8 Eco-Friendly Hair Products to Try

Environmentalism isn’t limited to the outdoors. If you want to tame your frizz without hurting the planet, you need to try these eco-friendly hair products. They’ll leave you feeling refreshed and looking your best without cramping Mother Nature’s style. From shampoo bars to mousses and everything in between, here are eight environmentally conscious products to stock your bathroom with. 

What Makes a Product Green?

When it comes to choosing eco-friendly hair products, there are several qualities to look for, including:

• Minimal, plastic-free, compostable packaging

• Biodegradability

• Ethical sourcing and cruelty-free testing

• Refillable bottles

• Certified climate neutrality

• Support for environmental charities

Most companies won’t meet all of these qualifications, but the more they meet, the merrier. 

Eco-Friendly Hair Products

Here are some brands that emphasize sustainability:

1. Ethique

Ethique makes highly concentrated shampoo and conditioner bars. Unlike traditional hair care products that come in a plastic bottle, Ethique’s natural, plant-based shampoo and conditioner are packaged in recyclable paper boxes. They’re completely plastic free and ethically sourced. 

Ethique only sells vegan, cruelty-free products without the use of palm oil. Because their products are so concentrated, a little goes a long way, and their Conditioning Wonderbar equates to five full bottles of liquid conditioner. You’ll save money and keep plastic bottles out of the garbage. 

Need a product for a specific hair type? They’ve got you covered — Ethique sells shampoo and conditioner for a wide range of hair types, from curly to dry to frizzy hair. 

2. Seed Phytonutrients

A unique feature of this hair product company is that each container comes with a seed packet. Once you’re finished with the shampoo, conditioner, mask or spray, you can plant the seeds. Be sure to plant them in a pot or raised bed unless they’re native to your area.

The bottles themselves are compostable or recyclable. Although the pumps are made of plastic, Seed Phytonutrients has a pump return program so you can recycle them. This company only uses natural, vegan, cruelty-free ingredients free of parabens, phthalates and sulfates. 

3. EcoRoots

Whether you’re looking for dry shampoo, shampoo bars or natural hair oil to give your mane a little sheen, EcoRoots has a variety of products with different scents. They also have unscented products if you’re not a fan of fragrance. Their products contain no silicones, parabens, palm oil or synthetic ingredients. 

They ship their high-quality, affordable items in 100% recyclable and compostable packaging. All of their eco-friendly hair products are handmade. 

4. Plaine Products

Ever wish you could reuse your shampoo or conditioner bottle? Now you can. Founded by Lindsey and Alison Delaplaine, this eco-friendly hair product company lets customers send in their empty bottles for a refill. They cover the cost of the return. When the bottles finally wear down, you can recycle them. 

Plaine Products’ hair-care essentials come in aluminum bottles and contain no sulfates, silicone, parabens, synthetic fragrances or toxic chemicals. They make shampoo, conditioner, combined hair and body wash, hair repair formulas and oils. 

5. Andrea’s Organic Market 

This Etsy-based shop sells natural serums and eco-friendly deep conditioning hair masks to repair damage. They use raw, pure ingredients that are palm-oil-free and ethically sourced. 

The products ship in recyclable or compostable packaging that contains no plastic, and the labels are printed on recycled paper. Even the packing tape is made of cellulose instead of plastic. You can return your used containers for refills. Everything is cruelty-free and many of the products are vegan as well. 

6. Dirty Hippie Cosmetics

Dry shampoo and leave-in conditioner can take your hair game from flat to fabulous. Dirty Hippie Cosmetics makes these sustainable hair products as well as beard oils, beach hair spray, shaving cream and more. Their products come in glass or metal containers that you can easily recycle. As a bonus, the containers are aesthetically pleasing and look nice on the countertop. 

This company gets their ingredients from fair trade or local sources, and they also grow many of their own ingredients. Their products are cruelty-free and vegan. 

7. Davines

This company makes donations to regenerative organic agriculture initiatives. Their hair care products are plastic neutral, which means that for every plastic product they sell, they collect an equal amount of plastic from coastlines in Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil. Regardless of your hair type, they have a product for you, selling everything from shampoos to serums and heat protectants. 

8. Corvus Botanicals

This hair care company checks all the boxes of environmental friendliness. Their products are vegan, biodegradable, palm-oil-free and made with natural ingredients. A large shampoo bar is good for 80 washes. The packaging contains no plastic and is 100% recyclable. Corvus Botanicals sources their shea butter and cocoa butter from Ghana, where women harvest the ingredients by hand in a certified fair trade and organic operation. They plant a tree for every order. 

More Ways to Go Green

In addition to buying shampoo and conditioner from eco-friendly companies, consider adding these products to your bathroom cabinet:

• A comb made of wood, metal or domestic animal horn instead of plastic

• A boar bristle brush with a wooden handle

• Razors with reusable handles or even reusable blades

• Strips of fabric to rag-curl your hair instead of using plastic curlers or curling irons 

• Household items such as coconut oil or olive oil for making a DIY hair mask

• Plastic-free hair ties made with natural rubber and cloth

• Metal bobby pins or clips rather than plastic 

• Hair extensions made from plant-based materials or human hair instead of plastic

• Alternative types of hair dye, such as natural henna, that don’t harm aquatic wildlife

As you can see, you can still have a beautiful head of hair without hurting the environment. There are alternatives to almost every harmful hair care product out there. 

Getting Back to Your Roots

Making the switch to eco-friendly hair products can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. You can go green a little at a time, replacing your old products as you use them up, until you’ve stocked your bathroom with only sustainable choices. Then you can rest assured that no matter which hair product you reach for, it won’t have far-reaching consequences.