Best Hair Care Products

You put a lot of stuff in your hair—shampoo, conditioner, gel, and maybe some added color. The good news is that hair care products are made mostly of water, about which we have nothing bad to say. The bad news is that the chemical ingredients that actually do the work—chemical detergents, dyes, fragrances, and conditioners—aren’t always safe for you or good for the environment. Dyes and colors often come with ingredient lists that are 60 or 70 chemicals long and can include toxics like P-Phenylenediamine, resorcinol, eugenol, and ethanolamine. (more)

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Highest-Rated Hair Care Products

Dr. Bronner's Magic Organic Citrus Hair Rinse
Dr. Bronner's Magic Organic Citrus Hair Rinse
  • $9.99
  • User Rating:
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8.6
Dr. Hauschka Neem Hair Oil
Dr. Hauschka Neem Hair Oil
  • $39.95
8.6
Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar
Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar
  • $6.00
  • User Rating:
    Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_empty_small
8.6
Miessence Protect Hair Repair
Miessence Protect Hair Repair
  • $6.32
8.6
Gourmet Body Treats Nettle Mint Conditioner
Gourmet Body Treats Nettle Mint Conditioner
  • $12.00
8.5
Nurture My Body Shampoo
Nurture My Body Shampoo
  • $21.79
  • User Rating:
    Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small
8.3
Aubrey Organics White Camellia Conditioner
Aubrey Organics White Camellia Conditioner
  • $10.28
  • User Rating:
    Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_half_small
8.3
Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil
Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil
  • $14.00
  • User Rating:
    Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_full_small Star_empty_small Star_empty_small
8.2
Terressentials Lavender Garden Pure Earth Hair Wash
Terressentials Lavender Garden Pure Earth Hair Wash
  • $4.00
8.0
Suave Unscented Xtreme Hold 10 Hairspray
Suave Unscented Xtreme Hold 10 Hairspray
8.0
Loreal Paris Feria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Color 82 Desert Flower
Loreal Paris Feria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Color 82...
  • $12.29
7.9
Lavera Basis Conditioner
Lavera Basis Conditioner
  • $12.50
7.8
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You can also find DMDM hydantoin, a form of formaldehyde that's a potential skin irritant and immune system toxicant.

A few shampoos and some conditioners use cleaners such as sodium laureth sulfate or octoxynol-40 that, depending on the way they are made, can introduce contamination into the product, with the impurities taking the form of irritant, carcinogenic chemicals like ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane. Sodium lauryl sulfate, a close relative of sodium laureth sulfate, is a strong skin irritant, and there is considerable controversy over its other potential health effects.

That’s not all: Most shampoos and conditioners incorporate a combination of chemicals labeled only as the ingredient “fragrance”. The exact mixture is considered a trade secret, so companies don’t have to say what’s in their fragrances. But, fragrances can often be allergy concerns or contain toxic chemicals like phthalates.

Common cleaning and foaming agents in shampoos are ammonium lauryl sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate, which are eco-toxic ingredients. In shampoos, ammonium derivatives are the most energy-intensive ingredients to make, and since the manufacturing of ingredients has the greatest environmental impact (about 60 percent of the overall impact, compared to only about 15 percent in making the plastic bottle), it’s more environmentally friendly to look for shampoos without ammonium ingredients.

You can use GoodGuide hair care ratings to find safe, healthy products without toxic ingredients, or browse our reviews for products with high health and environment ratings. You can also look through our social data for no-animal-testing seals of approval from PETA and Leaping Bunny.

Highest-Rated hair care products, buy green hair care products, buy safe hair care products

Highest-Rated Hair Care Products | Reviews and Ingredients

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This page includes products for which GoodGuide has health, environmental, and social data. You can also view all hair care products, including those with limited data.
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