refillable shampoo

Not everyone needs hair conditioner, but everyone uses shampoo. So here we list the best brands around. All are vegan with no palm oil, made with biodegradable ingredients (no artificial fragrance or sodium lauryl sulphate) and in zero waste packaging.  Also see the post on natural solutions for hair loss (there are specific shampoos to help).

Avoid essential oils for pregnancy/nursing and affected medical conditions. Avoid shea butter (conditioners) for latex allergies.

Never use human soaps & shampoos on pets as the PH is different (and some have macadamia oil) – read more on how to give your dog a bath, naturally.

Refillable Natural Shampoos (from Yorkshire)

refillable shampoo

Miniml Shampoos & Conditioners are made with Yorkshire water, and naturally fragranced. Once empty, you can find local stores for refills, or send them back using QR codes, and the bottles are washed, emptied and refilled to send back to you. Choose from:

  • Nourishing Coconut
  • English Lavender
  • Pink Grapefruit
  • Tea Tree & Mint

Organic Rose Otto Shampoo (for mature hair)

organic rose otto conditioner

This organic rose otto shampoo is ideal for mature hair, providing volume and a floral scent, helping to protect hair’s keratin fibres and improve scalp health. Sold in easy-to-recycle packaging. The organic rose otto conditioner is ideal dry, long or tangled hair.

Organic Coconut Oil Hair Shampoo & Conditioner

organic coconut oil shampoo

This organic coconut oil hair shampoo is ideal for dry and frizzy hair, sold in easy-to-recycle packaging. It gently cleanses with organic virgin coconut oil, to stimulate keratin fibres and leave hair beautifully nourished. Also gives volume. Perfect for thick or curly hair too. This organic coconut oil hair conditioner is ideal dry, long or tangled hair.

Organic Calendula Hair Shampoo & Conditioner

organic calendula shampoo

This organic calendula hair shampoo is made with soothing fragrance-free ingredients, ideal for dry and sensitive scalps. gentle enough for all hair types, and uses aloe vera’s bioactive polysaccharides, to help nourish and restore damaged hair. It has a fresh green fragrance, to leave hair super clean, soft and glossy.

This organic calendula hair conditioner is mild and soothing, ideal for sensitive scalps, to keep locks in good condition. Fragrance-free. Just use after shampoo, and rinse well.

Organic Aloe Vera Hair Shampoo & Conditioner

organic aloe vera shampoo

This organic aloe vera hair shampoo is gentle enough for all hair types, and uses aloe vera’s bioactive polysaccharides, to help nourish and restore damaged hair. It has a fresh green fragrance, to leave hair super clean, soft and glossy.

This organic aloe vera hair conditioner is ideal for long or tangled hair, to reinforce condition, by coating external fibres to keep your locks in good condition. Just use after shampoo, and rinse well.

Natural Shampoo Creme (with upcycled berries)

upcircle shampoo creme

Upcircle Shampoo Creme is vegan and free from palm oil, sold in a glass jar. It’s made with upcycled pink berries from the fragrance industry, with coconut and rosemary oils to soothe the scalp and strengthen hair. Highly concentrated, this shampoo uses 50% less water and lasts three times longer than most liquid shampoos.

Designed to reduce scalp irritation, the shampoo has a ‘mousse’ consistency and lathers evenly, to leave a fresh herbal scent. Soak hair thoroughly then scoop a blueberry-sized amount out with a spatula, taking care not to let water enter the jar (be careful when handling glass jar with wet hands). Handmade in the UK, it’s sold in a cardboard box.

upcircle conditioner creme

Upcircle Conditioner Creme is made with orange peel wax, upcycled from the orange juice industry which helps to improve hair strength and reduce split ends. It also contains rosemary oil, bamboo extract, vitamin E, corn wheat and soy proteins. Apply to the ends of shampooed hair, and leave for a few minutes, before rinsing off with warm water.

Powder Shampoos (to mix with water)

the powder shampoo

The Powder Shampoo is a great brand of shampoo, created by a woman with years of experience in the hair-care industry. Not only are these shampoos made with natural ingredients, but they are sold as a water-activated powder, which saves on selling you water!

the powder shampoo

Just activate powder with water, to turn into shampoo. One 100g bottle saves around 10 litres of clean water. One aluminium bottle saves around 10 plastic bottles from landfill. And the company plants a tree for each bottle sold (ambition is 1 million by 2030).

the powder shampoo

Choose from:

  • Strengthening & Soothing (normal or sensitive scalps) contains thyme to promote hair growth, and grapefruit oil to remove impurities.
  • Invigorating and Fortifying (strengthens hair roots) contains invigorating thyme and bergamot, with ginseng and ginger.
  • Purifying and Regulating (oily hair) contains thyme and peppermint, with papaya enzyme to stop sebum build-up.
  • Hydrating and Replenishing (prevent hair damage) contains geranium oil and replenishing camellia and geranium (for essential fatty acids).
  • Exfoliating and Balancing (prevent dandruff) contains thyme and tea tree powder, plus white willow tree to eliminate impurities).

The Powder Shampoo is certified with Leaping Bunny, the trustworthy mark to ensure no animal testing of either the finished product or ingredients. Although animal testing for cosmetics is now banned for sale of products in the UK, some companies still sell in other countries where animal testing is used). If you see this label, you good to go!

Zero Waste Shampoo & Conditioner Bars

aloe vera shea shampoo conditioner bar

These are increasingly popular, as you are not paying for water, and they are easier to get through customs, if travelling with liquid restrictions in place. Just be sure to store on a slatted soap dish, to stop them squishing away!

This organic shampoo/conditioner bar is made with aloe vera and shea butter. Great for all hair, as it’s very mild.

coconut orange shampoo conditioner

This coconut orange shampoo/conditioner bar is developed especially for thick curly hair. Just keep on a dry flannel or slatted soap dish, to drain water, between uses. Infused with jojoba oil, it delivers intense moisture to frizzy hair, and also hydrates the scalp.

battle green mint shampoo bar

This mint shampoo bar is scented with essential oils of mint and rosemary (good for hair growth), it contains coconut oil, vitamin E and oils of olive and grapeseed.

chamomile hair conditioner bar

The chamomile conditioner bar is made with nourishing oils of jojoba, grapeseed, rapeseed & coconut, with rhassoul clay to aid detangling. Just rub between wet hands and run through hair, leave for 2 minutes then rinse well with warm water. Also in mint & lavender.

green people shampoo bar

Green People’s shampoo bars are made with organic ingredients, and due to no soap, you’re not left with sticky residue (no ‘transition period’ needed). Containing shine-boosting oils of argan and macadamia alongside frizz-fighting ingredients, one bar lasts 60 washes and  most people won’t need conditioner. Also in ginger.

Most shampoos contain sodium lauryl sulphate (used to degrease engines). So imagine what it does to your scalp (some believe long-term use can prevent hair growth). If you’ve ever used a shampoo and ended up with ‘welts on your head’, try switching to a natural shampoo for a few weeks, and you should notice a positive difference.

kind2

KIND2 is a wonderful brand of soap-free shampoo and conditioner bars, include a slatted soap dish (to avoid drying out) and enjoy results from day one.

This brand was founded by an Australian woman, who saw the havoc caused by plastic pollution. The bars last 60 to 80 washes (equal to two plastic bottles of shampoo). The range includes:

  • Sensitive features chia and camellia oils
  • Hydrating has a fresh woody and floral aroma.
  • Rebalancing has cocoa butter and upcycled charcoal
  • Restoring conditioner (coconut and cocoa butter)
  • Fragrance Free conditioner

Natural Dry Shampoos (in paper packs)

mint tea tree dry shampoo

Battle Green’s organic dry shampoos are for injury, carers or people with fine hair, to give volume without having to wash hair daily. Sold in paper bags, just sprinkle into hair, leave for a few minutes, then brush out (use a towel on your shoulders, to avoid powder on clothes).

Also in orange & neroli, these are sold with a cardboard shaker pot with refill sachets (keep in a dry place away from sunlight). Made with cornstarch, arrowroot powder and kaolin clay (all absorb oil) with aloe vera & amla fruit powder to soothe the scalp.

Most dry shampoos are made with volatile organic compounds that cause irritation and possible nerve damage and talc (a mined substance with concerns over ovarian cancer).  Some contain butane flammable gas (bin empty cans or take half-full ones to toxic waste).

Dry shampoos are good for when you’re caught short, but the ‘no-poo’ method (not washing hair) is not advised by trichologists who say that ‘hair doesn’t clean itself’. You could end up with scalp infections. They say ‘pooh-pooh’ to ‘no-poo!’

Say Goodbye to Dandruff (without chemicals)

itch away shampoo

While everyone sheds dead skin cells on the scalp, people with dandruff experience it more frequently. Common in cold months due to indoor heating, oily dandruff however may be caused by overproduction of sebum, and makes flakes sticky and yellow.

Green People Organic Men’s Shampoo contains pineapple enzymes to help dandruff, and aloe vera to calm scalp irritation. Sold in easy-to-recycle sugar-cane packaging, it creates natural foam from coconut and yucca, and features anti-inflammatory oils of rosemary and tea tree. Quinoa protein helps to thicken hair.

Dandruff is more common in people with eczema or psoriasis, excessive hair styling, and lack of zinc or B vitamins in the diet. Also read how to treat cradle cap in babies.

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