green/not so toxic hair products

catwine

I've recently tried washing my hair with baking soda and using lemon juice as a conditioner but it makes my hair feel so gross. 

Any recommendations for a store bought brand that is sulfate and paraben free?  my hair is about ear length, super thick and kind of wavy.  I used to use Live Clean shampoo (from Walmart) and Jason conditioner but I'm not sure how ec-friendly and health concious they are.

SusieBW

My mom just gave me an extra bottle of Wen that she had, and I love it.  I also have Burt's Bees that I bought right before she gave me the Wen, and from the one or two times I used it, I like it a lot.  I don't really know that either is completely green, but they are sulfate and paraben-free, anyway. 

I only wash my hair about twice a week usually, and I find that the in-between days, when I don't wash it, I like it better.  Having the natural oils from my head in my hair tends to make it a little fuller and nicer-looking, but only to a point, then it just starts to look and feel greasy.  I was considering going to the baking soda/lemon/no-poo method, but hadn't tried it yet.  Now that I have all this shampoo, it'll probably be a while before I try switching.

catwine

Do you find that you need to condition your hair or doe the natural oils act as a conditioner?

SusieBW

I haven't been using separate conditioner at all for a while now.  The Wen that I have is called a "conditioning cleanser" or something, so it's like a 2-in-1.  On days that I don't wash my hair, I either put it up for the shower and don't do anything to it, or I just rinse it with water and don't put anything in it.

But I have fine, straight hair, so maybe that's just me.  If you have thicker or curly hair, maybe you need conditioner more often?  Hope this helps!

Turtle&Star

christinavy:

I've recently tried washing my hair with baking soda and using lemon juice as a conditioner but it makes my hair feel so gross. 

Any recommendations for a store bought brand that is sulfate and paraben free?  my hair is about ear length, super thick and kind of wavy.  I used to use Live Clean shampoo (from Walmart) and Jason conditioner but I'm not sure how ec-friendly and health concious they are.

 Jason stuff is usually pretty good. I use BWC ("Beauty Without Cruelty") Moisture Plus shampoo, which I find thicker and more shampoo-like than a lot of "green" shampoos, and Giovanni conditioner.

A website I find really helpful for this stuff is the database of cosmetic products maintained by the Environmental Working Group: www.ewg.org/skindeep/. You have to take a deep breath, because they rank all sorts of issues, some of which they are more wound up about than I am (for example, they really don't like "fragrance" in ingredient lists because it's so vague, so they grade way down for that). But it does let you get a sense of how clean a product is, AND they list all of the ingredients in the product.

letranger

I love lush. I use the solid shampoos and conditioner 

Kingston54

We use Aveda shampoo and conditioner. 

RecoveringActor

I'm a Wen user, and I have thicker, wavy hair... and you absolutely don't need to condition your hair with Wen.  It's your shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner, deep conditioner... I love it.  I've been using Wen for a little over a year. 

I think Carol's Daughter is another natural brand. A PP mentioned Lush... I've used their shampoo before. It works well.  

dieselmonkey

letranger:

I love lush. I use the solid shampoos and conditioner 

Be careful with Lush. Several of their products (including shampoo bars) contain SLS.

I use Giovanni shampoo or a local beer shampoo bar.  

Just H

I really like the Alba Botanica Shampoo and Conditioners. 

pennyplf

how about AQUAIR or Schwarzkopf?  I use Schwarzkopf now and plan to buy another one

avaross09

I only use almond oil before shampooing my hairs. it gives natural conditioning to my hair, no need to use any brand.

fizzybauberswed

I use Giovanni. You can get it at Target.