Testing Out Natural Shampoo’s Effectiveness

I get it sulphates, parabens and a bunch of other stuff that I can’t spell or pronounce isn’t great for us. Natural seems the way to go these days. The no-poo method to clean your hair has divided opinions on the YouTube scene.  I’ve not quite inspired enough or willing to put myself through testing out the theory yet. I don’t think I’d cope well with the transition phrase since I already get self-conscious about my greasy hair. Yes I know, that’s probably why it would be good for me, but you know I’m just not feeling it.

I’ve turned my attention to natural shampoo and conditioners. I know we can have clean hair with less foam, although I still need some convincing that we don’t need any foam.  I get natural would be less foamy, but I don’t mind as long as my hair feels clean after. I set myself a max budget of £5 per shampoo/ conditioner. Which if you buy natural stuff you’ll know that ain’t much.  Unlike natural skincare where a little goes a long way, shampoo lasts the same length of time so I can’t justify more at this current stage in my life. In fact, before I learnt of the rubbish in cosmetics and how that can affect us, I spent no more than  £2 on both shampoo and conditioner. I would just buy whatever was on offer. So without further ado, this is what I tested.

Kind Natured Range: 

I bought the super shine shampoo and conditioner as well as the mint shampoo. My 8-year daughter liked the rosemary and mint one best.  She said her hair smelt like mint chocolate ice cream. I’m not sure I would describe it that way, but I can see what she’s saying. The conditioner I didn’t love, but it was perfectly fine too. There was nothing particularly good or bad about it. It was just so so. I do love that this brand contains 97% natural ingredients with no parabens, sulphates or petrochemicals. My hair looked softer and had more shine for sure. All in all my hair did look healthier and at £4.99 each at Boots (and on 3 for 2) the price isn’t bad either. I personally found the super shine the better out of the two as my hair did look shinier. However, the positives stop there. It didn’t clean my hair properly at the roots (although the length looked super soft and had more shine than usual). I felt like I constantly had dirty roots and became self-conscious of it. I persisted and used both bottles of shampoo in the hopes my hair would adapt but it didn’t. I even noticed my 8-year old’s hair didn’t look particularly clean either.

Overall Thought: Stay away if you suffer from dirty roots.
Score: 3/10
Would I Recommend: Only if you have dry hair.
Bonus Points: Healthier looking hair, 97% natural and reasonably priced.

Waitrose Pure Shampoo & Conditioner:

Priced at just £2.99 each these are a great price and 97% naturally derived ingredients. They are designed for sensitive skin so are fragrance-free. I don’t have sensitive skin and do like a fragrance so I missed that, but I purchased for the price and naturally derived ingredients. This did clean my hair, but I needed to use quite a lot of shampoo and it became greasy quickly.  The conditioner was ok but did struggle a bit with my hair which is prone to tangling.

Overall Thought: Probably good if you need something gentle and used to low foam.
Score: 5/10
Would I Recommend: Only for sensitive skin types that aren’t prone to tangles.
Bonus Points: 97% naturally derived ingredients and reasonably priced.

DGJ Hairjuice Shampoo & Conditioner:

The 1st thing I noticed about these two was the smell. They both contain organic honeydew melon extracts and whilst I don’t particularly like the taste of melon, I absolutely love the smell of these. They smell really fresh, like a rainforest type smell. These are £4.99 each and I got them from Waitrose.

The DGJ Organics Promise States:

All our products are salon tested. They are made with plant-derived natural ingredients enhanced with organic essential oils/extracts and contain no harsh chemicals. Free from sodium lauryl/laureth sulphates and parabens.

Out of the three ranges, hands down this range is my favourite. I had to use more shampoo than I would use with non-natural shampoo to get my clean hair and it did become dirty quickly, but it does state you need to use a generous amount on the directions.  My hair looked healthy and shinier.

Overall Thought: Smells amazing, but you need to use a lot.
Score: 7/10
Would I Recommend: Yes, but with a warning that this stuff won’t last long.
Bonus Points: contains organic ingredients, the best budget shampoo I’ve tried so far.

One last thing to mention is when I purchased all of these products I assumed being naturally based they’d not test on animals. On further investigation, I can’t find anything online or on the packaging which confirms these products are cruelty-free. I would assume they are cruelty-free as most natural ranges are, but if you’re like me and that matters to you then you may want to do some detective work 1st to confirm they are cruelty-free before purchasing.

So I’m back on the hunt for a cruelty-free natural shampoo I can fall in love with,

Kirsty xx