Clearstem Luxury Haircare Bundle Review: Editorially Tested in 2024

I spent years looking for a product that would combat my body’s acne once and for all. I’ve tried body washes, soaps, sprays and serums, and many of them actually work to have worked… but only temporarily. After a few weeks of a breakout-free butt, those (literal) painful pimples *always* seem to come back with full force. It wasn’t until recently that I realized it might be time to quit to deal with the problem and started trying to figure out where on earth it came from, which made me take a much-needed look at my hair care routine.

And wouldn’t you know it, certain ingredients commonly found in shampoos and conditioners can clog pores and ultimately lead to breakouts. It was clear something had to change, so I swapped out my favorite foaming and rinsing products Clearstem’s luxury hair care bundle ($94), and haven’t looked back since.

Why an acne-friendly shampoo?

Fun fact: Your hair products don’t just come into contact with your scalp and strands. As you rinse them, they work their way through your body, hitting your back and buttocks along the way (also called body breakout central). According to dermatologists, sulfates, which are often used as a foaming agent to make shampoo foamy, form a film on the skin and trap acne-causing dirt and bacteria. Other common shampoo ingredients like silicones, thick oils (like mineral oil and lanolin), and fragrances can also contribute to breakouts, but sulfates like SLS and SLES are known as enemy number one.

Additionally, conditioners often use heavy butters and oils for their moisturizing benefits, which—as you probably already know from your skincare routine—can cause breakouts.

“We see that hair care products clog pores and cause acne-like lesions,” says Ivy Lee, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Pasadena, California. She notes that conditioners with certain oils “can have more comedogenic effects, clogging pores and leading to acne-like lesions along the hairline, on the back of the neck, shoulders, or upper back.” Some common culprits? Coconut oil, almond oil and avocado oil.

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About Clearstem’s Luxury Hair Care Bundle

Clearstem’s hair care products are free of many things, including pore-crushers like sulfates, shea butter, isopropyl myristate, and coconut oil, as well as potential endocrine disruptors, like parabens and phthalates. But just as important as what the formulas don’t have is what they do have Doing have: A whole range of ingredients that are good for the hair.

First in the bundle is the brand’s Restorative Shampoo, which contains growth-boosting rosemary oil, scalp-soothing spearmint oil, and redness-reducing chamomile extract. Then there’s the Repair Conditioner, which gets its nourishing benefits from Kokum seed butter (for moisture in the hair) and almond seed cake, which coats the hair shaft in a protective barrier of peptides to prevent breakage. Both ingredients are non-comedogenic, so they won’t clog your pores when washed down your back.

Like all Clearstem products, the new hair care line sits at a unique intersection of ‘clean’ and ‘clinical’. The brand was founded by Danielle Gronich, a licensed clinical esthetician and founder of the San Diego Acne Clinic, and Kayleigh Christina, a certified holistic nutritionist, who brought their differing perspectives on acne treatment to the brand’s ethos. The formula’s natural, clinically tested ingredients are safe for sensitive skin and have been tested by dermatologists.

Why I love it

The fact that Clearstem’s Shampoo and Conditioner are acne-friendly may have been the reason I tried them in the first place, but there are a ton of other reasons that keep me coming back for more.

Since most sulfate-free shampoos provide a pretty weak lather (if at all), I’ve always had a hard time believing that they were. Actually getting my scalp clean – without the feeling of lather I wasn’t convinced they picked up all the dirt and grime. Clearstem’s shampoo extracts the perfect amount of lather from the plant-based sulfate alternatives, leaving me confident it will get the job done.

Moreover, the combination of spearmint and rosemary not only smells like a full-fledged spa experience, but the essential oils also provide a nice cooling effect when you apply them to your scalp. The entire user experience is so luxurious that it feels like it should be done by a professional in the salon instead of in my own shower. One thing that makes it even more professional? The included scalp scrubber, which I massage all over my scalp when it needs a thorough cleansing.

I was initially worried that an acne-friendly product duo would make my perpetually dry hair even drier, but I was wrong. Whatever the Kokum seed butter and almond seed cake do to my locks is pure magic. The conditioner makes my hair so soft and shiny and allows me to smell a subtle scent of the stimulating spearmint scent all day long.

I also love that the product comes in a container as it allows me to control exactly how much I use at a time. I like to apply it to my hair in small sections, working and combing small blobs into my locks from root to root. I clip it all into the claw clip that comes with the bundle, let it sit for five minutes while I do the rest of my body care routine, and rinse it off.

The product is still a fairly new addition to my routine, but based on the way my hair looks, what the hell Good it feels like using it, and the fact that my breakouts are on the way, you better believe it’s here to stay.