Natura Siberica

[LadyCelestina]

Anybody here has heard about them/uses their cosmetics?

I got to NS through my boyfriend. He has psoriasis on his scalp and MBL to WL dry wavy hair (he doesn't care for it gently though). At first, I was very sceptical, as I tend to be of all "natural" shampoos, but over time I began noticing that his hair has changed, and looks really pretty, shiny, longer and thicker (with just shampoo mind you, and no special treatments). After trying out some of his shampoos - the Beluga and Siberian Stag ones, I was hooked and bought a NS shampoo for myself. I have the Arctic Rose one in a white bottle, and I love it! It's a blessing for my scalp and smells lovely after roses.

[Nini]

I think one of the local health shops carry it, but the strong smell chased me away before I even thought about trying it

[LadyCelestina]

Haha yes the smell is super strong, funnily enough I feel like their shower gels are far less scented than their shampoos I can smell the Arctic Rose the next day, and I usually don't notice the smell of products on my hair

[lapushka]

Yes, sometimes, if the products are fragranced with EO it can be worse than synthetic fragrance, IMO. I have now just poured a shower gel that had gone off'ish a bit (last one I had of that sort, it was Essenza own brand) into my handsoap container and it smells... Wohoow! Phew. Thank goodness it's lavender and it's not too bad.

I'm glad you found something that you like! That's the most important part.

[MusicalSpoons]

I started using Natura Siberica shampoo when my previous shampoo disappeared from shops and online, and the NS range available here was sulphate-free and cheap enough to give it a go. I tried the anti-dandruff shampoo first; I can't remember what the main ingredients were but it contained some type of wormwood and smelled awful! Thankfully the smell didn't last and may have been somewhat masked my conditioner. Now I'm using the neutral/sensitive shampoo which seems to be keeping my scalp happier than the previous one

[lapushka]

First time I've heard of the brand. I'm going to go off and Google it a bit; I'm curious.

[meteor]

^ Lapushka, the brand has been very well known in Russia for ages (and some Russian-speaking communities abroad, too), but it was definitely a very local, small brand back then with a big focus of botanicals that people historically liked locally (like sea buckthorn, nettle, yarrow, oak bark, ginseng...), supposedly sourced from all over Russia, not just Siberia. So I can definitely see some of the fragrances being a problem, especially for people with allergies and sensitivities, - botanicals can be risky. I'd check the ingredients lists and still go for shorter ingredients lists with tried and tested stuff with fewer variables in that case. I don't know how their products are now that they seem to be making a marketing push in Europe. The company now has a lot of other random new stuff, like a bunch of different spas and even "hair contests", too?

[lapushka]

^ Lapushka, the brand has been very well known in Russia for ages (and some Russian-speaking communities abroad, too), but it was definitely a very local, small brand back then with a big focus of botanicals that people historically liked locally (like sea buckthorn, nettle, yarrow, oak bark, ginseng...), supposedly sourced from all over Russia, not just Siberia. So I can definitely see some of the fragrances being a problem, especially for people with allergies and sensitivities, - botanicals can be risky. I'd check the ingredients lists and still go for shorter ingredients lists with tried and tested stuff with fewer variables in that case. I don't know how their products are now that they seem to be making a marketing push in Europe. The company now has a lot of other random new stuff, like a bunch of different spas and even "hair contests", too?

I had no clue about it being so known in Russia. I actually thought it was a Polish brand or some such due to the writing on the bottles!

Nice of you to warn us all about the scents.

[mira-chan]

I had no clue about it being so known in Russia. I actually thought it was a Polish brand or some such due to the writing on the bottles!

Nice of you to warn us all about the scents.

It's a Russian brand though the St. Peterburg store employees say that it's Italian, but all info for them is from Russia. I think that's more of a marketing tactic by that store. I've been using their skin care for years. I actually used their previous products before they re-branded as Natura Sibirica. My skin is very happy with their creams. The serums and cleansers not so much. The skincare scent isn't too bad, depending on product.

I do avoid the shower gels and shampoo as they do use sulfates and smell strong. I have one sample shower gel sample and it smells way too strong of candy that has been dumped into lemonade. A really weird scent. Leave in conditioner spray and hair oils are strongly scented too.

Mom uses their Ivan-da-mar'ya heavy soap (Уван-да-марья густое мыло) as it's less drying for her skin. I like the heavy siberian white cream (Густое сибирское масло) for my super dry skin.

[meteor]

Thanks, lapushka! I'm actually surprised it's so easily available internationally now.
Oh, and I should have made it clearer in my post that they used to source their botanicals in Russia. Nowadays, they use some foreign sources additionally, as well.
There is another brand "Agafia" or "Grandma Agafia's Recipes" ("Рецепты бабушки Агафьи"), which is very similar (lots of products/ingredients overlap, lots of dupes) but it is even a lot more affordable, and it was founded and is owned by same people as Natura Siberica and appears to be using some of the same R&D and practices of using the same traditional herbs and oils popular over there, etc - it might be worth checking out for people who liked NS ingredients for whatever reason and are interested in experimenting with these types of products more...