Non-Toxic Shampoo Guide + Coconut-Free Shampoo Guide
If you're looking for non-toxic shampoo, and/or coconut-free shampoo, I've got you covered in this article, which addresses:
Toxic shampoo ingredients to avoid.
Why essential oils have no place in personal care products.
Coconut-free shampoo options.
"Non-toxic" shampoos that are not health-promoting, in my opinion.
Way back in late 2012, after a "no big deal" latex allergy dramatically transitioned to Type I, airborne anaphylactic, I lost all soap and shampoo. I enlisted multiple Etsy makers to custom create soap and shampoo for me but I broke out in hives to everything I tried.
In retrospect, I was reacting to the coconut oil and toxic ingredients despite having some shampoo made without coconut oil and others made with minimally toxic ingredients. As a result of losing all soap and shampoo, my dear husband shaved my waist-long hair off for me. In a YouTube video from 2012, I ramble about latex allergy and how the devastation upon our lives could have been prevented while my hubby shaves off my locks. At that time I was new to the truth about latex allergy, so forgive me if anything is incorrect or information has changed since then. It's an old video and it's 20 minutes long, so I don't expect anyone to watch it. I'm not going to watch it but then I can't tolerate hearing my own voice. Is it just me or do I sound like I'm 12 years old?
My book Poisoned: Failed by Western Medicine, Modern Construction, and Corporate Interests is a warning. Please don't make the same mistakes I did.
Moving on.....
While today I use non-toxic, coconut-free bar soap for my hair, there are some options that may work for you when it comes to finding safe shampoo. I have been experimenting with making liquid soap, but so far I've only used it for cleaning and as Danish soap finish. Making soap isn't as scary as it sounds. If I can do it, you probably can too! But if that's not your forte, read on for coconut-free, non-toxic shampoo!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click through a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small amount of compensation at no additional cost to you. This helps support my writing and I greatly appreciate it!
Updated late 2024; originally posted on our website on January 12, 2020.
Ingredients That Don't Belong in Non-Toxic Products:
Note that this is far from a comprehensive list, but these are the ingredients that I have found most commonly in "non-toxic" shampoos. Don't fall for the marketing ploys!
Note: If you do not have a coconut allergy, I am unaware of a reason to avoid coconut.
- Fragrance: Fragrance is basically a catch all phrase for "we don't want to tell you and you don't want to know." There are at least 3,100 chemicals that may be legally disclosed under this term. As EWG reports, obtaining information as to exactly what chemicals are lurking under this label is like picking up every single speck of glitter on the floor of a preschool classroom: it's nearly impossible. Many of these chemicals have not been tested while others have been confirmed to be highly toxic. If a product you are using has "fragrance" in it, you have my blessing to go trash it right this moment without a second thought for being wasteful. You didn't know. Now you do.
No one cares more about your health than you do. Own it.
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS): This is a surfactant, making your products foam. Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) are similar chemicals. SLS has received a good deal of press as to the toxicity and you've likely already heard of it.
Now, as I've discussed before, we can't always trust "science." There are of course publications out there declaring SLS to be safe. One is this full text report on PubMed. Look at the footnotes:
FUNDING: JLM’s work as a scientific writer for this manuscript was funded by Seventh Generation.
COMPETING INTERESTS: All authors except JLM were, at the time of writing this manuscript, employed by and receiving salaries and research support from Seventh Generation, Inc., which manufactures household cleaning products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate. JLM received personal fees from Seventh Generation for her contributions to this manuscript as a scientific writer. [Emphasis mine.]
I didn't even read the report. I don't need to in order to know it is biased and as a result utterly untrustworthy. These authors were paid to demonstrate that SLS is safe, not offer an unbiased review.
You know an ingredient is of concern if even EWG grades it with a "C." (On their Skin Deep site they rank it as "fair" while sharing that it is "classified as expected to be toxic or harmful and a medium health priority" according to the Environment Canada Domestic Substance List. They also leave out a lot of relevant information on that page. Whatevs, EWG. I don't trust your conclusions anyways since you've begun seeking to please your corporate sponsors.)
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SLS is originally derived from coconut, automatically making it unsafe for those of us with coconut allergies. However, while it may start out as a non-toxic, truly natural material, the final chemical is anything but non-toxic. I'll save you the nitty gritty details, but to summarize, SLS is manufactured by a process of ethoxylation which results in contaminating the SLS with 1, 4 dioxane. 1, 4 dioxane is really bad stuff with serious established concerns.
Considered to be a likely human carcinogen by the EPA by all routes of exposure, PubChem shares similar warnings about specific target organ toxicity from just one exposure, serious eye irritation, skin irritation, and more. Granted, SLS is diluted in consumer products, but I've seen some studies that have found SLS to comprise up to 30% of the ingredients in certain products, which is much higher than the established "safe" levels. At concentrations of only 1%, skin and gum irritation are commonly reported with regular use. The ability of SLS to build up in one's body, or bioaccumulate, is still a subject of debate.
Granted, SLS is effective at making delightful little bubbles. But at what cost to our health? At what cost to the environment? Should we really be washing a product that causes harm to aquatic life down our drains?
There are 1,556 studies on PubMed as of this post that discuss SLS and toxicity, so here is a link if you desire to explore the topic further.
- Essential oils: Essential oils are simply concentrated plant terpenes. Terpenes are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
Need I say more?
Essential oils can be wonderful tools if used medicinally. Would you wash your hair with your allergy medicine though? Should aspirin be slathered all over everyone's bodies? Of course not! As with medicine, essential oils should be treated with respect and risks must be researched and recognized.
I do not sell essential oils. See my book Non-Toxic Cleaning for the Healthy Home for a cited discussion on essential oils and why the big essential oil MLM companies are all highly questionable.
So now that we know what to avoid, what fragrance-free, non-toxic, coconut-free shampoos are there? (Whew, that was a mouthful!)
The Best Non-Toxic Shampoo
Note that the following link is not an affiliate link.
AZ Sungold Soap has only 3 ingredients: saponified sunflower, palm kernel, and castor oil. I haven’t seen another shampoo with such limited ingredients. It is truly non-toxic and fragrance-free. This company focuses on producing unscented soaps without coconut oil, corn, fillers, or other crud. In my opinion their pricing is very reasonable.
Until I started working on this post I didn't realize that they also produce bar soap that isn't contaminated with fragrance. It looks like I need to update my non-toxic bar soap guide!
The one drawback of this product is the use of palm kernel oil as palm tree plantations are devastating the orangutan population. Ideally, if you are up to the task of learning to make your own shampoo, you could substitute a different type of oil for palm kernel oil. Sometimes local soap makers will be sympathetic to one's quest for a safe soap and be willing to custom-make a soap upon request. It doesn't hurt to ask!
The Second-Best Option
Nature Sustained unscented shampoo ticks all of the boxes off for me as well.
Here are the ingredients: Artesian Spring Water, Wildcrafted Soap Nut (Sapindus Saponaria), Makrut Lime (Citrus Hystrix), Elephant Apple (Dillenia Indica), Wildcrafted Indian-Laurel Leaf (Calophyllum inophyllum), Pineapple (Ananas Comosus), Natural Probiotics(Lactobacillus casei, Rhodopseudomonas palustris & Saccharomyces cerevisiae). *All ingredients are free of GMO’s
This is something I could use! The makers refer to it as "kombucha for the hair." If you're big on fermenting and eating a healthy diet like I am, that probably makes you smile.
They also offer shampoos specifically for dry hair and oily hair. Read the ingredients yourself to ensure you aren't allergic to any of them. Both are products that I personally would likely tolerate, as someone who's chemically sensitive.
I'm very excited about this new option and I'm so thrilled to come across it!
The Natural Soap Shoppe
Again, note that there is no affiliate link here.
The Natural Soap Shoppe is doing commendable work to help people with coconut allergies find personal care product options, and I am extremely impressed with the transparency of their ingredient lists, customer service, and the sheer detail in which my questions were answered. With that said, I'm not a fan of some of the ingredients as some are relatively common allergens for those with food allergies. However, based on a recent response to a review on their website, it appears they are working on a new formulation of olive-oil based shampoo, said to be their “gentlest yet.”
Unscented shampoo is offered, but if you are sensitive to scents, I would recommend having a non-sensitive family member decant the shampoo into one of your bottles, as the contents of the package was quite heavily scented to my nose. (But my nose isn't your nose.)
But if you have questions about the ingredients, prepare to get more information on an ingredient source than you anticipated from this company owner!
Wow. I’ve contacted thousands of companies at a minimum over the years, and I don’t know that I have been so thoroughly impressed at the specificity of the ingredients which were shared with me. Credit where credit is due.
I have to give huge props to this owner for such transparency. It is perhaps unparalleled, though Biquette also was quite transparent regarding their blankets and the facts about the textile industry that most won’t share.
(I did receive free samples from this company but haven't actually tried them as they had to off-gas outside for a while from the essential oil scent. Since my hair is doing great with my homemade bar soap, I won't be trying the shampoo myself.)
But I Love My Smelly Shampoo!
Nature Sustained lemongrass shampoo is probably the healthiest option, just adding lemongrass essential oil to the ingredient list.
The Natural Soap Shoppe also offers scented shampoo options.
If you simply cannot live without your scented shampoo, New Wash is one option. It does include essential oils and a number of plant-based ingredients such as aloe that are relatively common allergens. I have never personally tried it (and I wouldn't), so I am unable to vouch for it via experience. The toxicity is relatively low for this product, though it is expensive at around $50 a bottle on Amazon.
Do note that I am not recommending this as a 100% non-toxic product. It's not, but we all have different factors that we take into account when we make decisions and I recognize that options are limited.
Another option that came through via the comments (before GoDaddy discontinued them), that actually is probably better than New Wash, is Naturally Free shampoo. It does have some naturally-derived fragrances that many who are chemically sensitive will find problematic, such as peppermint, tea tree, etc. I would assume more significant latex contamination than some other shampoos as I have noted that the company offers some products with rubber droppers. As I have contacted every manufacturer of rubber droppers I have found online and determined them all to be primarily or partially comprised of natural rubber latex, this is something to take into account. Vitamins are almost always synthetically-derived in "natural" products, if this is relevant to your decision as well.
But I Don't Have a Coconut Allergy and I'm Just Going for "Better!"
I get it. Few people are as extreme as I am in ensuring only non-toxic products enter the home. In this case, Free & Clear shampoo might be an option and it's quite affordable at less than $10 on Amazon. Acrylates copolymer is an ingredient of some concern, and some of the other ingredients have limited information as to toxicity. If you're looking for the least toxic mainstream shampoo, this is probably it. However, it's not safe for individuals with a coconut allergy, and as with the New Wash, I'm not recommending this as a non-toxic shampoo option. It is, however, better than a lot of shampoos on the shelf at the store.
Another option would be a shampoo bar, though if you read the ingredients, most contain essential oils or other fragrance. Two "better" options that I've come across that are indeed fragrance-free are the Whiff shampoo bar and The Yellow Bird shampoo bar. Both of these contain coconut oil, though.
Again, I am not recommending these as ideal options. But they are better!
"Non-Toxic" Shampoos That I Ruled Out:
This is a list of some of the shampoos that I ruled out. Almost everything on the shelf at your local store will have ingredients that are known to be toxic. The vast majority of shampoos contain coconut as well if you have a coconut allergy. Do note that once I noticed one unacceptable ingredient, I immediately ceased reading the product list so almost all of these shampoos contain multiple offenders.
Pureology Nano Works Gold: Fragrance.
MoroccanOil: Essential oils.
Live Clean: Fragrance.
Shea Moisture: Essential Oils.
Matrix Biolage: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.
Cleure: Various chemicals.
EVOLVh: Fragrance.
Alterna Ten: Fragrance.
Fekkai: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.
Russian Amber Imperial Shampoo: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.
Acqua Di Parma: Fragrance.
Kerastase: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.
U Luxury: Fragrance.
BVLGARI: Fragrance.
Ten Voss: This has been discontinued and was once the most expensive shampoo in the world!
New Wash: Essential oils.
Positive Takeaway
As difficult it can be to find non-toxic, fragrance-free, coconut-free shampoos, there are some limited options out there. If you know of another shampoo with ingredients that are as limited as AZ SunGold, please drop a comment below to share with others!
Additionally, if you make a limited ingredient shampoo or shampoo bar (especially one without coconut-derived ingredients), please contact us. We need more safe shampoo options!
Related Posts:
Non-Toxic, Coconut-Free Soap Guide
Homemade Magnesium Butter Recipe
Can You Trust "Experts" for Your Safety?
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