera is the ingredient the whole range is built around, and Herbalife describes the gel as made with premium-quality aloe vera.
Desert botanical blend: Yucca Schidigera, Artemisia Tridentata, Simmondsia Chinensis, Silybum Marianum, Salvia Hispanica and Agave Americana extracts
These six Latin names are plants. In everyday English they are yucca, big sagebrush, jojoba seed, milk thistle seed, chia seed and the agave or century plant.
The same blend appears in all four products, after the main cleansing, conditioning or gelling ingredients.
Why it's in Herbal Aloe Body and Hair: Herbalife calls this its blend of desert botanical extracts. In the gel it describes them as skin-conditioning botanicals that help hydrate and nourish skin.
Glycerin
Glycerin, also called glycerol, is a clear, slightly sweet liquid found in plant oils and animal fats. It is one of the most common ingredients in skin and hair care.
Its cosmetic role is a humectant, which means it attracts water and helps hold it in the top layer of skin.
Why it's in Herbal Aloe Body and Hair: It holds moisture in the product and on the skin. It is the third ingredient in the gel and the fourth in the wash, and it also appears in the shampoo and conditioner.
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate and Cocamidopropyl Betaine
These are surfactants, the ingredients that make a wash or shampoo foam and lift away dirt and oil. Both are made using fatty acids from coconut oil, which is where the coco in their names comes from.
They are the second and third ingredients in the wash and the shampoo. They are not sodium lauryl or laureth sulphate, which is why Herbalife can say there are no added sulphates.
Why it's in Herbal Aloe Body and Hair: They do the cleaning. Herbalife describes the wash as a gentle cleanser and says the shampoo removes dirt, excess oil and product build-up.
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
This is wheat protein broken down into smaller pieces so it dissolves in water and can sit on the surface of the hair. Hydrolysed simply means split up with water.
It appears in the shampoo and the conditioner, but not in the wash or the gel.
Why it's in Herbal Aloe Body and Hair: Herbalife says it is used in both hair products to help protect, repair and strengthen your hair.
Because it comes from wheat, check the label first if you have a wheat allergy.
Conditioning agents: Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride and Bis-Hydroxy/Methoxy Amodimethicone
Cetyl and cetearyl alcohol are fatty alcohols, waxy solids that soften and thicken creams. They are not the drying kind of alcohol found in hand sanitiser.
Behentrimonium chloride and the amodimethicone are conditioning agents. They carry a slight positive charge, so they cling to hair and make it easier to comb.
Why it's in Herbal Aloe Body and Hair: They give the conditioner its creamy texture and its detangling feel. Herbalife says the conditioner leaves hair feeling softer and silkier after one use.
Phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin and benzyl alcohol are preservatives that keep each bottle free from microbes. Carbomer and triethanolamine thicken the gel, while citric acid adjusts the acidity of the hair products.
Reading the label
Cosmetics have no nutrition panel. Instead, each bottle carries an ingredient list written in INCI, the international naming system for cosmetic ingredients.
- Aqua: First in all four. Aqua is water. It is first because every product here is mostly water.
- Order of the list: Descending order of weight. UK rules say ingredients go in order from most to least by weight. Anything under 1% can be listed in any order at the end.
- Latin plant names: For example Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice. Plant ingredients use the botanical name plus the part of the plant. Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, in the wash and gel, is chamomile flower.
- Parfum: In the wash, shampoo and conditioner. Parfum means the fragrance blend. The Soothing Gel has no parfum, which is why Herbalife calls it fragrance-free.
- Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol: At the end of the scented products. These are fragrance substances that UK law requires to be named when they pass set levels, because some people are allergic to them. In rinse-off products like a wash the trigger level is 0.01%.
If you know you react to a particular fragrance substance, the named items at the end of the list let you check before you buy.
The gel's list is the shortest of the four, with water, aloe and glycerin at the top and no fragrance.
The products
Hand and Body Wash 250ml
Soothing Gel 200ml
Strengthening Shampoo 250ml
Strengthening Conditioner 250mlHow to use it
Hand and Body Wash
Put a small amount onto wet skin and lather gently, then rinse thoroughly. Use it daily in the bath or shower, and for hand washing through the day.
Soothing Gel
Apply a generous amount to clean, dry skin and massage it in gently until absorbed. It is suitable for daily use, as often as you need it.
Shampoo, then conditioner
Wet your hair, massage in a generous amount of shampoo and rinse well with warm water. Then work the conditioner into wet hair, especially the lengths and ends, leave it for 2 to 3 minutes and rinse thoroughly.
Herbalife suggests using the shampoo and conditioner together. Its result of 90% less breakage compared with untreated hair came from a lab combing test on damaged hair samples using both products.
Herbalife pairs the wash with Herbal Aloe Everyday Soothing Hand and Body Lotion for best results.
Good to know
Who it suits
- All four products are made for men and women, and the hair products suit all hair types.
- Both hair products have a colour-preserving formula, so they suit coloured hair.
- The Soothing Gel is fragrance-free, which suits people who prefer unscented skincare.
Check first
- The shampoo and conditioner contain hydrolysed wheat protein, so check the label if you have a wheat allergy.
- The wash and the gel contain chamomile flower extract, which can affect people allergic to ragweed, daisies, marigolds or chrysanthemums.
- These products are for external use only. Stop using any of them if irritation occurs.
Questions people ask
Is the Soothing Gel the same aloe as the drink?
Both use aloe vera, but they are different products for different jobs. The gel is a cosmetic that goes on clean, dry skin, and it must never be swallowed. Herbal Aloe Concentrate is the version made to drink.
Does the shampoo really cut breakage by 90%?
That figure comes from a combing test by an independent lab on damaged hair samples. It compared hair washed with both the shampoo and the conditioner against untreated hair. The shampoo alone was not tested for that result.
Are these products sulphate-free?
Herbalife says the wash and the shampoo have no added sulphates. They clean with sodium cocoyl isethionate and cocamidopropyl betaine instead, which are made from coconut fatty acids.
Is the gel scented?
No. The Soothing Gel has no parfum and none of the named fragrance substances. The wash, shampoo and conditioner are lightly scented.
Can I use them if I colour my hair?
Yes. Herbalife describes both the shampoo and the conditioner as colour-preserving formulas, suitable for all hair types.
What does dermatologically tested mean?
Herbalife states that all four products are dermatologically tested, which means they were tested on skin. No product can promise that nobody will react, so stop using it if you notice irritation.
Where these facts come from
- fs_2561: Herbalife product information and label
- fs_2562: Herbalife product information and label
- fs_2564: Herbalife product information and label
- fs_2565: Herbalife product information and label
- nccih_aloe: nccih.nih.gov/health/aloe-vera
- gov_inci: gov.uk/government/publications/cosmetic-products-enforcement-regulatio
- inci_roles: Herbalife product information and label
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For external use only. Stop using if irritation occurs. Herbalife images and video are the property of Herbalife.
