I’ve been asked many a time… (Wait, “many a time“? who actually says that phrase?)
Anyway, I am oft asked… (Hahaha, I never say that either. “Oft asked“…eeehehehe)
What I’m trying to say is:
It is not altogether uncommon that I receive frequent inquiries and recurrent requests for me to impart my wisdom in the matter of hair cleansing.
Um, hello. It would appear that I have suddenly turned into a Shampoo Professor with a British accent. You did read all of the above in a British accent, didn’t you?
My apologies for dragging you through that marvelous waste of time. I do have a point and I really am going to share it:
Shampoo. People always want to know what I use in our hair, how healthy it is and how I afford it. So there you go.
I wrote a lengthy post a while ago describing the different soaps and cleaners we usually use around here. When it comes to shampoo, many people prefer to buy the cheapest stuff possible and/or use coupons to get it for free and I completely understand that. I used to do that too. If I found it hard to stop using coupons to buy cheap and unhealthy food…I found it doubly hard to stop using coupons to get free hair care products. Sigh…
But, just like I’ve begun to understand that it’s good and wise to spend money on whole and nourishing food for my family…I’ve also decided that I want to spend money on healthy, non-chemical-filled products for our skin and hair. I do not relish the thought of harmful chemicals seeping into our bodies through our skin, particularly our heads wherein lie our brains. (Eek, Professor Shampoo made a little appearance again. “Wherein lie our brains”, wow.)
We use only the bar soaps from Tropical Traditions for bathing and are LOVING the MadeOn Lotion Bar for our dry skin. For our hair? We love Giovanni 50/50 Balance Shampoo. We checked it out on the EWG website to see if it was safe. Not only is it safe, it works great!
Is Giovanni 50/50 Balance Shampoo cheap? Nope. Not when you’re used to tossing out coupons to get 26 free bottles of Suave. But I’ve found a way to make our shampoo purchase more affordable AND I have peace of mind, knowing that I’m getting one of the healthiest shampoos on the market. There are no icky chemicals seeping into our heads with Giovanni 50/50 Balance Shampoo!
I used to buy Giovanni 50/50 Balance Shampoo 8-ounce bottles by the case from one of my health food co-ops. It was pricey, but much cheaper than buying a single bottle at a health food store (which would usually be something like $9/bottle!!). But THEN I discovered the beauty of buying a gallon jug of the shampoo from Amazon!! I invested a few dollars in a pump thingy…so that I can use the gallon jug to refill our smaller bottles for use in the shower.
Now granted, I am the only one with long hair in our family of six (unless you count my 13 year old son who prefers his hair to be down over his ears and into his eyes), so this may not last as long for families who have lots of girls with long hair. BUT, we’ve trained our boys to just use a tiny amount of shampoo because they really don’t need more than a little bit. I’m happy to report that our first gallon jug lasted us well over 18 months!!!
$3/month isn’t the same as free…but it also isn’t nearly as expensive as a good quality shampoo can appear at first glance. I’m VERY pleased that we’ve been able to get away with spending so little on such quality shampoo!
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, concludes today’s informational session on what I consider to be a superior product and how I heretofore am able to execute such a purchase in a way that is financially feasible.
In other words…that’s how I buy good shampoo and save money.
Feel like telling us about the shampoo you use? You can even use big words if you want to. :)
Do you have any healthy tips for us with curlier hair? I’m looking for a good mousse or curl enhancer that is healthy too… No luck yet!
Giovanni makes all the haircare stuff you could think of — mousse, gel, hairspray–and they all work really well and I happen to trust the company !
Have you heard of Kinky Curly Curling Custard? I know the name is a little funny… It have super curly hair and I really like it. It is expensive to me- $30 can get me about 1 and a half month’s worth, but I really need it. I haven’t explored the ingredients, but they promise that it is all natural. I think one of the bases is marshmallows… I’m not sure how natural that is. Anyways, I’d suggest looking into it.
With my curls I make flax seed gel:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/recipes-%97-hair-body/61208-no-fail-flax-seed-gel-i-finally-did-twice.html
They have a TON of info over there in their forums.
I tried the Giovanni gel and yuck – nothing but frizz.
The flax seed gel takes a bit to figure out, but once you do it’s awesome. I buy my giovanni from iherb.com. I think it was $5.00 for 8oz. I once added marshmallow root to my flax seed gel, but didn’t notice a difference.
Forgot to write one key step.
You have to put the gel in your hair when you’re in the shower and it’s soaking wet. Wrap your head in a cotton shirt and then when you get out of the shower, don’t touch it. The more you touch it the more frizz you’ll have.
I have quite a bit of curl that I had a hard time controlling. I finally tried the no ‘poo method and have noticed my hair is sooooo much easier to dealwith. Just washign it once or twice a week with baking soda, do a apple cider vinegar rinse, and I’m good to go!
I wish this would have worked for me – how easy and cheap!
I’m new to your blog as I’ve decided to switch to more organic and all natural products. I’ve made the leap with body lotion and deodorant and getting into the skin care. The one I can NOT do is hair care – why? It’s for those of blessed/cursed with naturally curly hair. I use the Redken Fresh Curls line and also buy by the liter, etc to save. If somebody could give me a tried and true product that would treat my curls the way Redken does AND be organic/all natural AND along the lines of the cost of Redken (never any coupons, etc). So, I’m with Tami on this one… Help.
I love Giovanni shampoo! I use Tea Tree Triple Treat. Since I’m the only one using it, I buy the regular size bottles from Vitacost. Giovanni’s Smooth As Silk Deeper Moisture conditioner makes my curly hair very soft and shiny. I haven’t tried their styling products, yet, but I’d like to.
We don’t use shampoo- I just scrub my hair with a bit of the soap- we use pure olive oil soap bars. And give it a rinse with a herbal apple cider vinegar infusion- I like to infuse mine with rosemary, lavender, nettles, sage, and chamomille- for about six weeks or so- then strain and store in dark bottles- you add a few T to water and pour. Different herbs are good for different hair types/colors. I also only “wash” my hair once a week- and my hair is Very long. Also some people don’t use shampoo or soap or anything at all!!!!!
Love Giovanni products here, too! I’ve found the BEST prices at http://www.vitacost.com. Great source for organic foods, too!
A few months ago I was looking for a healthier shampoo as well, but something practical and reasonably priced.
I found something called shampoo bars, which are basically soap bars except they are for washing hair. I love them (for a few reasons)!! I buy them homemade from
http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com.
They are wonderful, all-natural, safe-to-use bars!
They work great!! When I first came off commercial shampoo and started to use these soaps, my hair would become very oily. Reading up about this, I found that it was because commercial shampoos strip hair of all oils, so one’s head is producing excess oil to keep up with moisturizing the head. It took three to four weeks for my head to regulate its oil production. My hair is now healthily smooth, shiny and clean!! And also I have had no need to buy conditioner, because conditioner’s original purpose was to try to artificially moisturize in place of the depleted hair oils. My head is now producing the right amount of oil to moisturize my head and hair!!
The bars are huge!! 6.2 to 7.2oz. And the prices range from $7-8 per bar. They last for a very long time… I just ordered five bars from them and I have set up a little chart to mark down each time I or my family uses each bar, because I would like to calculate the average price per use.
The woman that makes these bars puts them in little paper bags so there is no wasteful packaging, which is a big plus!!
They are really handy for traveling. And practical!! I love practical!
Thanks Laura for your site!! I found you a month or so ago and have been very blessed every time I visit!
I use Shampoo bars too! The whole family uses the shampoo and I (the
only girl) also use a conditioner bar from http://www.va-soaps.com/index.html
I love how it makes my hair feel and they last forever!
I use baking soda & apple cider vinegar on my hair, and my older girls (just turning 8) or starting to need it once in awhile. I use water only on the toddler (and have on the 8 yr olds until now). Even cheaper and as natural or more natural!
All you baking soda and apple cider vinegar users, what are the quantities of each that you use? Do you mix it first? Thanks for the info!
If you mix the baking soda & vinegar first, you might have a tiny volcano happening in your bottle! :)
I usually put 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda in a 8oz glass and fill the rest of the cup up with water and pour it over my head, rub it in and rinse. Then I do the same for the vinegar, but leave it in for a minute. I can usually go 3 days between washes, so it is very economical.
It’s abit trial and error to see what works for your hair, I make a paste with the baking soda (in my hand w/ water from teh shower) and work that into my hair, but some people find that too drying & prefer to make it more of a rinse consistency. Then I mix the ACV with water approx 6 parts water to 1 part ACV, add a few drops of lavender essential oil, and rinse that through my hair, let it sit while I take the rest of my shower, then rinse it out.
This is exactly what I do. I go about 4 days between washings. I also use baking soda to wash my skin. We don’t use soap, and my skin has never felt better.
This is what I do, too. I started no-‘poo about 5 months and my hair
has never looked or felt better!
I use Melaleuca herbal shampoo and love it….keeps my hair way healthier than the store brands I used to use….
I’ve been using Costco’s Kirkland brand shampoo and conditioner. I’m sure it isn’t organic, but it is sulfate and paraben free and doesn’t contain animal products and with the coupons they sometimes have, I can fit it into our budget. I feel as though it is a nice compromise between using something all natural, effective, yet expensive and my former beloved Biolage (during the litre sale).
I do the same as SweetPea does above. Baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
I also use baking soda and apple cider vinegar and it works great!
I get a lot of my safety data on these sorts of things from here: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
That said, I haven’t settled on shampoo right now… I’m honestly not sure what I want to do. My husband refuses to use anything other than Pantene. LOL For myself, I’ve been hopping around the more sulfate free brands at our grocery store, but not real happy with that right now. Not sure where I want to go with this next.
I LOVE my Pantene. The smell is intoxicating. If there is a healthy shampoo (I stopped using conditioner) that smells just as nice as Pantene I’m all ears!
I MUST wash my hair everyday for work, my hair is very oily. I can season a cast iron pan w/my hair after a few days!
I have Pantene in our shower, I think I have Dove in the kids bath.
The thing about it is, you hair is conditioned to commercial cleansers. It will take a while for your hair to adjust to a more natural cleanser and the in between will NOT be pretty. I’ve managed to wean my hair to every other day washing and less intense shampoos, but somehow every third day is eluding me still….
Very true. When I went shampoo free, I started baking soda/acv every other day for a month. Then went every three days. Now it’s every 4.
I used to do that no-poo thing (apple cider vinegar and baking soda) but I found that after a while, and especially when I was working and running around a lot in the summer, it just didn’t do the trick. Now we all use Prairie Naturals shampoo. Paraben and other yucky chemical free, and we love it!
http://www.prairienaturals.ca/?product_id=121
For those with curls you might want to google “devacurl products”
Their products are great!
So, I have been an Herbal Essence junkie for over 12 years :) Now that we use Goat Milk Stuff Soap (love it!) and the Made on lotion bars, I feel super silly scrubbing my hair with chemicals. I’ll have to give this stuff a try…..
PS: For my kiddos I use the goat milk soap on their hair and it works great!!! If I use it on my hair though it feels crispy :(
I just looked it up on Skin Deep, a cosmetic safety database, and its is a 5. Not so good. You might want to try something new.
You(anyone!) may want to look in to starting a buying club through Frontier. You can set up a wholesale account with them. Our group orders once a month and we get the wholesale discount. We only put in an order when we hit $250 so we get free shipping, but it’s easy to do. The Giovanni shampoo is $43.00/gallon and the small bottle is $4.77.
We used the Tea Tree in the past and loved it!
I just love the way you write…you crack me up, Professor Shampoo!! : )
I also looked this up on the cosmeticdatabase.com and it is a little confusing. They list a Giovanni Hair Care Shampoo – 50/50 balanced with a score of 5, but they also list a Giovanni Hair Care Shampoo Balance 50/50 with a score of 3. So, do they have two different products with very similar names but different ingredients or is one an older recipe and slightly different name and when they reformulated they changed the name?
For those of you with curly hair, you might want to Google the “curly girl method” or something like that. I have straight hair so I don’t know a whole lot about it but my daughter has curly hair so I was interested in it for her sake once she gets older (she’s 3 now and I use California Baby shampoo for her). They say you shouldn’t use shampoo on curly hair. Just something to consider…and it would definitely save money!!
This is a great idea! My husband likes the shampoo bars from tropical traditions, and they last him about three months each. So I got five and that’s more than a year’s worth! My littles still use baby shampoo, and I just do my own thing. But, ANOTHER way to save money on shampoo is to wash your hair less. I started washing mine only once a week, and after the first initial greasy time, it looks great and feels great and most people are stunned when I tell them I only wash it once a week. Then, I save on shampoo, I stay warmer in the winter, and I take quicker showers! :-)
I use baking soda and apple cider vinegar most of the time and when I need something “more” I use Peppermint and tea tree oil shampoo from http://www.facenaturals.com. I also use their deodorant, body wash and face wash. All their products are organic and chemical free. It is a bit spendy, but totally worth the money.
Laura, thanks for this post. I’ve been having a lot of skin problems and am slowly making the switch to products without chemicals. I’ve been struggling to give up the free coupon shampoos and such just ’cause of the price and ’cause money can be so tight. Thanks for the info!
Is this good for color treated hair? I buy Biolage for color treated hair to try to make my color last as long as possible. I’d love to buy this, but only if it will help to preserve my investment in coloring my gray:)
I would love a copy.
I use Shaklee hand wash it is AWESOME and have comfort knowing its safe. LOVE LOVE LOVE my shaklee everything.
hmmm…..i never even thought of buying a gallon size. i used to use some giovonni products, but now i mostly use aubrey organics that i buy through vitacost. i will definitely check up on a gallon size through amazon or somewhere – thanks for the tip!
Ummm, so, if I did read the first part in a British accent does that make me really weird? Or just bosem buddies, kindred spirits, separated at birth? LOL
I use Giovanni also, usually the Smooth As Silk, sometimes the 50/50. I get the 33.5 oz pump bottle for $12.99 at TJMaxx most of the time.
I’m so happy you posted this. Finding good shampoo is HARD! Can’t wait to try this brand.
My husband uses Dr. Bronner’s on his hair and has done so for years. It works great for him. I tried it, but my hair was very stringy after that. Not to my liking at all :)
For shampoo, I like to dilute castile soap (I use Dr. Bronner’s) with an equal part of tea, and a few drops of rosemary essential oil.
I like this recipe a lot because it’s relatively more economical than buying “shampoo”, even when you buy it in a large quantity. In addition, I like the simplicity of one-for-all: castile soap is so versatile that I make my face, body, and even hand wash based on it.
P.S.
I also use a homemade hair conditioner with as little as THREE food ingredients to follow up. You can learn about the recipe at my blog.
My hair is not as oily as it did when I used commercial shampoo and conditioner. I used to need to wash it daily in order to avoid the greasy hair look, but now I am very comfortable with washing it every other day.
I am Matt’s dad and he grew up in a home where both his mom and his dad used a Redken men’s product to shampoo. I have used this bar, now called Cleanse, for over 30 years and don’t want anything else on my hair. I am 71 and have a full head of healthy hair that I believe is largely because of the Redken product I use. Most soaps and shampoos are chemically alkalai-based while human skin is acid-based. Every time you put an alkalai product on your skin, it is like poison.
If that doesn’t convince you, consider this: I’ve read articles about having healthy hair that say you shouldn’t shampoo every day, maybe only 2-3 times a week. I say this, if you cannot shampoo every day and sometimes twice a day, you shouldn’t be using that shampoo!! For me, Redken “Cleanse” passes that test.
In our house it was called “Blue Soap” and when the kids were young, they probably thought dad considered blue soap a miracle product. They would have been right. It’s costly and hard to find, but worth it to me.
My entire family (two boys and hubby) struggle with dandruff. I’ve tried sooo many natural shampoos and nothing is working. I’d sure like to hear if anyone else has found something to work with dandruff.
At vitacost right now, It’s $49 with free shipping!
Was wondering if you knew of a good healthy shampoo that is a little bit cheaper than this. It is just a little more than I can afford at the time.
I don’t know of one offhand, but if you check out Passionate Homemaking’s blog, I believe she has a homemade shampoo recipe!
I checked her blog and she no longer makes her own she didn’t like the long term effect on her hair and recommends one from Trader Joes.
I have one boy who suffers from a flaky scalp. The only thing that helps is the shampoo with coal tar. Is there something better out there? I have another son with oily hair- would the baking soda help with that? Thanks!
Laura, do you use only the Giovanni shampoo or shampoo and conditioner?
Yes, I really like it!
Thank you so much for answering, but I meant something more specific: do you feel you also need to use the conditioner, or is the shampoo enough by itself?
By the way, Laura, I can’t thank you enough for your blogs! Over the course of the last year, I have tried almost all your recipes, changed even more of our eating habits, and blessed my family so much in the process! We are loving the additional fruits and veggies, directly thanks to you for talking about them all the time, and for posting pics of them! It really has made such a difference! Bless you and your sweet family!
I do use both shampoo and conditioner, although I only wash my hair twice each week now. For some, the shampoo alone would surely be enough. My hair benefits from conditioner, especially in the winter. :)