Are Nature’s Gate Organics Products Worth The Money?

C7Seas says…I am wondering if Nature’s Gate Organics is as good as their website says. They do have their ingredients on the website, but I don’t know how much of it is “fluff” and how much really is good for the hair.

The Right Brain rallies:

The first question is: what DO they say on their website. That’s easy to answer with this quote:

Nature’s Gate’s philosophy

Nature’s Gate is a company dedicated to developing personal care products based upon botanical remedies. Our philosophy is derived from combining decades-old wisdom rich in botanical, herbal and floral treatments with modern ingredients and formulations.

Not surprisingly, this strikes us a bit of an over-promise when we look at their formulas. Sure they contain numerous botanical extracts, but the functional ingredients are based on standard surfactants and conditioning ingredients. As an example, here’s what they put in their Herbal Daily Shampoo for All Hair Types.

Nature’s Gate Organics Ingredients

Water, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamide DEA, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Extract, Prunus Serotina (Wild Cherry) Bark Extract, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Polyquaternium-10, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Butylene Glycol, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance.

Natural extracts like the ones listed above are very dilute extractions that have not been proven to have any effect from a rinse off product. So, taking out the extracts, we’re left with the following:

Water, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamide DEA, Sodium Laureth Sulfate,Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Polyquaternium-10, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Butylene Glycol, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance.

So we’re looking at a formula with active ingredients that are very similar to many other “non-natural” products. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad formula – in fact, it’s arguably milder since it uses a mild sulfosuccinate as the primary surfactant and SLES as a secondary surfactant (depending on exact concentration in the formula). It also contains cocamide DEA and cocamidopropyl betaine as form modifiers and salt sensitive thickeners. Polyquaternium 10 is to provide some conditioning effect. The rest are quality control ingredients.

Unlike many other so called natural brands, Nature’s Gate is not ridiculously over-priced. This shampoo costs about $7 for 18 ounces, which is quite reasonable by many standards. So In fact, if you consider the price (18 ounces for about $7.00), it’s really not a bad deal for a sulfosuccinate-based shampoo.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

We could do a similar analysis for other Nature’s Gate Organics products, but it wouldn’t change our basic point – we don’t agree with Nature’s Gate faux botanical approach. Now, having said that, we also think that their formulas are not a bad value for the price. So as Sarah Bellum is so fond of saying: “If you likes ‘em, use ‘em!”