Figuring out a great haircare routine can be challenging. First, you need to consider your hair type and individual needs. Next, factor in the planet. Finding an eco-friendly shampoo that’s just as great for your hair as it is for the environment can be quite the battle—but it’s not impossible.
To determine whether a product is eco-friendly, you shouldn’t just be looking at the ingredients list and label for clean ingredients and certifications. The packaging of the product also matters. What’s it made of? Is it recyclable? How much waste does it save over traditional options?
If you’re looking for a new eco-friendly shampoo to try, this list will help you find some options.
8 Eco-Friendly Shampoo Swaps
1. HiBAR Shampoo & Conditioner Bars, $26.50
The Brightly Shop features three shampoo and conditioner bar sets from HiBAR—and each is made with clean ingredients! Choose between the volumize set, the soothe set, and the moisturize set.
Each kit contains a solid eco-friendly shampoo bar (and a conditioner bar) that’s vegan, plastic-free, and ocean-friendly! Plus, the packaging is completely compostable, keeping waste out of the landfill.
2. Aveda Rosemary Mint Purifying Shampoo, $10-62
Aveda carries shampoos that are cruelty-free, natural, and vegan. This brand offer shampoos that will replenish, repair, exfoliate, soften, purify, among many other benefits.
Specifically, the Rosemary Mint Purifying Shampoo is one of Aveda’s bestsellers. It’s free from silicone, phthalates, parabens, synthetic fragrance, mineral oil, petrolatum, and formaldehyde. Plus, it comes in a 100% post-consumer HDPE recyclable bottle.
3. Beautycounter Daily Shampoo Refill in Bright Grapefruit, $28
Beautycounter’s Bright Grapefruit Shampoo moisturizes and strengthens hair—all while being cruelty-free and vegan. And another great benefit: The company has a refill system. Customers can opt to receive refills for this shampoo bottle, and they can use the pump from the old bottle in the new one.
Plus, this company is partnered with How2Recycle to provide information on how to properly dispose of the packaging. Fortunately, the refill bottle comes in an aluminum bottle, which can be recycled.
4. Reverie Shampoo, $38
Reverie offers this cruelty-free, gluten-free shampoo that can be used on color-treated hair. This shampoo shines and cleanses hair, gently protecting both the user’s hair and scalp while restoring it at the same time. The shampoo contains biodegradable ingredients from coconut and cane sugar.
Reverie also has a Plastic Negative certification: For every bottle sold, the company funds the recovery and removal of twice as much ocean-bound plastic waste through its partnership with rePurpose Global. All plastic packaging is made from 100% traceable post-consumer recycled plastic, the tubes are made from carbon negative mono-material sugarcane, and the glass bottles are 70% post-consumer recycled.
5. Rahua Color Full Shampoo Sustainability Set, $74
Rahua’s eco-friendly shampoo kit includes recyclable and refillable containers. The kit comes with refill pouches that are 60% biodegradable plant fibers. When your bottle runs low, you can easily refill it, reducing plastic consumption by 90%.
This shampoo is also formulated with sustainable ingredients and is cruelty-free. In fact, the company says it sources its signature oils “from Indigenous Amazonians who have passed down their ancestral knowledge through generations. Buying these oils crafted in this way helps support the rainforest and its most stalwart defenders: its inhabitants.”
6. Everist Waterless Shampoo Concentrate, $24
According to Everist, most shampoos contain more than 70% water, are made from petrochemicals, and are packed in single-use plastics. However, Everist’s Waterless Shampoo Concentrate is 100% plant-based, and the paste-textured concentrate is activated by water.
This shampoo is zero-waste, color-safe, vegan, and cruelty-free. And it includes only clean ingredients like essential oils. The packaging is also an aluminum tube that can be recycled. Want a full review? Here’s what our Scouts thought about the product when they gave it a try.
7. Plaine Products Shampoo, $30
This shampoo from Plaine Products checks all the boxes. It’s vegan, cruelty-free, non-GMO, sulfate-free, and color-safe. Plus, it’s palm oil-free, silicone-free, and zero-waste.
That’s right: This shampoo’s container is reusable and refillable. When you’re finished with the shampoo, simply order a refill, switch the pump to the new bottle, and send back the old one to be cleaned and reused over and over again.
Plaine Products is also a Certified B Corp and features 100% carbon-neutral shipping. The company has even eliminated 377,993 plastic bottles from landfills and oceans! Click here for a full review from our Scouts.
8. Ethique Tone It Down Solid Purple Shampoo, $17
Ethique’s Tone It Down purple shampoo works best for those with light-colored hair—it can be used as your regular shampoo to help cancel out unwanted yellow tones. The shampoo is sulfate-free and doesn’t include petrochemical-derived dyes. The best part is this solid shampoo is equivalent to three bottles of liquid shampoo!
Ethique is also 100% plastic-free, and this solid shampoo specifically saves 2,750 milliliters of water, contains compostable packaging, and plants a tree. It’s carbon-neutral and a more eco-friendly option than most liquid purple shampoos.
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