Written by Maia, President
UPDATED: 2018
When I first wrote this post on non-toxic shampoo, I also stopped using shampoo. I was closeted “no-pooer” for a while, and you can read about the no poo method here.
Despite the fact that my hair genuinely looks better when I’m not washing it (see the picture on the left), I can’t seem to stick with it and really miss a nice lather when I’m in the shower.
If you don’t want to skip the suds yourself, you might want to become familiar with the problematic ingredients in conventional—and many of the “natural”—shampoos on the market:
The brands listed below represent some of the only non-toxic shampoo out there–they are free of phthalates, parabens, SLES/SLS, and toxic preservatives.
The truth is that my hair looks best using the no poo method, but when I’m too lazy to deal with that, I reach for one of these guys.
This shampoo contains no ingredients of concern, and doubles as a body wash. In addition to saponified coconut for a nice lather, Botanical Therapeutics shampoo contains other natural ingredients like apple cider vinegar and extracts of nettle, clover, and olive fruit.
$10.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now
Green Goo has long been one of our favorite brands, and we are thrilled that they’ve branched into haircare! Their shampoo features a blend of coconut oil and other botanicals with no Bad or Sneaky Stuff!
Hugo Naturals shampoos are available at Whole Foods, Amazon, and a variety of natural foods stores for around $10 for 12 ounces. I find that when I use this shampoo I have to wash my hair more frequently.
John Masters provided me with samples of their shampoo and conditioner, but as always, samples don’t affect my reviews. I love John Masters products. You’ll pay $16 for an 8-ounce bottle of shampoo, and you can buy it on Amazon, as well as in select natural foods stores and salons.
I love the way Beautycounter’s shampoo smells, and it’s solid in the performance department, too. The only ingredient of concern is the sodium benzoate; it’s a food grade preservative that I don’t like in products that I use for my kids, but which I’m okay with in stuff for myself. Beautycounter shampoo has a long ingredients list, and a lot of it is not natural. That said, Beautycounter tests all their products for purity after production, and carefully researches every single thing that goes into their line.
Carina sent me some samples of their shampoo–which of course did not affect my positive review, as I don’t accept product samples that contain ingredients I consider Bad or Sneaky Stuff. Carina’s vegan, sulfate-free shampoo is made with organic ingredients, and unlike most shampoos—even some of those that I consider the Good Stuff—Carina’s line is 100% natural. The Extra Gentle formulation is perfect for babies and kids.
$10.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now
Juice Organics’ line of sulfate-free shampoos contain natural and organic ingredients, none of which rank higher than a 1 on Skin Deep.
A bottle of Juice Organics shampoo costs around $10.
Living Nature is my new favorite brand of non-toxic shampoo, because it smells wonderful and is easier on my hair than most natural shampoos (which often leave it a weird combo of greasy roots and dry ends). I was hesitant about this New Zealand-based brand because it’s pricey, but I know think it’s well worth the extra cost.
People ask about Shea Moisture products all the time, and while I wouldn’t call the entire line Good Stuff, I do like their sulfate-free shampoos. These all contain organic ingredients, and not too many of them.
You’ll pay around $12 for a bottle of Shea Moisture shampoo.
Poofy makes several shampoos, all of which have a nice short list of ingredients (including some interesting ones like apple cider vinegar and yucca extract). I’ve not tried any Poofy shampoos, so let me know if you have, and how they work!
I love Plaine for their commitment to the environment–their bottles are not made of plastic, and better yet, you send them back to be cleaned, sterilized, refilled, and returned to you! The fact that this shampoo is also totally clean (no phthalates, SLES or SLS, or toxic preservatives) makes Plaine shampoo some of the Best Stuff.
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It’s interesting that the expensive brands that you might only find in a salon seem to be among the most toxic shampoos on the market.
A bottle of Frederic Fekkai shampoo, for which I religiously shelled out $30 for years (including during the beginning of my pregnancy—yikes!), contains all the usual suspects: parabens, retinyl palmitate, and fragrance (the smell was, in fact, what hooked me). It also has a couple of those nefarious preservatives I mentioned before–methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone.
Bumble and Bumble, c. Booth, Phyto, Fresh, and Nexxus all make shampoos that garner a whopping 9 or 10 on Skin Deep’s toxicity scale.
The lower-end brands (Pantene, Garnier Fructis, Suave) tend to get scores of between 5 and 7 from Skin Deep, containing fragrance, methylisothiazolinone, and methylchloroisothiazolinone, among other chemicals.
Alterna Hemp with Organics Repair Shampoo sounds, well, alternative, but considering it contains parabens, fragrance, retinyl palmitate, methylisothiazolinone, and methylchloroisothiazolinone, I’d say it’s pretty mainstream. It gets a 9 from Skin Deep, and the rest of Alterna’s hair products score at least a 6.
Aubrey Organics shampoo only contains one bad ingredient, retinol, but Skin Deep gives this synethtic form of vitamin A a whopping 9 out of 10 on its toxicity scale.
Avalon Organics line of shampoos contain benzyl alcohol and sodium benzoate. These aren’t the worst ingredients—so I would call Avalon Okay Stuff to use in a pinch…but not Good Stuff.
Aveeno Active Naturals shampoo is another case of greenwashing, since almost none of the ingredients is natural. Phenoxyethanol and cocamidopropyl betaine make an appearance on this label, but worse is the synthetic fragrance, rated a 9 out of 10 on Skin Deep.
Desert Essence shampoos contain a handful of ingredients that EWG considers moderately concerning–including phenoxyethanol and cocamidopropyl betaine.
Giovvani‘s line of haircare always looks weird to me in Whole Foods–its packaging is much more cheesy salon brand than natural brand, but the ingredients aren’t terrible. Still, none of it is organic, and it’s again got phenoxyethanol and cocamidopropyl betaine, so I still consider it Sneaky Stuff.
Jason Natural Tea Tree Scalp Normalizing Shampoo contains fragrance, retinyl palmitate, cocamidoproply betaine, and benzyl alcohol. It also packs in four more ingredients that Skin Deep considers moderately hazardous: benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, lyral, and hydroxycitronellal. The rest of Jason shampoos are only slightly better, and not any safer than your average drug store brand.
Kiss My Face shampoo isn’t terrible, but it does contain cocamidoproply betaine.
Nature’s Gate Organics Organic Herbal Blends Soothing Shampoo, Tea Tree & Blue Cypress gets a 9 on Skin Deep, thanks to parabens, fragrance, PEG-150 distearate (which earns a 6 from Skin Deep), cocamidopropyl betaine, and diazolidinyl urea. The rest of Nature’s Gate shampoos score a 6 or the occasional 7 on Skin Deep.
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View Comments
What is the no poo method and how can
I obtain it?
The no poo method can actually damage your hair after a while. Be careful with it. I am using shampoo bars instead and they are great!
What type of shampoo bar do you use? I am not familiar with them. Thanks!
Hey Teresa. I've been using these babies on our family for the last 12 months, mainly cos they're sulfate and paraben free and vegan but also cos there just great for our life style....so maybe check them out ;-) Ricki (that's a female Ricki, in case you were wondering, proud mom of three!)
Oops.....forgot to post who "these babies" are, 10/10 for doh-iness! Having a blonde hair day :-) here ya go... http://Www.thesolidbarcompany.com/collections/hair-care-bars
I used the Beauty and the Bees Tasmania bar soap and I love it! Bar soaps take about a month of use before your hair responds favorably. I will say that they get used up faster than a liquid soap, making it a pricier option.
Can you also recommend a safe conditioner?
What about renpure?
I can't find anywhere that lists all the ingredients in this product.
http://www.target.com/p/renpure-coconut-milk-nourishing-shampoo-16-0-fl-oz/-/A-51002227
Click item details for ingredients.
If you were looking at Renpure cleansing conditioners, I'd really recommend staying away from them at all costs, as they all contain diazolidinyl urea, a formaldehyde releasing ingredient.
Chagrin Valley also makes fantastic shampoo bars - there are tons to choose from and I have used them for about 5 years now. They are completely natural, very gentle, lather a lot, and smell great (unless you get one without essential oils).
Hello,
I have been a no sulfate/paraben advocate for years. For the past year, I started weeding out other harsh chemicals as well. I have lots of fine hair, that tends to be oily on the roots, dry on the ends. I used to think it was impossible to find the right kind of products. What I now realize is that I just needed to retrain myself. Forget about what I grew up learning. Thank you for your list. I've been using John Masters, so it's nice to see this on your list.
Have you looked at Plaine Shampoo/Conditioner? I believe that is what they are called. I would love to know your thoughts on them?
Hello Maia, may you please advise if you will have the Living Nature balancing shampoo back in stock?
Thank you-Linda
Hi Linda,
As you know it is made in New Zealand so it is a little more difficult to get and our distributor has been out of it. I spoke with them today and they are ordering soon from New Zealand. We should have it soon. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and when it's back in stock Maia will announce it there.
What are your thoughts on Shea Moisture products? Are they considered safe?
Thanks and God bless.
Hi Clara-See above, where I reviewed the Shea Moisture shampoo:)
I use SHIKAI
I buy from Vitacost
Opinions?
Terressentials makes fantastic shampoos for all hair types.
I agree with you, Louisa. Terressentials shampoos are the Good Stuff!
Hi I just wanted to let you kniw that when I attempted to purchase the Acure shampoo and Conditioner on another site, I received the same warning that I do for other shampoos.
what do you mean by a "warning"? Are you referring to the ingredients?
Acure makes me itch so I would suggest trying something else.
What about Beaty Without Cruelty (BWC)?
Depends on the product, but some BWC stuff is unfortunately Sneaky.
Are Aveda products considered safe?
I consider most of Aveda products Sneaky, although the company has made strides in recent years and become a bit safer.
This is over a year old, however still important. Read the ingredients on each Aveda product you are interested in purchasing. I was considering buying shampoo until I read the ingredients. I was very shocked. They claim to be Natural.
Thank you Regina!
What about Beautycounter products? Its a company with a mission of making sure its products are safe.
Yes, Diana I like Beauty Counter for the most part. In fact, we just signed up to be able to offer it to our readers:)
http://www.beautycounter.com/suzanneweaver-goss/
What about the Miss Jessie's line of hair care products?
Hi!
Do you have an opinion on the wen hair loss scandal? I am interested in trying a new product called "new wash" by "hairstory" but am nervous. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated!
I used New Wash and loved it - effective in hard water, no itchy scalp, one and done, etc. The only caveat I have for that product is that if you have fine, low porosity hair then build-up is likely to be an issue (as it was for me) due to the use of Behentrimonium Methosulfate - which is a cationic conditioning agent (i.e. a quaternay ammonium salt, a “quat” basically... cationic surfactants are conditioning agents that bond to hair, due to their positive charge).
Cationic surfactants are exceedingly difficult to remove, and standard sulfate shampoos (SLS, etc.) won’t do it... only C12-14/14-16 Olefin Sulfonate and Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate will remove them effectively (e.g. Kinky Curly Come Clean shampoo and a few other brands)... while these aren’t sulfates, they can be every bit as harsh and irritating, especially for sensitive scalps.
Those with thick, coarse, dry, high porosity (often wavy/curly) hair tend to love and do well with cationic surfactants - as they excel at anti-static and frizz control - which is why these ingredients and their variations are now so prevalent in nearly everything.
Cationic surfactants and quats give me instant buildup, and quats in particular cause hairline/scalp breakouts for me. I’ve had to become a diligent label reader and ingredients sleuth in order to find products that meet my standards for safety and efficacy without the inclusions of these ingredients.
I loved everything else about New Wash so much that I’ve been sorely tempted to try the new “Deep” formula - designed to be more cleansing and less conditioning for finer, oilier hair types... but alas: while it has moved significantly further down the ingredients list, the product still had BHMS in it, and will thus result in near-instant build up for me.
So... just something to be aware of... if build up is not generally an issue for you, you might love it!