Sulfate Free Shampoo- my picks

I am all about hair products, did you know? Fundamentally, I just love getting in the shower and washing my hair. Am I a bit weird to get so much pleasure in this? I enjoy the smells of the shampoo, lathering it up, having nice clean hair, smoothing on conditioner... mmm. Yes, I'm weird.

I go sulfate (or SLS/SLES) free as much as I can. I generally find sulfate free and good quality goes hand in hand, and although I don't think it's particularly harmful just for hair washing, I have been advised to use it because I had a Brazilian blow dry last summer, and in general I like the idea of not using a cheap surfactant (sp) used in things like washing up liquid. I blog about it in more detail here. For me personally I have found it beneficial to have a smaller range of shampoo available because, if left to my own devices, I would just buy it all. I am susceptible to advertising claims. I am working on not being gullible and learning how to read ingredients.

I have hair that it quite fine, dry and a bit meh. My scalp can also get dry. I heard SLS didn't help scalp problems, so I now try to go without.

Here are my thoughts on the ones I have tried. Sulfate free options are becoming more widely available in highstreet shops and supermarkets, so these are all affordable. I would love to try high end ones from Pureology and the like, but for the moment these ones do fine.

Happy Hair Days (in pic above far left)- widely available in Sainsburys, at £3.99 but often reduced or on offer.

I smelt these and had to give them a try. These shampoo and conditioner combos come in a range of delicious scents. I have tried the coconut and marshmallow, pomegranate and ginger and am now on the blueberry and pear one. The latter is my favourite; it smells great, lathers like a dream and cleans and smooths well (as it claims to). I would recommend the shampoos over the conditioners as I haven't found the conditioners to be anything special, but it is very appealing to use a pair of products to crank up the scent. I really like these shampoos, Happy Hair Days seems to be a great brand. They're well priced and a great choice for a supermarket shampoo.

Argania- get it in Boots for £7.99

image from mybeautystore.com

I got this one for when I feel I need more moisture. It has a vanilla scent that to me is a bit artificial. I like the idea of having argan oil, which is always touted as being so beneficial, in my shampoo. This one lathers and cleans well. I feel the £7.99 price tag is a bit steep, so I probably won't repurchase.

L'Oreal Hair Expertise- Get it in Boots, Superdrug and most big supermarkets.

I will admit I'm a bit 'meh' about this range. The conditioners never did it for me. For the shampoos I would choose other sulfate free brands over these. But, I have realised they have the Evecreme range in Boots, which I am excited about as the smell is out of this world. I have a hunch it's not actually called Evercreme in the UK (I got mine in Canada) but it's the one that smells of yummy vanilla burnt sugar caramel. Mmmm. I love the cleansing conditioner from this range for after swimming.

Organic Surge- have only found it online, I got mine from TK Maxx, also in large Waitrose and John Lewis.

The Organic Surge shampoos I have tried have been fab. Really citrussy, they lathered well and had a great scent. I especially liked the volume boost one, it didn't dry my hair but cleaned gently and did its job well. If it was more widely available I would definitely buy it regularly.

Organix- selected products are in Boots and Tesco, and they also crop up in TK Maxx

I won't lie, I haven't actually tried a shampoo from this range. I have used the pictured lavender conditioner, and the vanilla one, and not been blown away. The lavender one is in the bin unfinished, which is unlike me! I haven't, however, tried the popular and more widely available ranges, and would like to give the shampoos a try. They have such a big choice of scents, ingredients and claims there will be something to suit you if you feel inclined to have a go. Boots and bigger Tesco stores stock the coconut, Brazilian keratin, argan oil and macadamia oil lines of products. I have heard good things here and there about all of these. Reasonably priced, so worth a try.


DGJ Organics- in Waitrose and John Lewis, and online.

I know I said L'Oreal Evercreme was my favourite scent, but these are also something else. They are much more refreshing and juicy smelling, so I like to use them in the mornings. So, so good. A good lather too, and great ingredients stats, I really trust these products. I'd like to try the Lavender ones, which are meant to be more hardcore. These are fantastic products that I enjoy using.

You may notice I haven't included the Naked range in my list. I so so want to find my 'match' from this brand, but so far I haven't been impressed. I am sad about this as the products in general seem right up my street. Perhaps I need to give something more moisturising a go. These are widely available in Boots.

To conclude, if you are after a gentle, everyday cleansing shampoo I would say go for Happy Hair Days or DGJ Organics. For me, these are definate repurchases. Organic Surge is also great. For moisture I would like to try the morroccan argan range from Organix, as I haven't yet found my go-to moisturising shampoo. And please, if in Boots and you see the Evercreme (or it's UK counterpart) give it a smell. Yum.

What shampoo and conditioner combos do you use? Ever wanted to go sulfate free? What do you fancy trying next?