You can order a veggie burger at a restaurant, but that doesn’t mean it’s the healthiest choice on the menu. The same goes for the shampoo you’re using to wash your hair. There might be “healthy” ingredients on the label, like argan oil, coconut oil, and rosemary, but the blend can still include a bunch stuff that isn’t good for your hair.
There’s no textbook definition on what makes a shampoo “natural,” which makes figuring out whether or not a formula is actually non-toxic confusing, to say the least. (Then there’s that prickly discussion of what a toxin even is.) But let’s stick to the basics: Avoiding shampoos with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is a good place to start. While the foaming agent gives traditional shampoos that lathering effect, it also strips hair of moisture and color, plus it can irritate the skin and eyes.
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Along with leaving out sulfates, more and more brands have begun to use only safe, natural additives in their formulas. Some have even gone above and beyond to get their USDA organic certification, which is still pretty rare in the beauty world.
Here, we’ve rounded up the best natural, non-toxic shampoos for each and every hair type. The following eight shampoos are free of sulfates and harsh chemicals, they work just as well as traditional formulas.
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