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For a lot of us, our haircare routine isn’t something we want to compromise on. And while natural and organic shampoos have gotten a bad rap in the past for lacking the sudsiness we’ve come to equate with “cleanliness,” natural shampoos have come a long way.
There are so many different natural shampoo brands on the market that get amazing reviews, deliver results, and are free of the toxins that are harmful for your hair, your health, and the environment—like parabens (preservatives) and sulfates (cleaning agents).
We’ve found the best natural shampoos on the market for every hair type and unique need so buying a natural or organic shampoo doesn’t have to feel like a compromise.
Best Overall Natural Shampoo
Best Overall
Prose Custom Shampoo and Conditioner
Prose is a 100% customizable natural shampoo and conditioner company, offering bespoke formulas based on what your unique hair care needs are. When you shop on Prose, you’re essentially getting an online hair consultation, where they ask about your age, hair type, oiliness, and more, to help you get the formula you need to see results. After you get your first formula, you’ll get access to their Review & Refine program, allowing you to give feedback on the products and tailor your formula even further.
The formula you get will depend on your results, but all of Prose’s ingredients are sulfate-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free, alcohol-free, GMO-free, and cruelty-free. You can actually check out every single one of the natural ingredients that might show up in your formula, and we love that they’ve organized their ingredient database by safety as measured by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). (It’s reassuring to see that no ingredients scored a 7 to 10 score for low safety!).
We love that Prose is a natural shampoo brand that’s dedicated to human health and minimizing environmental impact. They’re a Certified B Corp that’s carbon neutral. You can actually see on their website how their carbon is generated and then offset. We’re all about the visibility into sustainability practices.
What Customers Love
- How much care and customization they put into their unique formulas
- Hair seems a lot healthier and happier on a Prose custom formula
- Great customer service
What Customers Don’t Love
- Some formulas don’t work out for specific customers
- High price point
Runner Up
Runner Up
Avalon Organics Therapy Thickening Shampoo
Avalon Organics is an EWG verified organic shampoo and conditioner brand that makes affordable products with ingredients you can trust. In fact, Avalon Organics gets our pick for the best budget natural shampoo on this list. Their thickening shampoo gets the best reviews on Amazon, and is a great option for anyone who wants a little boost for their hair or is looking for a natural shampoo for hair growth.
This formula is made with biotin, saw palmetta, quinoa protein and vitamin E, meant to build body into fine, flat hair and cleanse from root to tip. It’s a certified organic shampoo by the NSF standard, and made without GMOs, sulfates, synthetic colors or fragrances, or phthalates.
The formula gets over 5,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, so you can trust that it’s a much-loved natural shampoo that actually works.
What Customers Love
- Many customers note that it’s made their hair much thicker and longer
- Doesn’t irritate scalp or skin
What Customers Don’t Love
- Some customers didn’t find it as moisturizing as advertised
- Some customers had issues with leaky bottles during shipping
Other Natural and Organic Shampoo and Conditioners We Love
Best Natural Dandruff Shampoo
Dandruff
John Masters Organics
Scalp Stimulating Shampoo
While not specifically marketed as a natural dandruff shampoo, this formula from John Masters Organics is an organic shampoo meant to detoxify the scalp, helping remove build up that contributes to dandruff.
The organic spearmint and peppermint oils used stimulate the scalp while organic meadowsweet flower extract and eucalyptus oil act as natural astringents and cleansers to balance sebum levels and improve scalp health. We love that 70% or more of this formula uses organic ingredients, which is hard to find in the world of natural and organic shampoos.
This formula doesn’t get as many reviews as other natural shampoos on this list, but the reviews they do have are great. They get over 50 5-star reviews, with customers loving how fresh and clean their scalp feels after use.
Best Natural Shampoo and Conditioner for Curly Hair
Curly Hair
Alaffia
Curl Enhancing Shampoo
Alaffia’s Curl Enhancing Shampoo is an all natural shampoo that’s made specifically for wavy to curly hair. The shea butter-based formula is meant to soothe and strengthen your scalp while also locking in moisture for your waves. It’s made with chamomile extract, yarrow extract, and shea butter, and they specify that their fragrance used is a natural one—primarily made with essential oils. The formula is made without sulfates, parabens, phthalates, silicones, mineral oil, artificial color or synthetic fragrance, and it’s cruelty-free.
Alaffia as a company is also great to support, and is especially focused on corporate responsibility and social causes. We love that Alaffia is For Life certified via ECOCERT, meaning that the many stakeholders involved in Alaffia’s products (like the suppliers of their shea beans, for instance), are treated fairly from an economic, social, and environmental perspective. Alaffia is also Fair Trade certified, Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certified as a minority-owned, managed and controlled business, and Good Manufacturing Practices certified (GMP).
Best Natural Shampoo for Dry Hair
Dry Hair
Acure
Ultra Hydrating Shampoo
Acure is a popular natural shampoo and conditioner brand, and we love a lot of their product line. Their Ultra Hydrating Shampoo is especially good for those with dry hair, though, with its argan oil and pumpkin based formula providing a boost of omega fatty acids. It’s also paraben free, sulfate free, mineral oil free, petrolatum free, formaldehyde free, and cruelty free. And, while not EWG certified, it does score a high score of a 2, meaning that it presents low human health hazards.
This natural shampoo gets particularly good reviews on Amazon, with nearly 5,000 reviews for an overall score of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Reviewers say that it has completely changed the quality and texture of their hair, and has helped with irritable scalp problems.
Best Natural Shampoo for Itchy, Dry Scalp
True Botanicals Nourishing Shampoo
Dry scalp
True Botanicals
Nourishing Shampoo
True Botanicals Nourishing Shampoo is a great non-toxic shampoo option for people suffering from uncomfortable scalps. It’s a formula meant to thoroughly clean but not strip your hair and scalp of the natural oils it needs to stay balanced.
It’s a hypoallergenic moisturizing formula made with green tea seed oil for hydration, meadowfoam seed oil for preventing brittleness, aloe leaf extract meant to soothe the scalp.
True Botanicals is also considered one of the best non-toxic shampoos on this list, as it’s Made Safe certified—meaning it contains no traces of products and ingredients that may be harmful to human health.
Best Natural Shampoo Bar
Shampoo Bar
HiBar
Maintain Shampoo Bar
If you’re looking for a natural shampoo that will also help you go zero-waste, HiBar’s Maintain shampoo bar is a great option.
This natural shampoo bar is a non-liquid, zero plastic shampoo that’s free of soaps, sulfates, phthalates, silicons, and parabens. It’s made with coconut oil and shea butter, and the subtle use of essential oils gives it a fresh, clean fragrance. It’s also Leaping Bunny certified cruelty free.
This particular formula is great for all hair types, and is lightly cleansing—making it an especially good product if you try not to wash your hair every day. HiBar shampoo bars also come in other varieties—like their moisturizing or volumizing shampoo. They get really great reviews, with over 400 5-star reviews on their website. Many customers mentioned how soft their hair feeled after using this shampoo.
Best Natural Shampoo for Fine Hair
Fine Hair
Briogeo
Blossom & Bloom Ginseng Biotin Volumizing Shampoo
The Briogeo Volumizing Shampoo is a great natural shampoo if you’re looking for a little body. It’s made with ginger, ginseng, and biotin to strengthen hair follicles and provide immediately visible fullness. (There is some research to suggest that Biotin does indeed help restore hair growth.) Importantly, this formula is vegan, gluten free, and 93% naturally derived. It’s also free of sulfates, silicones, phthalates, parabens, and artificial dyes.
This natural shampoo and conditioner set get great reviews, with customers wowed by the fact that this shampoo actually helps them see noticeable volume.
We also love Briogeo’s wide array of social impact and sustainability measures—from partnering in BIPOC focused philanthropic groups, to investing in FSC certified packaging and 100% post consumer recycled materials for their bottles.
Best Organic Shampoo for Oily Hair
Oily Hair
Desert Essence
Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo & Conditioner
Desert Essences’ Lemon Tea Tree shampoo is made specifically for those with oily scalps. If that’s you, this organic shampoo could be a good fit. This formula is actually certified by the NSF organic standard (making it one of the only certified organic shampoos on this list!), and is made with organic Australian tea tree oil and organic lemon peel extract—help bring the scalp back to its naturally preferred pH. Tea tree oil is known to be especially helpful for organic hair, helping regulate the production of oil.
This formula is vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free (certified by Leaping Bunny), and contains no artificial fragrances or dyes. Desert Essence themselves is also a B Corp Certified brand, meaning they are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
Best Natural Shampoo for Thinning Hair
Thinning Hair
R+Co
Dallas Biotin Thickening Shampoo
R+Co’s Dallas line of natural hair products are all about giving you hair-fit-for-Texas locks. If you’re experiencing hair thinning, their Biotin Thickening Shampoo is meant to revitalize hair follicles and give a big, bouncy boost to your hair. This is a great natural shampoo formula for anyone with thin, flat hair. Our editors have tried and tested this product and can vouch for its volumizing qualities.
It’s paraben-free, gluten-free, cruelty-free, and vegan. It does contain undisclosed fragrance, so if you’re looking for a nearly 100% natural shampoo formula (which is tough to find), this might not be your first choice.
Best Organic Clarifying Shampoo
Clarifying
Davines
SOLU Shampoo
The SOLU shampoo from Davines is a very deep-cleaning formula meant to remove the residue left from other shampoos and styling products. Our editors have tested this organic shampoo and use it as a go-to when they feel like they need a good deep clean.
Customers love this shampoo on Amazon, often saying it was the only product that helped them get rid of pesky oily residue left by other hair products.
We love that Davines is so committed to incorporating sustainability into their business practices. They’re a B Corp Certified company that adheres to the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the UN Agenda 2030. They favor use of natural origin ingredients, use 100% clean energy in their factories, and use 100% recyclable packaging.
Best Organic Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair
Color-treated hair
Rahua
Color Full Shampoo
Almost all the natural shampoos on this list are color-safe, but if you want a natural product that will be sure to complement your color-treated hair, Rahua’s Color Full Shampoo is a great choice.
This formula is a plant-based shampoo with Rahua and Morete oils from the Amazon Rainforest, meant to strengthen and fortify strands. It’s meant to keep your scalp healthy and strong, while not stripping your hair of any of its color.
Rahua is all about preserving natural forests and protecting the Indigenous People of the Amazon, and they incorporate a lot of different sustainability measures into their business practices. They’ve even managed to become carbon negative.
While Rahua’s Color Full Shampoo has a relatively few amount of reviews compared to their other popular natural and organic shampoo products, the reviews they do have are great. Importantly, all focus on the fact that this shampoo really keeps color intact.
Best Organic Leave-In Conditioner
Leave-In Conditioner
Innersense
Sweet Spirit Leave-In Conditioner
In most circumstances, we recommend pairing the conditioner-equivalent to all these natural shampoos listed above. But if your hair is especially damaged or dried, you might want to consider a leave-in conditioner.
Innersence offers a great organic leave-in conditioner made with emollient oils, herbs for fragrance, flower essences and a small amount of “bee-friendly” honey. All the plant extracts are certified organic, too. It’s actually a spray you apply after towel drying your hair.
It gets over 500 5-star reviews on Amazon, with users claiming that its changed their hair completely after only a few uses.
For another conditioning product from Innersence, try their organic hydrating hair mask for a deep conditioner equivalent.
Best Natural Deep Conditioner
Ethique Too Delicious Deep Conditioner Bar
Deep Conditioner
Ethique
Too Delicious Deep Conditioner Bar
If you aren’t thrilled by the idea of leaving conditioning product in your hair after showering, a deep conditioner could be an alternative option for dry, damaged hair.
Ethique’s natural deep conditioner bar is a “super conditioner” made with shea butter, cacao butter, hemp oil, and pink grapefruit. We love the attention Ethique puts into their ingredients, ensuring that no ingredients have any known or studied harm to human health, and ingredients are sustainably harvested, cruelty-free, plant-based, and palm-oil free. You can read more about their ingredients here.
Our Research Process
We started our search for the best natural and organic shampoo and conditioners by first getting a sense of the conventional hair care industry. We wanted to learn what ingredients might be harmful to human or environmental health, and would prompt someone to want to shop for organic shampoo.
Conventional shampoo brands use a slew of toxic ingredients like sulfates, parabens, artificial fragrance, polyethylene glycol, and more. Not only are these ingredients harmful to human health, they tend to strip hair of the oils it needs to stay healthy, leaving you with starved, dry strands.
With a sense of what consumers should avoid in shampoo and conditioner products, we set out to find the best natural shampoo and conditioner brands. We looked at natural shampoos for unique circumstances and conditions—like dry scalp, thinning hair, or color treated hair. There often isn’t a one-sized fits all product in the world of beauty and hair care, so we wanted to find the absolute best natural products based on what one might want to shop for.
To come up with our rankings, we took serious consideration of the brands’ ingredients, customer reviews, our own personal experience with the products, and gave brands extra consideration if they practiced positive sustainability measures within their company.
In the end, we considered the following brands:
- Dr. Bronners
- Davines
- SoapBox
- Prose
- Clevos
- Everyone
- Attitude
- Innersense Organic
- Avalon Organics
- Paul Penders
- Whamisa
- Wellnesse
- Acure
- Josh Rosebrook
- Christina Moss Naturals
- John Masters Organics
- Tree to Tub
- Aubrey Organics
- Rahua
- Intelligent Nutrients
- OGX
- Mielle Organics
- Nude
- Shea Moisture
- Desert Essence
- Ursa Major
- Ceremonia
- Alaffia
- Sienna Naturals
- Yarok
- True Botanicals
- NatureLab Tokyo
- HiBar
- 100% Pure
- Adiva
- Native
- Reverie
- Olaplex
- Brigeo
- JVN
- First Aid Beauty
- Biolage
Read more about our favorite organic and natural body and beauty picks, like the best organic toothpaste, best organic soap, best organic body wash, and best organic deodorant.
Sources
- https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/parabens-cosmetics
- https://www.healthline.com/health/sulfate-in-shampoo
- https://www.alaffia.com/pages/alaffia-commitments#fair-for-life
- https://www.ecowatch.com/5-toxic-ingredients-in-shampoos-and-conditioners-you-should-avoid-1891077666.html
- https://www.byrdie.com/tea-tree-oil-for-hair-5190961
- https://www.desertessence.com/certifications
- https://bcorporation.net/
- https://www.amazon.com/Davines-Solu-Shampoo-8-45-fl
- https://rahua.com/pages/sustainability
- https://us.davines.com/pages/davines-world#box-tvi-1560520246535
- https://ethique.com/pages/ingredients
- https://www.madesafe.org/true-botanicals-becomes-first-made-safe-brand-world/
