Laura says…I am wondering about whether or not I’m being suckered into paying more for something I could get for cheaper. My hair seems to love the L’anza Neem Plant Silk Serum that my hairdresser and apparently Allure Mag also recommended. Even though I like to baby my tresses at $25.00 a pop this is a pricy product that my hair seems to drink up quickly. Am I doing right by my locks or really really wrong by my wallet?
The Beauty Brains respond:
What makes this product so good? Hint: It ain’t the Neem!
What makes L’Anza work so well?
Here’s what L’Anza says about the ingredients in this product and why it works so well:
“Neem plant extract (adds shine); cactus extract (protects against heat damage); benzotriazolyl dodecyl-p-cresol (sunscreen); keratin (conditions); peptides (strengthen).”
But when you look at the full ingredient list (below) you’ll see it’s quite a different story. Pretty much any natural oil will add shine to hair from a leave on product so there’s nothing special about the Neem in this context. (Unless you’re impressed that Neem oil can stop hamsters from getting cheek cancer.) The real answer lies in the first four ingredients, all of which are silicones: Cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, caprylyl methicone, phenyltrimethicone.
The first is a volatile silicone that acts as a carrier for the rest. It spreads the other ingredients evenly through the hair and then evaporates so there’s less weigh down. The three that remain help smooth hair by coating the surface. That makes the cuticles lay nice and flat so hair is glossy and easy to comb. The rest of the ingredients are just window dressing. (For the most part anyway. The perfluorononyl dimethicone which is the 8th ingredient is probably contributing to the feel as well.)
How to find a cheaper version of your favorite product
There are many many silicone based products on the market that contain cyclopentasiloxane but if you want to get as close as possible to the feel of the L’Anza product you should look for one that contains all four of these silicones. (While these silicones all basically deliver the same benefit they may feel different.)
Depending on where you buy L’Anza will cost you $20 to $25 for 3.4 ounces which is somewhere around $6.50 per ounce. Here are a few cheaper alternatives:
- Agadir Argan Oil Treatment
: $4.75 per ounce
- AG Smooth Firewall Argan Flat Iron Spray: $4.80/ounce
- Verb Ghost Oil is another but it won’t save you much $$$ unless you find it on sale.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Look for other products that have the same first four ingredients and you should have a pretty good match for L’Anza.
L’Anza Healing Strength Neem Plant Silk Serum Ingredients
Cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, caprylyl methicone, phenyltrimethicone, santalum album (sandalwood) wood extract, phellodendron amurense bark extract, hordeum distichon (barley) extract, perfluorononyl dimethicone, melia azadirachta (neem bark) extract, keratin amino acids, dimethiconol cysteine, ceramide 2, sodium hyaluronate, algae extract, dimethicone PEG-8 meadowfoamate, sodium PCA, magnesium PCA, zinc PCA, manganese PCA, citrus medica limonum (lemon) extract, fumaria officinalis (fumitory) extract, ascorbyl methylsilanol pectinate, fumeric acid, tetrahexydecyl ascorbate, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone, water (aqua), PPG-4-ceteth-20, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, benzotriazolyl dodecyl-p-cresol, fragrance (parfum), benzyl salicylate, butylphenyl methylpropional (lilial), citronellol, coumarin, geraniol, limonene, linalool
Does you know of any other hair serums that use these ingredients? Leave a comment and help Laura save some money!
Note: If you do shop for Agadir Argan oil, please use our link above to help support the Beauty Brains. Thanks!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I think dermorganic and ganier argan oil treatment in the little square shaped bottle.
Neem has been a great plant that has been used for various things in india! It’s so great they are using this in hair products now! How amazing! I have to try it.
I just started using natural oils for hair shine too! I try to stay away from the silicones, since I’m not sure if they actually penetrate my hair to moisturize. Lately, I’ve been liking the body shops body oils. They’re pretty light weight, which is good because i have thin hair. I’ll have to give your alternatives a try though, hard to say no to those prices!
@Danielle- I believe silicones just coat your hair to give the appearance of smooth, moisturized hair. Hair is dead so you can’t really do too much to actually moisturize it within each strand.
Ive been inclined to use natural oils for my hair. I’m slow to trust silicon based products. I may give try one of them out to see if they make a difference.
If you’re incredibly cheap like me, you might try the Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine serum. It only has 2 of those 4 ingredients, along with some plant oils, but I have been really happy with it. I initially bought it as a very close copycat to a sample my hairdresser gave me of a very expensive product. And it’s just over $1 an ounce.
These alternatives are really good. I prefer natural oils since it somehow improves your hair, visually and you can also feel it. Though, it is really tempting to try silicon based products and see if there is a huge difference between the products.
Thank you so much!! I’ve been recommending this to people but now I will be sure to let them know there are some cheaper alternatives!!! You guys rock!
Thanks Laura. Without people like you we’d have no one to rock for!
Won’t the ceramides help? Aminoacids as far as I know won’t do much unless hair is very porous, but in damaged hair in theory ceramides will provide some benefits, won’t they?