Road Test: Sulfate-Free Shampoos

Sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) is a foaming agent found in many hygiene and household products, including most shampoos. While SLS has attracted criticism over the years -- including email campaigns suggesting it causes cancer -- its only conclusively proven drawback appears to be skin irritation for chemically sensitive folks. But years ago I got a tip from a friend that has panned out: If you color your hair, try sulfate-free shampoo to slow down its fading. I've used SLS-free shampoos now for several years and have been able to go a couple weeks longer between coloring sessions, which offsets the higher cost of these shampoos, compared to typical drugstore brands. My hair also feels stronger, healthier & better hydrated.

Having long wished for a concise collection of sulfate free shampoo reviews, I created this SLS free shampoo list of the brands I've tried. For what it's worth, my hair is collarbone length and about "medium" in terms of thickness, oiliness, and waviness.

(Joseph DeCamp, "Woman Drying Her Hair," 1899 ~ public domain)

The brand that put sulfate-free shampoo on the map, Pureology makes fine products. I like them. But what is UP with that drugstore price? Before others came on the market, I'd splurge on a bottle of Pureology and use a teeny bit per wash. But now that there are better-priced alternatives, I can't see repurchasing. One star deducted for the inflated price...

~~~Rating: * * out of 5~~

This one delivered a lather almost suspiciously rich for a sulfate-free shampoo and a pleasant, slightly floral scent. My hair felt clean but soft afterward and combed easily. The biggest thing I noticed was how "well behaved" my hair was during & after my 2-minute "styling" routine. This shampoo seemed to calm and smooth it, but not in a way that made it lifeless. Even the layers, which are in serious need of a trim, seemed to perk up a bit. Despite the high pricetag, I think the Biolage is a keeper. If only the other Matrix shampoos (hydrating, smoothing, etc.) were sulfate free.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~

Moroccanoil styling products have been rolling toward world domination for some time now, and I have to admit I'm partial to them. They defrizz nicely, smell good, and just a dab gets the job done. Too bad the shampoo doesn't live up to its sister products. It has the same pleasant scent but, for a "moisture repair" product, is fairly drying. And the price ain't pretty. I only picked this up because our neighborhood pharmacy is being sold to a big chain :( and was selling all its stock at deep discounts.

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

Battle of the "Pures"!

L'Oreal:

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

Aveeno:

~~~Rating: * * * * * out of 5~~~

Renpure:

~~~Rating: * out of 5~~~

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Renewing Shampoo:

The good news is that this knockoff cleaned as well as the real Morrocanoil shampoo at half the price and was less drying. In fact, it's quite rich, which means you don't need much--great for the budget. However, the flatness of my hair afterward suggests it's a bit heavy for my "medium" locks (neither dry nor oily, neither thick nor thin). The first time I used it, I kind of wrote this off to bike-helmet-head, having taken a long ride an hour or so after shampooing. But a similar thing happened on second use -- fairly flat hair, even sans helmet head. Much more of a syrupy-sweet scent than the real Morrocanoil, too. Maybe worth a try at this price, but not a budget dream-come-true like the Kiss My Face Whenever and Nature's Gate Persimmon & Rose Geranium have been for me.

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

Organix Brazilian Keratin Therapy

I noticed on my last trip to the larger drugstore in our area that Organix has expanded its sulfate free offerings and now has quite the variety. I decided to try this Brazilian Keratin type, as it was labeled "Ever Straight," so I thought it might fight frizz and smooth my hair. After 3 uses, I can't really say it's made a dramatic difference in that area. But my hair feels soft and clean, and the shampoo's coconut scent and bronze-colored bottle remind me pleasantly of a day at the beach. So it'll be nice to pull this one out in subzero January!

~~~ Rating: * * * out of 5 ~~~

Renpure My Pretty Hair is Parched Shampoo

The good news: It's affordable, Walgreen's carries this Renpure Organics line, and the company offered a rare full-price rebate when I bought this. How nice when that rebate check came in the mail. Can we get other companies to do this?? The bad news: Ack, I hated this stuff. It dried me out so badly that I dumped a palmful of the matching conditioner on my hair afterward and still couldn't comb through my wet hair like normal. I was excited to see a new sulfate-free brand at the local drugstore, but unfortunately the thrill was short-lived.

~~~Rating: * out of 5~~~

L'Oreal Oleo Therapy Shampoo

This new entry in the sulfate-free pool is quite nice! It left my hair feeling soft and somewhat conditioned, even before I conditioned it, and the scent was a light, slightly herbaceous floral that might not even offend a guy, if you're sharing shampoo with your fella. And of course, the ($5-$7/bottle) price is right too.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

Ooh la la, the fragrance on this Alba Botanica shampoo is heavenly. The tropical floral tones are a real pick-me-up -- like a virtual stopover in Maui. This cleaned my hair well without overdrying, and it feels good to support an eco-friendly company. (Alba's office and warehouse are 100% solar powered.) Worth the trouble of buying online, this earned a regular place in my sulfate-free rotation.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

NOTE: Alba has put out a "new and improved" version of this product that I personally am not having as good an experience with. The delectable smell is still there, but my hair doesn't feel as squeaky-clean as it used to with the old formulation. After repeated uses, I'd have to give the new version a * * * out of 5. Alba, please consider "un-improving" your product!

I think my other sulfate free shampoo reviews have made it clear that scent matters, and at first this shampoo's scent put me off a bit. It smelled synthetically sweet, like a berry-flavored dimestore lollipop. But that mellowed as the day progressed, and my hair actually smelled nice. The Tigi shampoo delivered some nice body & shine, too. The first day I used it, I noticed a little extra static in my hair, but that resolved on repeat uses. Nice stuff, especially if you get it at the Amazon price.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

One of the "moistest" varieties on my SLS free shampoo list, this product almost made conditioner unnecessary on my hair, without seeming the slightest bit heavy. It's got a nice, subtly sweet scent, too. A keeper! My only regret is that I paid full drugstore price (well over $20) for this high-end product without consulting Amazon, which, it turns out, sometimes has It's a 10 priced significantly lower. Live and learn.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

As I type, my hair is drying, post- Aubrey Organics White Camellia Shampoo. I like the Aubrey company -- its facial toner has been an awesome puberty survival tool for my kids -- so it pains me to say this, but this shampoo is odd. It's practical scentless, which should please those with ultrasensitive noses. But it provides virtually no lather: not just the diminished amount that you get with most sulfate-free shampoos, but basically none. And my hair drank it up before I could even spread it around, so I had to add a bunch more. The result was a dried-out head that required extra conditioner afterward. Not exactly cost effective. It's ironic that this product bills itself for "dry, coarse, unruly" hair, because that's how it seems to have left mine. I had to comb some very unnatural Moroccanoil oil treatment through to smooth things down.

~~~Rating: * * out of 5~~~

I liked this stuff, I really did. But the cost--even at the Amazon price, which is a few dollars less than what I paid at the drugstore, if you can believe it--of Living Proof Full Shampoo is insane enough to cost it one star on my rating. (It makes sense that Jennifer Aniston is a co-owner of the company, as Living Proof is only practical as a daily-use product on movie-star salaries.) The package promised "super cleansing," and I did love how squeaky-clean my hair felt after shampooing with this. The subtle scent is nice, too. But I didn't notice a huge difference in volume.

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

How to Afford Sulfate Free Shampoos

You may have noticed from this sulfate free shampoo list that the pricetags tend to exceed those of SLS filled products. I'm hopeful that if lots more consumers insist on affordable sulfate free, producers will start meeting the demand with sulfate free shampoos at lower price points. Until then, some tips...

~ Use less shampoo per wash. For long hair, start with a quarter size in your palm; for midlength hair, a nickel size; and for short hair, see if you can get away with about a dime size. Here's the key: Add a little water to the shampoo in your hand & work up a lather (inasmuch as sulfate free shampoos lather -- some do more than others) before applying to your hair. Especially with the higher-end products, you might be surprised at how little shampoo you actually need to use each time.

~ Buy in bulk. Multipacks can be cheaper, as can economy-size bottles -- like the Kiss My Face one I've been purchasing lately, as it's become a family favorite.

~ Buy cheap conditioner. It's easy to find a non-SLS conditioner at any price, since SLS is a lathering agent, and conditioners aren't generally expected to develop a lather. Their job is simply to moisturize the hair. If you're concerned, as I am, with chemicals absorbing through the scalp, do as I do and work the conditioner through your hair to the ends without rubbing it into the scalp. All but the dryest hair types will probably get more life & body out of their hair that way anyway. I got my colorist's take on this, and she said unless you have long, highlighted blonde hair, wallet-friendly conditioners are the way to go.

~ Wash your hair less frequently. Okay, this is a tough sell in the sweaty summer months, but for most of the year, if your hair isn't super oily, it will benefit from a break now & then. Try washing it every other day for a week, just rinsing it with water on the non-wash days. Many stylists recommend this method to help hair recover its natural equilibrium.

~ Opt for a relatively cheap sulfate free shampoo on this page. Kiss My Face and Nature's Gate make fabulous products at reasonable prices and are well worth a try.

Cheap sulfate free shampoo is hard to come by, so this product would have a leg up on the competition for its price alone. In Turns out, though, that it can compete with even the priciest of 'em on performance. I love lime, so was thrilled when this Kiss My Face sulfate-free shampoo turned out to be quite limey smelling. Mmmm! As many citrus shampoos do, it also seemed to "clarify" my hair nicely, leaving it squeaky clean but not dried out. If you use styling products and are eager for a "clean slate" after you shower, this shampoo is a great choice. Bonus: The space-saving semicircle container is a plus for those of us with small bathrooms.

*Note (May 2013): Whoa! The product appears to have been revised. My review is on the old lime-y stuff (love it). I reordered recently, thinking I'd get the new product, but got the old instead. (Not complaining!) If anyone has tried Whenever 2.0, please post in Comments!*

~~ Rating: * * * * out of 5 ~~~

This shampoo was a fooler. The first time I used it, it seemed to leave a residue on my hair a la the new Alba formulation. But after conditioning & drying my hair, it felt great. Same thing the second time, and so on. So for me, this is a keeper. Nice botanical scent too -- not overwhelming.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

I wasn't blown away by this shampoo, but felt it was an improvement over the old Burt's Bees pomegranate & soy shampoo (which, overall, I would rate about the same as this one) due to the fragrance. I suppose these 2 B.B. varieties just smell two kinds of fruity, but I like this kind better. Did not notice any uptick in shine, but no real problems either. I do like the Burt's Bees brand, not least for its relative accessibility in stores, and hope someday they'll develop a slam-dunk sulfate-free shampoo.

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

Priced comparably to the Burt's Bees, this Back to Basics has become a regular fixture in my bathroom. The name kinda says it all. While packaging & scent are somewhat nondescript, this shampoo does exactly what it promises: Cleans hair nicely without stripping moisture and color.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

So this one (which might be discontinued at this point - ?) gets my award for Most Perplexing Shampoo. The unusual scent reminded me of paper -- or old books -- or .... got it -- a library! Not necessarily a bad thing, esp. if you're into the "sexy librarian" thing ;) I was also a tad confused by the words "Ceramic - Ionic - Far Infrared" on the front of the bottle. Huh? Oh well -- the CHI performed overall decently for me. It did seem a bit drying, but after conditioner, my hair was soft, clean and well behaved.

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

Designed as a head-to-toe baby product, this stuff caught my eye at the drugstore when I saw it features frankincense & myrrh. I envisioned the Three Wise Men toting this up to the manger & had to try it :) The scent is very unusual -- a bit like vanilla, but with spicy undertones. Definitely gender neutral, not too girly. Despite a lackluster lather (not uncommon for sulfate free), it did a decent job cleaning my hair. Unfortunately, it was quite drying -- possibly because it's designed as a head-to-toe product, albeit for delicate baby skin. I solved the drying issue easily by using extra conditioner, but if your hair is on the dry side, this product might not be your best choice.

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

A great find! This shampoo lathered nicely for a sulfate-free product, smells good in a very botanical way (you can definitely smell the rosemary, lemongrass and lavender) and left my hair super silky. Relatively reasonable in price, too. A definite keeper.

~~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~~

It's always exciting when my local drugstore adds a sulfate-free line, so of course I grabbed this (after a quick scent check -- synthetically fragrant, but not off-puttingly so) as soon as I spotted it. The "hydrate" part sounded very good right about now, in the dead of an oft-subzero winter. I used this for three days in a row this week and have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I liked how it softened my hair and was pleased not to have to use much conditioner. On the other hand, none of the three days was really that great a "hair day," and my hair seemed pretty staticky all 3 days. Might that be from all the fuzzy earmuffs, earwarmers & hats I've been wearing? Sure, but why then did the static decrease once I switched back to one of my tried-and-true sulfate free shampoos?

~~~Rating: * * * out of 5~~~

When I first saw the packaging up close & smelled the fragrance, I wondered if this sulfate-free shampoo is meant for guys. Asked hubby to smell it, and he said definitely unisex. Reminded him of amenities in a "Caribbean hotel" .... but that may have just been fantasy talk, since we're into single-digit temperatures here ;) Performance wise, "Livin' the Dream" may be hyperbolic, but this is a high-quality product that leaves my hair soft and fresh, not needing a ton of conditioner afterward. So yes, it rocks.

~~~Rating: * * * * out of 5~~~

I saved one of the best for last :) This Nature's Gate variety is one of my absolute favorite sulfate-free shampoos, with a beautiful price too. (How often does that happen??) I've probably gone through a dozen bottles and now buy it in bulk. The smell is soft but invigorating, and it cleans just right, leaving my hair smooth and shiny. It lathers nicely for a non-SLS product, and you don't need to use much product per wash.When I really want a "good hair day," this is an excellent choice.

~~~Rating: * * * * * out of 5~~~

Have you tried a sulfate-free shampoo? Which one? Good, bad, indifferent? Please share!