Need a shampoo recommendation – No parabens, sulfates, or sodium chloride

[SammieEve]

Well about 2 months ago I got a BKT done (I know, I had a moment of weakness). Since then I’ve been using the recommended BKT shampoo/conditioner from the salon. The products have been working amazingly well for my hair. The shampoo doesn’t dry out my hair and I can actually comb through my hair when I have the conditioner in. The only other thing that has ever given me that much slip is the Biolage Conditioning Balm I already use (although I should find something else since I wanted to get away from the Parabens in it).

Now my problem is I’m starting to run out. Not only is getting back to the salon hard to do (it’s about 66 miles roundtrip) , the costs of the products are a little much for me. I bought a 6 oz shampoo, a 6 oz conditioner, a 4 oz hair masque, and a 5 oz gel for $150 or about $30/bottle.
And since the products are branded to the salon, I can’t find them online anywhere. They are from the Nelson J Aveda in Beverly Hills, but I’ve been looking at Aveda products and I haven’t really found anything that has a comparable ingredients list.

Can someone help me out finding a similar shampoo?

The ingredients are:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Shea Butter, Acai Oil, Amodimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Safflower Oil, Behentrimonium Chloride, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Octamethylcyclotetraxiloxane, Cetrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, and Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Natural Fragrance

[Clarisse]

Look for something with lots of dimetichone (or amodimethicone), shea butter and glycerin :)

[SammieEve]

I’ve been looking but I haven’t found anything yet.

I’ve tried using Aubrey Organics Primrose and Lavender Shampoo, but it made my hair feel like a brillo pad.

Any specific product recommendations?

[teela1978]

That sounds more like conditioner ingredients than shampoo. The solid conditioner I use has somewhat similar ingredients (no cones though, "one hair boost"... you can get it at target), but the shea butter isn't quite so high up. Perhaps you could use some shea butter on your hair after washing along with a coney serum to mimic the product you use.

[Caldonia Sun]

Take a look at Renpure's "My Pretty Hair is Parched" shampoo. That might work.

[jesis]

JessiCurl makes all natural products. It's for curly hair, too! :D You could look and see if that has what you are looking for.

[SammieEve]

That sounds more like conditioner ingredients than shampoo. The solid conditioner I use has somewhat similar ingredients (no cones though, "one hair boost"... you can get it at target), but the shea butter isn't quite so high up. Perhaps you could use some shea butter on your hair after washing along with a coney serum to mimic the product you use.

It does sound more like a conditioner than a shampoo. Maybe, I would be better off just looking for a conditioner with those ingredients (assuming they are all water soluble) than looking for something branded as a shampoo.

Do you find it difficult to apply the solid conditioner evenly to your hair?


Take a look at Renpure's "My Pretty Hair is Parched" shampoo. That might work.

The shampoo/conditioner from that line seems pretty good. I wonder if I would be able to use just the conditioner without getting any buildup.


JessiCurl makes all natural products. It's for curly hair, too! :D You could look and see if that has what you are looking for.

I should probably give JessiCurl another shot. I bought a little gift set of their products (about 10 different samples) and I didn’t realize that I could actually smell them all even though they were still inside the packages. I ended up returning it without trying any of them.

[Anje]

I agree -- it looks a lot like conditioner to me. Ever tried CO washing?

Heck, I've got a bottle of Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioning Cream (how's that for a name?) that sounds a lot like that:
Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Cetearyl Alcohol, Amodimethicone, Cetyl Esters, Behentrimonium Chloride, Perfume (Fragrance), Methylparaben, Persea Gratissima (Avocado Oil), Trideceth 12, Citric Acid, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot Kernel Oil), Cetrimonium Chloride, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Linalool, Butylphenyl Methypropional, Citronellol

A few more preservatives and no shea butter, but you could use a little of that or an oil with it....

[SammieEve]

I agree -- it looks a lot like conditioner to me. Ever tried CO washing?

Heck, I've got a bottle of Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioning Cream (how's that for a name?) that sounds a lot like that:
Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Cetearyl Alcohol, Amodimethicone, Cetyl Esters, Behentrimonium Chloride, Perfume (Fragrance), Methylparaben, Persea Gratissima (Avocado Oil), Trideceth 12, Citric Acid, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot Kernel Oil), Cetrimonium Chloride, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Linalool, Butylphenyl Methypropional, Citronellol

A few more preservatives and no shea butter, but you could use a little of that or an oil with it....

I’ve been CO washing with VO5 and following up with a heavier conditioner (like Pantene R&N, Hello Hydration) for the last 3 years or so and infrequently clarifying (about once to twice a month) with any random shampoo because I was using non-water soluble cones. But I’ve noticed that when I CO with VO5 then damp bun, my hair starts to smell like mold about 2 hours after I shower. And it smells that way until I wash my hair again.

I don’t have this problem when I shampoo first, but all the shampoo’s I’ve tried are very, very stripping so the mold smell has been better than feeling my hair snap off.

Do you know if all the ingredients in the Garner are water soluble? I look at :google: for explanations of these ingredients but I really can’t understand the explanation that comes up anyway.

[Kaijah]

I'd try Shea Moisture products... I got them at Target for around $10/bottle. There are three lines: one labeled with pink labels, one with black labels, and one with gold. I believe the pink had protein, the black was the "super cleansing," and the gold was the moisture line. I got the gold labeled ones.

Moisture Retention Shampoo ingredients: Deionized Water, Decyl Glucoside, African Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Argan Oil, Panthenol, Rosemary Extract, Vitamin E, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Loncera Japonica (Japaneses Honeysuckle) Flower Extract.

Conditioner Ingredients: Deionized Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Argan Oil, Coconut Oil, Behentrimonium Chloride, Essential Oil Blend, Vegetable Glycerin, Emulsifying Wax, Sea Kelp Extract, Panthenol, Avocado Oil, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Loncera Japonica (Japaneses Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Daucus Carota Sativa(Carrot) Seed Oil

They also had a deep treatment in a tub that was really nice... and a few styling products that I didn't try. None of their stuff has silicone, but I think you could pick up a tub of one of the coney Pantene or Garnier DTs and mix them together if you needed it.

[teela1978]

It does sound more like a conditioner than a shampoo. Maybe, I would be better off just looking for a conditioner with those ingredients (assuming they are all water soluble) than looking for something branded as a shampoo.

Do you find it difficult to apply the solid conditioner evenly to your hair?

I think it would be difficult to use as a CO, and it took a little practice, but now that I'm used to it I find that it applies evenly and quickly. I like it a lot actually.

[aenflex]

From what I understand (worked for a bit in a salon), you really just need to avoid Sulfates and Soduim Chloride. I could be wrong so do your research :) But I think any poo without -sulfates or Sodium Chloride should be fine???

[amaiaisabella]

If you still have some product left, is there any way you can dilute it? I stretch out my bottles of shampoo this way. You could also bite the bullet, get new bottles of the stuff, and divide it into half with additional bottles to dilute and have the products last longer. Not sure if this would reduce effectiveness, though.

[SammieEve]

From what I understand (worked for a bit in a salon), you really just need to avoid Sulfates and Soduim Chloride. I could be wrong so do your research :) But I think any poo without -sulfates or Sodium Chloride should be fine???

Yes, that’s what I’ve been told/read also. I’ve just been looking for something without sulfates/sodium chloride and without a lot of non-water soluble cones because I don’t know how I would clarify without resorting to a sulfate shampoo. I’ve found that I get buildup pretty easily.


If you still have some product left, is there any way you can dilute it? I stretch out my bottles of shampoo this way. You could also bite the bullet, get new bottles of the stuff, and divide it into half with additional bottles to dilute and have the products last longer. Not sure if this would reduce effectiveness, though.

That’s actually not a bad idea. Typically I just slather on a large amount of conditioner but I’ve been trying to use what I have left very sparingly and mixing it with my Biolage to make it last longer.

[Anje]

I’ve been CO washing with VO5 and following up with a heavier conditioner (like Pantene R&N, Hello Hydration) for the last 3 years or so and infrequently clarifying (about once to twice a month) with any random shampoo because I was using non-water soluble cones. But I’ve noticed that when I CO with VO5 then damp bun, my hair starts to smell like mold about 2 hours after I shower. And it smells that way until I wash my hair again.

I don’t have this problem when I shampoo first, but all the shampoo’s I’ve tried are very, very stripping so the mold smell has been better than feeling my hair snap off.

Do you know if all the ingredients in the Garner are water soluble?
Gee, I'm not sure about the mold thing. If it smelled bad after a few days in a damp bun, that's one thing, but 2 hours doesn't make much sense. That said, SLS is decently antifungal IIRC, so if you do have something growing in there it might take care of it for a while. Do make sure your hair gets a chance to dry -- having it damp 24/7 isn't good for it long-term. FWIW, I often let my hair dry in a loose braid. It takes longer than loose, but it dries faster than a bun and is contained.

The amodimethicone in the leave-in I mentioned isn't water-soluble as such. It's going to stay on hair, but it won't build up like some cones. And you've been using it, according to the ingredients list you posted. There are a few oils in there that obviously aren't water-soluble alone, but I think with the other conditioner ingredients they'll wash out OK. After all, conditioners tend to help remove oils better than shampoo.

[bubblyredhead]

Shea Moisture Raw shea butter shampoo's ingredients : de-ionized water, Decyl Glucoside (sugar beets), African Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea butter) (denotes certified organic ingredients), aloe vera leaf juice, Argan Oil, Panthenol (pro-vitamin B-5, rosemary extract, sea kelp extract, vitamin E, Lonicera Caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower and Lonicera Japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) flower extract.
and conditioner: de-ionized water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea butter)*, Argan oil, coconut oil*, Behentrimonium chloride, essential oil blend, vegetable glycerin, emulsifying wax, sea kelp extract, Panthenol (vitamin B-5), avocado oil, Lonicera Caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower and Lonicera Japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) flower extract, Tocopherol (vitamin E) and Daucus Carota Sativa (carrot) seed oil. *Denotes certified organic ingredients.
and they have other ones I LOVE this brand!

[jesis]

http://www.curlmart.com/Aubrey-Organics-Honeysuckle-Rose-Moisturizing-Conditioner-p-1015.html

Just found this and thought of you.

Ingredient list: Coconut Fatty Acid Cream Base, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Shea Butter, Wheat Germ Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Rosa Mosqueta® Rose Hip Seed Oil; Extracts of Fennel, Hops, Balm Mint, Mistletoe, Camomile, Yarrow, Chrysanthemum, Angelica, Forsythia and Magnolia; Honeysuckle Oil, Carrot Oil, Aubrey’s Preservative (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E).