Eco-friendly hair care: All-natural shampoos, conditioners and styling products that really work

eco friendly shampoos conditioners
Photography by Andrea Victory-LaCasse

One of the most common complaints on the green beauty front is the struggle to find natural hair care products that work as well as their non-natural counterparts. Natural beauty aficionados are keen to toss away their conventional skincare and stock up on organic makeup, but that light fluffy feeling of freshly washed hair isn’t easy to concede. Though some green beauty converts opt for the baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse and swear by it, not everyone can be expected to go to the same lengths for clean locks. No worries, there are green solutions out there for soft and silky strands—no kitchen concoctions required.

One of the main factors for getting green with haircare is the environmental impact that ingredients in commercial and mainstream shampoos have. Consider how many people are rinsing suds and detergents into the drain every day, week, month. That’s a lot of chemicals headed for our lakes and oceans. When creating Yarok, founder and stylist Mordechai Alvow had this thought in mind. So he launched a hair care line focused on having the greatest impact on hair and the smallest impact on the earth. The Yarok Feed Your Volume Shampoo and Conditioner ($33 each, freshfaced.ca) work as well as a mainstream wash and conditioner, sudsing like regular shampoo, and contain herbal blends and minerals to give hair volume.

Also considering the environment in development, luxe green line Amazon Beauty Rahua is comprised of an oil prepared by women in the Amazon rainforest, and is a favourite of celebrities and beauty editors worldwide. The line contains shampoo and conditioner, a treatment, elixir, and styling products. Of note is the Voluminous Shampoo and Conditioner ($37 each, freshfaced.ca) which work without sulfates, parabens or silicones.

Toronto-based beauty brand Graydon has a gentle All Over Soap + Shampoo ($18, clementinefields.ca) which works as a mild and effective cleanser for most hair types. For a smooth and sleek mane, follow with Graydon Hair Smoothie ($26, clementinefields.ca) containing broccoli seed oil and follicle-stimulating aromatherapy.

Going green doesn’t have to mean opting to wash hair less often, but can be a motivating factor. For days between washings, a powdered option like Skinny Skinny Organic Dry Shampoo ($32, freshfaced.ca) will mattify roots for a quick and easy—and natural—cheat to cleaner-looking locks.

When trying natural shampoos, conditioners and treatments, like trying out most natural products, expect hair to adjust over time. It’s easy to give the brush off to a shampoo that doesn’t feel quite right immediately, but given the benefit of the doubt and tried over a few weeks, hair will begin to adjust. Following the adjustment phase, you may find hair is softer, strands are more manageable, and it’s likely you’ll even want to wash hair less. Perhaps you’ll find you’re even willing to give baking soda a chance.

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