If I can name one brand that genuinely care about which product that suit user’s need, that would be TNS Skin Lab. What’s so awesome about this leading specialist retailer of premium natural and organic beauty & personal care products in Malaysia is that instead of just sending me any hair care product to try, the wonderful people over at TNS Skin Lab sent me an email prior to check on my hair type and concern. Boy oh boy. My hair condition was so out of the world that I’m not sure if they can pull it through! You know what? They did. My hair loves it, my scalp says thank you and now here’s my review 😀

My tricky hair and scalp condition before using A’kin was…get ready for it…here we go…sensitive flaky scalp, redness, itchiness, dry but oily by noon the next day and seasonal dandruff. Phew! That was quite a mouthful. The product I was recommended for my “tricky” condition is A’kin Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo and Lavender & Anthyliss Leave-in Conditioner.

Let’s start by sequence from the shampoo to the conditioner shall we?

A’kin Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo (RM49 / 225ml or RM85 / 500ml)

I thought it was brilliant to treat the sensitivity of my scalp with shampoo and let the natural ingredients work on other part of my concern. I have never ever in my life heard or try unscented shampoo before. This unscented shampoo is also tailored to be very gentle for sensitive scalp. Unscented also means the ingredients used is without chemicals and toxins that can potentially irritate the scalp as sensitive scalp can be quite tricky to treat. This type of scalp would need all the tender and care and that starts from the basic of cleansing.

A’kin Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo is colorless. It is in gel form but surprisingly it does foams up well. At first I pour out more than the usual amount of shampoo that I would use, thinking gel usually doesn’t lathers well. I do have quite long hair length now so I was concern if the shampoo would be able to clean well. Not only it does lathers like normal shampoo, it also clean all the dirt and oil from my scalp and the foam is sufficient for me to shampoo my remaining hair length as well. Rinsing off the shampoo is a breeze. I used lesser water and time as the shampoo doesn’t clings on the hair like other shampoo.

What I like about this shampoo is the fact that the ingredient used is so natural and yet powerful. I like that my hair feels light weight without the greasiness that normal shampoo would give me. I also notice that my scalp doesn’t become oily as much as before. In fact my scalp is more balanced now that I can tell it’s more to normal scalp than oily. This is unscented so do expect no fragrance scent from it. I’m sure you already know I am sensitive towards the scent of the product I used. This shampoo doesn’t smell a bit yucky at all. It smells natural ala botanical-like. If you know what I mean 🙂

Here is the ingredient list. A’kin Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo is made from six powerful and gentle botanical cleansers blended in a pH neutral unscented formula to calm and soothe a sensitive scalp. It’s cruelty-free (very important), free from sulfates, paraben and many more. Do refer to the below for more info.

A’kin Lavender & Anthyliss Leave-in Conditioner (RM63 / 150ml)

Since the shampoo I used is unscented, we got to balance it back with the conditioner right? This is also my first time trying a lavender scented condition and I’m pretty nervous about it. I’m okay with lavender scent but not a big fan of it. I was beyond happy that A’kin Lavender & Anthyliss Leave-in Conditioner is a very mild scented product. This leave-in conditioner is for all hair type, especially good for dry hair or chemically treated hair that are in need of added moisture.

The conditioner is in creamy white. You know me, I never read what’s printed on the bottle. I used it as normal conditioner for the first few use. I like that it doesn’t make my bathroom floor slippery so I thought huh, this is one good sulfate-free conditioner. It is sulfate-free alright but it is meant to be used as leave-in conditioner after towel dry hair or on dry hair itself. Feeling silly, I finally get the rhythm right and I like it as much as when I used it the wrong way lol. This has changed my whole hair care routine. I am usually lazy with conditioning my hair but I’m weirdly happy to apply all sorts of products on my hair after towel dry. So this A’kin Lavender & Anthyliss Leave-in Conditioner fits into my habit.

What I don’t like about it is how my hair clumps up in batches after my hair dry. It’s really not a big issue for me as I can always loosen it up using both my hands. Then it’s back to normal again. Conditioner can get slippery to touch or weighing down the hair and I’m happy to tell you that this one doesn’t do that to me at all. It’s not even a bit greasy.

Here is the ingredient list. It is made from a blend of pure active botanics such as Amino acids, anti-oxidants, herbal extracts and richly nourishing Australian Jojoba and certified organic Avocado oil. Besides helping to add moisture and strength to the hair, it also works by protecting the hair from heat styling and environmental damage.

I’ve read mixed review on this and I’m going against it all by saying I do like it as it has helped tremendously with my sensitive and red scalp. I have been suffering from itchy red scalp for quite some time now. It is embarrassing to walk out with redness along my hairline. If you’ve been following my blog, you would have notice the redness if you pay attention to it (I hope you don’t LOL). For example this picture from one of my review. You would probably remember the baboon butt red scalp from this post. That was Before I start using A’kin Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo and Lavender & Anthyliss Leave-in Conditioner.

And this is the After. Photo was taken just yesterday. Redness all gone, although it seems like my scalp is still red from this angle. Trust me it’s not. It used to be red until the forehead bit.

My first time trying pure and natural hair care products and I must say I am pretty impressed. I have not thought of using fragrance-free botanical shampoo to tame the sensitivity down. Who would have thought that’s what my scalp need eh?

Have you jump onto natural ingredient products bandwagon yet? At the moment I’m moving towards animal cruelty-free products bit by bit. It’s hard when it comes to makeup products but I think it’s easier when it comes to skin care, body care and hair care.

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.