Like most things in our modern, consumer-focused society, shampoo has been over-sold with solutions to problems we don’t have and packed with ingredients we don’t need. It has become a status symbol for many, and a habitual addiction for others. If you feel like there must be a better way, you’re not alone.

There are always better alternatives to the garbage being hawked at us on the shelves, but we often have to put a lot more work into finding them. The cheap stuff you find in the store is often cheap because it is filled with everything besides just soap, and even chemicals that harm your hair and skin. They can keep it cheap because they know you’ll keep coming back for more.

Why Are We Talking About This?

It’s tempting to fall for big, corporate advertising that sells false hope and hair damage. The following ingredients are included in most grocery and drug store shampoos but are detrimental to the health of your hair (not to mention the environment).

• Sulfates. Sulfates can irritate your skin and cause dryness by stripping hair of natural oils.
• Parabens. These have been shown to be carcinogens.
• Phthalates. These cause hormonal disruption and are bad for the environment.
• Formaldehyde. At certain levels, formaldehyde can cause hair loss. A little bit ironic.
• Keratin. High levels of keratin can cause hair loss.
• Dimethicone. This is a type of silicone that can cause hair loss.
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLES). This is a foaming agent or surfactant that can cause hair loss at high levels.
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS). Another foaming agent or surfactant that can cause hair loss at high levels.
• Toxic Preservatives like Methylchlorisothiazonlinone (MCI), and Methylisothiazolinone (MIT). These are neurotoxins that can cause chemical burns and allergic reactions.
• Synthetic colors blue 1 and yellow 5. These colors are made from petroleum and coal tar.

This is an overwhelming list of ingredients to avoid, but have no fear. We have done all the research for you so you don’t have to. All the recommendations on our list are non-toxic, avoid all the ingredients listed above, include brands that practice sustainability practices, come hairstylist recommended, and even have a few B-Corps. Here are 10 shampoo brands that aren’t harmful to your hair or the environment.

#10 Prose

•  Hair Type: All
•  Price: $28.90
•  Size: 8.5 fl oz

We love Prose for the customizability of it all. Prose is made-to-order and customizable for environmental factors, hair type, hair goals, and more. The first step is to take its online consultation to create your personalized formula. And it even comes with your name on the bottle. It uses safe, nontoxic ingredients that even show each ingredient’s EWG score, country of origin, and what it does on the website. 

Replacing mass-produced products with made-to-order options helps Prose truly be a part of ethical consumerism. All of its products are bottled in its Brooklyn factory and use ethically sourced ingredients. Prose is a certified B-corporation and tries to be transparent in its manufacturing practices. It is certified carbon-neutral that offsets 15,000 tonnes of carbon each year. It also donates over $100,000 per year to nonprofits like Prospect Park Alliance, Apex, Providence House, Stop AAPI Hate, The Loveland Foundation, and The Trevor Project.     

#9 Sienna Naturals H.A.P.I. Shampoo

• Hair Type: Curly, textured, relaxed, and color-treated hair with high and low porosity
• Price: $28
• Size: 10 fl. Oz. 

H.A.P.I stand for hydrating, alimentary, PH-balanced, ingredients. Sienna Naturals is a black woman-owned vegan and cruelty-free brand created by co-founders Issa Rae and Hannah Diop. It wants to introduce black women to the clean beauty space. 

This shampoo has a pleasant lavender and geranium scent, with a lightweight rich foaming lather. Other ingredients include aloe vera juice, coconut derivatives, and baobab oil. Sienna Naturals is also the first ever dermatologist-tested and approved haircare line.

#8 Ceremonia Guava Protect & Repair Shampoo

• Hair Type: Damaged or color-treated hair
• Price: $22
• Size: 8.45 fl. Oz.   
  

This pleasant shampoo uses ingredients sourced from Latin America and features Guatemala aloe vera and Guava fruit extract from Thailand. It is free from silicones, parabens, sulfates, phthalates, artificial colorants, and other harmful ingredients. It also uses 100% PCR bottles and Ceremonia even removes twice as much nature-bound plastic waste than it sells. 

This woman-owned Latin heritage clean hair brand is on a mission to empower you with a hair ritual that makes a real impact. 

“Ceremonia was born out of the desire to celebrate the richness of Latin Culture while highlighting the next generation of Latinx. Inspired by the rituals I grew up with, alongside a new generation leading the way towards a more sustainable future, Ceremonia provides a new-age perspective to hair care for all”- Babba Riviera, Founder 

#7 Ethique Pinkalicious Shampoo Bar

• Hair Type: Dull to Balanced hair
• Price: $16
• Size: 3.8 oz (80 uses) 

This citrusy-scented shampoo bar refreshes and revives hair for a restored look. Haircare bars are easy to use and reduce water waste, making them much more efficient and cheaper than normal shampoo. Simply wet your hair and the bar, massage the bar into your roots and throughout your scalp, and then lather the shampoo throughout your hair. This bar uses grapefruit oil, coconut oil, and creamed coconut to really revive hair.

Woman-owned and Australia-based, Ethique is committed to sustainability and ethics. It strives to minimize waste and contribute to the well-being of the planet. Nothing highlights this commitment more than its plastic-free packaging and shampoo bars. It is a certified B-Corporation, cruelty-free, vegan, certified palm-oil-free, and CE Way certified. Its shampoo packaging is completely plastic-free, home-compostable, and recyclable. It also donates 2% of all sales to charities that support initiatives that support the environment. You can use its online quiz to see which products are right for your hair.

#6 Vegamour GRO Revitalizing Shampoo

• Hair Type: All hair types and textures, especially for fine or thin hair
• Price: $48
• Size: 8 fl. Oz. 

This shampoo was the 2021 Good Lightning Award Winner. The Vegamour GRO Revitalizing Shampoo is clean and vegan and cleanses and strengthens thinning hair. The formula features biomimetic peptides, caffeine, phytoactives, biotin, and karmatin, a vegan keratin alternative. It is also formulated without silicones or artificial colorants. Vegamour is also cruelty-free and clinically tested. 

Founder Dan Hodgdon develops his formulas based on four key factors: bioavailability, clean ingredients, holistic hair wellness, and science-backed results. Ingredients are farmed from direct, fair-trade partnerships that ethically harvest ingredients from a collective of communities. As with all the brands on this list, you can verify these claims on the website.

#5 Vanicream Sensitive Skin Care Shampoo

• Hair Type: Sensitive Skin
• Price: $12.99
• Size: 12 fl. Oz. 

This amazing non-medicated shampoo is ideal for people with ultra-sensitive skin. It removes flaking, prevents scaling, and controls skin oils. This is also a great clarifying shampoo and is wonderful at removing build-up from other bad hair care products. This is the ultimate free and clear formula being lanolin-free, fragrance-free, dye-free, paraben-free, formaldehyde-free, botanical extract-free, sulfate-free, protein-free, gluten-free, cocamidopropylbetamine free, and dermatologist tested. 

Vanicream has been a trusted brand for the last 50 years. Its current sustainability practices include 25% low-emission energy, 100% biodegradable packing peanuts, reusable pallets, and reusable cardboard boxes, and utilizes UPS’s Carbon Neutral Shipping option. Its liquid cleanser also comes in a refill size to cut down on plastic use. 

#4 Verb Ghost Shampoo

• Hair Type: All, but especially fine hair
• Price: $20
• Size: 12 fl oz

This shampoo is moringa oil-infused and is also color-safe. It is paraben-free, gluten-free, has no harmful sulfates, Peta-certified cruelty-free, and vegan. Verb’s Ghost shampoo has green tea extract, and sunflower seed extract, and is designed to deeply nourish and detangle fine hair. 

Verb has a partnership with The Ali Forney Center (AFC) which has a goal to protect LGBTQ+ youth from homelessness. The Ali Forney Center provides services to more than 2,000 unhoused people in New York City with their drop-in center, and 17 emergency and transitional housing sites. AFC provides specialized housing to the LGBTQ+ community, providing them with safe shelter. 

Verb also doesn’t retouch or use filters in any of its online content, which means all the images you see are real results, which we find very refreshing. 

#3 Bread Beauty Gentle Milky Hair Cleanser

• Hair Type: All but especially for Curly, Afro, and Textured Hair 
• Price: $20
• Size: 8.4 fl. Oz. 

This is a hybrid between a shampoo and a co-wash. It is lightly foaming, and free from sulfates and harsh surfactants. It has a fun bowl-of-fruit-loop-cereal-milk-scent and has been awarded over 10 beauty awards. It is color-safe, vegan, and cruelty-free. This formula includes argan oil, aloe vera juice, and lemon tea tree oil. 

Bread is a black woman-owned brand that is “haircare basics for not-so-basic hair.” Bread is cruelty-free, 100% vegan, and made in the USA and Australia.  

#2 Pattern Beauty Hydration Shampoo

• Hair Type: Curly, coily, tight textured hair, thick, fine, and damaged hair
• Price: $45
• Size: 25 fl. Oz. 

This formula is SLS and SLES free to gently moisturize and cleanse hair. It is a perfect shampoo for all kinds of hair types. Some nourishing ingredients in this formula include shea butter, aloe vera leaf juice, coconut oil, and honey. 

Pattern is paraben-free, color-safe, free of cyclic silicones, and phthalate-free. It also supports organizations and programs that empower women and people of color such as Black Girl Ventures, Legal Defense Fund, Communities for a Better Environment, and Center for Black Women’s Wellness. Founder Tracee Ellis Ross says, “Love the hair you see first thing in the morning in your bathroom. Be free.” 

#1 Olaplex No.4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo

• Hair Type: All Hair Types
• Price: $30
• Size: 250 ML 

A tested and true favorite among hair stylists and consumers everywhere, Olaplex doesn’t need any hype. Known for its patented Bond Maintenance system to truly give you your best hair, Olaplex is Vegan, cruelty-free, nut-free, paraben-free, phthalates-free, phosphate-free, gluten-free, and sulfate-free. 

Olaplex is committed to sustainability. It acknowledges that it is responsible for “creating as little harm as possible to the environment.” Olapex has a carbon-negative footprint (which means that it removes more carbon from the atmosphere or environment than it produces), limits its secondary packaging, and is completely non-toxic. 

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