Man you can learn a lot roaming the aisles at Whole Foods! Did you know, for example, that beer is actually great for your hair? Well, it is, and that premise is precisely the basis for BROO. The brand makes beer-based haircare products formulated with barley, hops, and yeast, all of which are loaded with proteins, B vitamins, and natural oils to nourish, strengthen, and impart shine to hair. Essentially instead of using water as their main ingredient BROO uses beer, which they then blend with natural cleansers and botanical oils to create their various shampoos and conditioners. The best part? Despite the brownish color, these shampoos/conditioners don’t smell like beer! There are also no synthetic scents, dyes, preservatives, or harsh sulfates – all ingredients used are nature-derived. I don’t know much about beer, but the founders were careful in selecting the specific brew (porter, IPA, ale) that went into each of their products. I love that despite being sold at Whole Foods (and being affordable to boot), the brand is still a very small mom and pop type operation. The founders take a lot of pride in their product and it shows.
Bröö: This stuff is the real deal and then some. I, too, recently discovered the line at Whole Foods and was blown away by the quality and modern take on the ancient practice of using beer for enhancing hair’s shine and health. The last “beer” shampoo I used was Body on Tap, and I seriously doubt there was any real beer in it, plus it was super harsh. I even tried pouring flat beer on my hair as a rinse, but then you smell like a brewery all day.
I’ve tried some other newer versions over the years, but they all have drawbacks. They either smell awful and/or they are full of chems that I don’t want. Bröö has done more than bring beer shampoo out of the 80s….like NO sulfates, no synthetics, and no silicones. The three things that impress me the most personally? Even though there are no sulfates, it lathers like mad. And it smells fresh and clean. And it’s from an independent company. I use the Pale Ale (Volumizing) set on my longish, fine hair and I look like I’ve got almost twice as much hair. lol I tried the Porter (moisturizing) but that was too much for my hair, too much moisture. But it smelled like rich vanilla. The volumizing has a faint beer scent with a louder citrus overtone. Especially nice to use during these hot summer months. They better never stop making this stuff. My only complaint is that I cannot find the body washes anywhere…WF doesn’t stock them. But there’s always drugstore.com. 🙂 Go Bröö!