nexxus

Recall: Carcinogens in Dry Shampoo

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We had a post go live today, but I sat down this afternoon and wrote a whole entire ‘nother because this is NONSENSE. First, sunscreen. Now, there’s a multi-brand recall due to carcinogens in dry shampoo. It’s the same we’ve been seeing in sunscreen: benzene.

The amount of things being recalled for benzene in the last few years is too damn high. Carcinogens weren’t even really top-of-mind for me when I stopped buying dry shampoo a while back (which I JUST shared before this news hit), but there’s a hell of a good reason!

The Affected Brands

Per the release, which you can read on FDA.gov, this recall applies to products under Unilever’s sprawling umbrella. If you use any of these,

  • Dove
  • TRESemme
  • Nexxus
  • Suave
  • Tigi

You need to check the UPC and lot codes, which you can do here, to see if you need to take further action. Please note that just because you bought it recently doesn’t necessarily mean it was manufactured super recently! CHECK.

If it isn’t one of these, you may be in the clear – but I’ll come back to this.

Reimbursement

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Nexxus Therappe & Humectress

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Nexxus Therappe shampoo and Humectress conditionerNexxus Therappe and Humectress

I’ve been on the hunt for a new shampoo and conditioner since my Tigi Moisture Maniac stopped working out for me was discontinued and its successor sucked. I tried a Suave option out of curiosity and…nope. It is surprisingly difficult to shop for shampoo…first world problems, right?

Here’s my hair profile:

  • Loooong. Mid-back, even after having four inches lopped off.
  • Straight-ish. Sometimes wavy. I have no idea what the letter/number combinations mean or what I am in them, but I assume they’re really only relevant for curly-girls.
  • Not colored/dyed (though I did do a DIY Hair Gloss once).
  • Free of other chemical processing (no perms, relaxers, Brazilian Straightening witchcraft, etc).
  • Not frequently heat-styled. I blow dry approximately every two weeks at the moment. This increases to 1-2x per week when the weather gets cold because mid-back length damp hair + cold = a big ol’ glass of NOPE. I curl or straighten even less often. I always use a heat protectant when I use heat tools. You should, too. Your hair is worth it.
  • Not a ton of product usage. I have a serum I throw in when I blow-dry. I have one of the twelve thousand flavors of It’s a Ten! that I use every now and then. I use hairspray when I curl or straighten so my hair doesn’t get sassy, but nothing extreme. Basically, I’m trying to tell you I don’t personally contend with a ton of product build-up.

I like to use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner although my hair isn’t particularly dry. On a whim, I grabbed a little tube (5.1 oz) of Therappe shampoo and the coordinating Humectress conditioner from the Nexxus haircare line (mid-range line available at drugstores). At first, I was confused, I spent a couple minutes searching for a Therappe conditioner; not finding one, I looked at the back of the tube and found that Humectress is the accompanying conditioner.

I popped the cap open of both Nexxus products just to see how they smelled. Although performance is far more important than scent when it comes to such a product, but we also don’t want a shampoo whose scent we can’t stand if the scent lingers, you know? Nexxus Therappe, according to the Nexxus website, is formulated with rosemary, chamomile, and nettle – but smells (to me!) like coconut…and was sold. The Humectress conditioner from Nexxus smelled nice too, but not nearly as nice as the shampoo.

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