Almost everyone has it in the bathroom: shampoo. What ingredients ensure that this foaming goodness makes our hair so clean and soft, and how sustainable is it? We from thegreenlist.nl have delved into the world of shampoo and got to the bottom of it for you. Spoiler alert: there's plenty of sustainable shampoo out there these days and we'll show you what you'll recognise it by.
Where does shampoo come from?
The word shampoo comes from the Hindi word chāmpo, which means kneading or massaging. Centuries ago in India, they were already washing their hair with the plant michelia champaca and with other natural substances such as henna and rose oil. The people of Indonesia also long ago used natural ingredients to wash their hair with, such as burnt rice plants and coconut oil. Shampoo came to Europe via India in the 17th century, but the liquid synthetic shampoo as we know it today was only discovered in the early 20th century.
Shampoo bar or bottle
Apart from the liquid shampoo we all know, for a few years now, shampoo bars, also known as hair soaps, have been increasingly on sale. These are pieces of soap specially made to wash your hair with. No water is added to shampoo bars, so they do not need to be wrapped in plastic and take up less space. So in terms of packaging and transportation, shampoo bars tend to be more sustainable than liquid shampoo. But what you can't tell from a shampoo bar is what ingredients have been used for it and whether these ingredients have been sourced in a sustainable way. So while a shampoo bar seems sustainable, it is not necessarily more sustainable. That really depends on more factors than just the pretty-looking block and the plastic-free packaging. Complicated? Let's take a deeper look at shampoo as a product!
A shampoo bar seems a lot more durable than shampoo in a bottle, but this is not necessarily so. It depends on several factors such as the ingredients and how long you spend in the shower.
What is shampoo made from
Most shampoos you can buy at the drugstore or supermarket often contain substances that are not so nice for the earth and probably not for our health either. Since the list of ingredients is usually long and complicated, I won't bother you too much with difficult terms - and cliffhanger - I'll have some handy tips for you later. But there are still a few ingredients I want to touch on because you probably prefer to avoid them.
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) in shampoo
Sulphates in shampoo help clean the dirt and sebum out of your hair. They also make the shampoo lather up nicely. Fine in itself, but if sulphates are too aggressive, they can also dissolve natural skin oils and cause irritation. There are different sulphates and especially Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) is very aggressive. Therefore, you probably prefer to avoid this ingredient. If you go to the drugstore, you will see that many shampoos have Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) is listed on the ingredient list. Fortunately, there are also less aggressive substances that can cleanse your hair and are a lot gentler on your scalp.
Parabens in shampoo
Parabens are chemical preservatives that make products last longer by inhibiting the growth of bacteria and fungi. They therefore appear on many cosmetics ingredient lists. Unfortunately, parabens are suspected of affecting coral and can disrupt our hormones. For one type of paraben, there are already serious signs that it can disrupt hormones, namely butylparaben. And yes, it is still used in some shampoos too. Since shampoo bars contain no water, these need no or little preservatives, and there are also more sustainable alternatives for liquid shampoo.
Microplastics in shampoo
As with many other beauty products, shampoo sometimes contains microplastics. These are deliberately added to make products nice and spreadable. On the packaging, you can hardly tell whether a product contains these plastics, which is very persistent. Unfortunately, microplastics are not good for nature and very probably not good for our health either. Besides, you can do without them and there are plenty of alternatives. Microplastics have already been found all over the world, even at the North Pole and in the human body. Since microplastics are not going away, it is high time to make sure that more are not added. From 15 October 2023, the European Commission microplastics in cosmetics banned. A good step, although it will take some time for all cosmetics containing microplastics to disappear from the shelves as there is a four- to 12-year transition period.
PFAS, PEG, silicones and mineral oils
A few more ingredients found in shampoo that are not good for humans and the environment: PFAS, PEG, silicones and mineral oils. Since the list of complicated synthetics is now getting very long, I think it would be a good idea to look at how we can easily find shampoo that is indeed sustainable.
Left: the ingredients in shampoo often don't make you happy. Right: fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives to eco-friendly shampoo (Soap holder from Soaplift.)
Alternatives: does sustainable shampoo exist?
Let's start with the good news: there are plenty of brands and online shops offering sustainable shampoo these days. Because the term ‘natural’ doesn't always mean anything and because the ingredient list of shampoo is usually long and complicated, I have looked up a few tools that can quickly help you find more sustainable shampoo. With these tools, you can also easily find out if your sustainable shampoo bar actually contains sustainable ingredients.
Sustainable shampoo: vegan and animal-free
Vegan or cruelty-free sounds pretty sustainable right? Unfortunately, these terms do not mean everything. A vegan beauty product contains no animal ingredients, in which case no animals were used in its production. Cruelty-free means animal-free: there may still be animal products in your beauty product.
But animal testing is banned anyway, right? I hear you thinking.... True, but it's a bit more complicated. In Europe, it is indeed not allowed to sell cosmetics or personal care products tested on animals. But it could be that a beauty brand sells products here that are not tested on animals in Europe, but are outside Europe, for instance because legislation requires it. So that way, a beauty brand is still participating. To make it even more complicated, there are also a number of exceptions to European regulations which unfortunately still means that not all cosmetics sold in Europe are 100% animal-free.
So in short, if you care about animal welfare, you would prefer a shampoo that is both vegan and cruelty-free. At animalrights.nl, you will find a handy list of brands that are 100% animal-free and 100% vegan. Good vegan and cruelty-free labels can also help you. Examples include The Vegan Society's Sunflower, PETA-Approved and Leaping Bunny.
Sustainable shampoo: does the product have a label and what are the ingredients?
What vegan and cruelty-free doesn't tell you is what ingredients are in your shampoo and whether they have been sourced in a sustainable way. A vegan and cruelty-free shampoo can still be made from non-fine synthetic materials such as microplastics or from natural materials that have undergone very intensive farming. The best sustainable choice is a sustainable shampoo whose ingredients have been obtained in an eco-friendly way, where no deforestation or intensive farming has taken place. Again, labels can help here. For shampoo, you can look out for the following labels, among others: B Corp, NATRUE, Ecocert and COSMOS.
Come across a hallmark you are not familiar with or want to know more about a hallmark? Take a look at the Label guide from Milieu Centraal.
There are also handy apps to help you identify harmful ingredients. We find the apps INCI Beauty and Think Dirty fine to use.
Sustainable shampoo: free of microplastics
It is better for the environment and probably for your health to choose beauty products without microplastics. You can easily check whether a product contains microplastics with the free app Beat the Microbead. Tip: look up the shampoo you have your eye on online and take a screenshot of the ingredients. That way, you can quickly and easily check the ingredients in the app.
Which shampoo is sustainable?
Is there any shampoo at all that meets the above criteria? Yes, there is. Some examples:
Liquid shampoo:
- Dr Hauschka Shampoo: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and NATRUE certified.
- Avril neutral cleansing base: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free, Ecocert labelled and budget-friendly too.
- Green People Intensive Repair Shampoo: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and Ecocert Cosmos Organic certified.
- Herbatint Bio-Moringa Organic Shampoo: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and B Corp certified.
- Urtekram Shampoo Perfume-free: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and Ecocert Cosmos Organic certified.
Shampoo bar:
- Faith in Nature Lavender & Geranium Shampoo Bar: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and B Corp certified.
- Ben & Anna Shampoo Bar - Lemongrass: vegan, animal-tested and microplastic-free. Has no seal of approval, but is free of harmful substances according to INCI Beauty.
- Friendly Soap Shampoo Bar - Perfume-free: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and budget-friendly too. Has no seal of approval, but is free of harmful substances according to INCI Beauty.
- Nature bar: vegan, animal-tested, microplastic-free and 100% natural soap with at least one circular ingredient. Earlier, we wrote This article about Nature bar's artisan soaps.
Are you looking for better beauty brands for both make-up and daily care? We made a complete list earlier. Handy though, take advantage of it!
Left: sustainable soaps from nature bar. Right: I have been washing my hair with eco-friendly shampoo for years and am very happy with it.
Is sustainable shampoo as good as regular shampoo?
At thegreenlist.nl we have been using sustainable shampoo for several years and are very satisfied with it. Even my long hair gets perfectly clean with it and looks nice and shiny. More sustainable shampoo usually doesn't lather or lathers less, but this doesn't mean it doesn't clean well. Should you find a shampoo bar nice to use then that's totally fine, but we also find the plastic bottles with sustainable contents a fine more sustainable alternative. For example, if you spend much longer in the hot shower with a shampoo bar than with a liquid shampoo, it is better to choose a liquid shampoo. In the end, it's the shower time that counts most!
No Poo: life without shampoo
Can it be one step more sustainable? Theoretically, yes. In fact, there are more and more people who no longer use shampoo at all. ‘No Poo’ stands for ‘No Shampoo’ and proponents of this movement wash their hair (sporadically) only with water or natural remedies such as rye flour, baking soda or clay. Our hair would get used to shampoo and therefore produce too much sebum. If you manage to get used to this, you would no longer need shampoo at all. A sustainable and natural alternative, but there are also scientists who say that not using shampoo at all can actually cause irritation and disease and that it does make sense to wash your hair with shampoo. If you find No Poo too radical, I think a good first step is to not wash your hair too often (two to three times a week is enough, according to experts), use little shampoo and choose a more sustainable shampoo. And should you dare, you can always try No Poo after that.
Will you choose sustainable shampoo from now on?
It makes your hair just as clean, there is plenty of choice and it is better for the earth and yourself. So plenty of reasons to choose sustainable shampoo the next time you need it. If you have any tips, be sure to let us know! You can contact us via the follow and contact buttons at the bottom of the page. thegreenlist.nl get in touch.
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- A shampoo bottle made of recycled plastic: how about that?
- Looking for long-lasting mascara? We've already figured it out for you.
- How do you find long-lasting concealer and foundation? You can read about that here.
- And what about perfume, anyway? We went in search of sustainable fragrances.
Sources: Niks Nieuws, wherezitwarin.nl, Beat the Microbead, Dr Jetske Ultee, Dutch Health Store, Beautyblog, Utopia.de. Photo credits: main image: left: thegreenlist.nl, centre: Sarah Chai (Pexels), right: Karolina Grabowska (Pexels), shampoo bottles: Sarah Chai (Pexels), hair wash: Cottonbro Studio (Pexels), hair: Kirsten Schoner, Saskia with soaps, shampoo bars: thegreenlist.nl.
