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Shampoo

What to Look For
Shampoo products boasting of herbal and natural ingredients have been on the shelves for years, claiming benefits ranging from healthier and shinier hair to more sensual sudsing experiences. But "herbal" shampoos can still be chock full of questionable ingredients. Here's how to tell the difference.

Dirty Dozen-Free Products

If nothing else, avoid any shampoo that lists an ingredient included in the Green Guide's "Dirty Dozen." Of those 12, those most commonly found in shampoos are 1,4 dioxane, diethanolamine (DEA), formaldehyde, fragrance and parabens. For more detail on why these should be avoided, click here.

All the products on our Product Comparisons page are Dirty Dozen-Free.

Third Party Certification

A growing number of consumer and industry groups are launching reliable certifications for personal care products, some in the U.S. and others based in Europe and Australia. Among the most common are USDA Certified Organic, the Natural Products Association certification, BDIH, and Australian Certified Organic.

Australian Certified Organic: This certification is applied to products made with 95 percent or more organic ingredients. It prohibits manufacturers from using synthetic dyes and fragrances as well as any petroleum-derived ingredients or additives.

BDIH: One of the more rigorous certifications, BDIH's Certified Natural Cosmetic seal requires the use of organically grown or wild harvested plant-based ingredients whenever possible, and it bans petroleum-based ingredients, synthetic dyes and synthetic fragrances. Animal testing isn't allowed, and manufacturers are encouraged to source fair-trade ingredients and use eco-friendly manufacturing processes.

Natural Products Association Certified: The Natural Products Association certification is applied to products with 95 percent of the ingredients derived from natural sources (for instance, plants, milk, honey, beeswax, minerals); synthetic ingredients are allowed only when no viable natural alternative exists. Regardless of source, the ingredients must not pose any potential human health problem, and companies can't process natural ingredients in any way that could significantly alter their purity.

USDA Certified Organic: Products made with 95 percent or more organic ingredients, excluding water and salt, can bear the USDA's Organic seal, but the USDA doesn't prevent non-certified products from using the term "organic" in a product's name or elsewhere on the label. It also allows manufacturers to count hydrosols, or floral water leftover from the essential-oil distillation process, as an organic ingredient; used instead of ordinary water, hydrosols can be used to make a product appear to have a higher percentage of organic content than it really does.

Leaping Bunny: Developed by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, a coalition of eight animal protection groups including the American Humane Association and The Humane Society of the United States, the Leaping Bunny label is applied to products made by companies that pledge not to conduct or commission animal testing on either their products or the ingredients used in those products.